Christmas Carol-a-Thon 2024 continues here at Balladeer’s Blog with this encore post from 2010.
LEYENDA DE NAVIDAD – This version of the Dickens classic was produced in Spain in 1947 (and was remade for Spanish television in 1966 ) and the Spanish language title is Leyenda de Navidad (Legend of Christmas, of course). The film was written and directed by Manuel Tamayo (who wrote the screenplay for the 1955 feature Tarde de Toros) This is a wonderful version for several reasons, not the least of which would be its well-done (for the time period) sets of 1843 London.
We’ll take the differences and similarities to other versions in order – 1. Scrooge has several people working for him for some reason, not just Bob Cratchit and NONE of them get Christmas Day off from this Scrooge …
2. Marley’s Ghost steps out of a life-sized portrait of the man that adorns the wall above a fireplace, and returns to that portrait after his standard warning about
the 3 Ghosts …
3. Transportation through time with three very Spanish renditions of the Ghosts is accomplished NOT through cheesy special effects (that may well have broken the budget anyway) but in the very clever way of entering through doorways into other rooms or closets and as each Ghost pulls the door shut behind them, presto, the Ghost and Scrooge are at whatever locale the Spirit is showing him. For variety Scrooge and The Ghost Of Christmas Present arrive down Nephew Fred’s chimney …
4. The Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come is depicted as a grim, unspeaking man in a black top hat and black cape …
5. Among the visions of the future that he shows Scrooge is his long-lost love – here called “Mary” for some reason – who is still pining after him …
6. Part of Scrooge’s Christmas Morning conversion is conveyed with the nicely symbolic gesture of having him shave off a beard this incarnation of the miser has been sporting …
7. Scrooge and his long-lost love are reunited …
8. Scrooge’s impractical gesture of sending Bob Cratchit a huge turkey that would take forever to cook is compounded by having this Scrooge send Bob a LIVE turkey. (Ah, the Christmas Day tradition of killing, gutting and plucking the turkey! Now that’s a scene only Currier and Ives could do justice to!) This version runs under an hour and a half and is certainly a nice twist on the familiar story.
FOR MORE VERSIONS OF A CHRISTMAS CAROL CLICK HERE: https://glitternight.com/category/a-christmas-carol-2/
Balladeer's Blog 
Lord Voldemort is dead. Find some other book of fiction to base your religion upon. :)))
Ha! Pretty funny!
All are beautiful 😍 well shared 💐
Thank you very much!
😁😁💤💤💤💤
You are so inventive!
🧐🧐😵💫😵💫🤓🤓😎😎
See what I mean!
You are very intelligent 🤓🤓🤓😁😁 like me 🤩🤩
Ha! How true! 😀
💜
Thanks!
Thanks for publishing this. I remember seeing this in film vía a film proyector. Both were bought by relatives in Spain and brought to me as a child in Ohio. Thanks for the memories. Unfortunately projector and film also disappeared [along with the Dean Reed cancelled by East Germany in favor of Nena recording] during Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
Glad this brought back memories! Very sorry about the film getting lost with the other items in Hurricane Andrew.
Thanks. Im going to see if E Bay has the original versión. Im going to see if there is a DVD version
Good idea!
This will be long but something will appear
😀
Pingback: SPAIN’S 1947 VERSION OF A CHRISTMAS CAROL: LEYENDA DE NAVIDAD – El Noticiero de Alvarez Galloso
Logged, thank you sir!
Sounds like a good version, thanks for covering it. Hopefully someday I’ll be able to find it somewhere. Haven’t seen many foreign versions.
Ebay used to be great for finding these years ago.