Tag Archives: Christmas Carol-A-Thon

December 20, 2020 · 1:52 pm

MARTIN PREST PERFORMS A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2017)

martin prest christmas carolA CHRISTMAS CAROL ADAPTED BY MARTIN PREST (2017) – Balladeer’s Blog’s ELEVENTH Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues with this look at British actor and producer Martin Prest’s one-man performance of the tale. As the poster says, it’s “spellingbinding” … (?)

This video presentation runs just 57 minutes so obviously it is a heavily truncated version of A Christmas Carol.

Prest, like Patrick Stewart and others before him, acts out all the characters himself on stage. A succession of backdrops and some lighting adjustments are the only help his one-man show receives. Prest’s voicework isn’t as varied as some other performers but he makes up for a lot of that with his facial expressions. Continue reading →

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December 17, 2020 · 3:14 pm

A CHRISTIAN CAROL (2016)

A Christian CarolA CHRISTIAN CAROL (2016) – Balladeer’s Blog’s 11th Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues with this look at a religious-themed variation of A Christmas Carol. Directed by Stan Severance and written by Wesley T Highlander, A Christian Carol follows in the footsteps of the 1983 production The Gospel According to Scrooge.

That 1983 project has been reviewed previously by Balladeer’s Blog and I will say again that it is so well done that it can appeal to true-believers AND to people like me, who laugh and roll their eyes at it. By comparison, this 2016 production is pretty weak and may barely even appeal to active, devout Christians. Acting, writing, special effects and singing are strictly low-level with only a few bright spots along the way.

Let’s take A Christian Carol beat by beat:

mascot sword and gun pic

BALLADEER’S BLOG

SCROOGE: The stand-in for Ebenezer Scrooge in this modern adaptation of A Christmas Carol is a woman known to us only as Carol. She’s the usual “tight-fisted hand at the grindstone” and runs a company called Rev13. GET IT? The British narrator – who sounds a bit like Robin Leach at times – tells us Carol was as dead inside as a doornail in a cute little twist on the Carol‘s opening line. Our title character has lost her Christian faith and cares only about money now. 

Carol is portrayed by Brenda Roesel but comes across more like a potential mass shooter than a Scrooge-like figure. Her pathological hatred of any and every display of Christmas spirit by her employees was so heavily on the unhinged side that I actually paused to check if she was the same woman who played the end-of-her-rope madwoman in the mock Claridryl ad from years ago. (She’s not, but could have been, she’s THAT creepy.)   Continue reading →

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December 9, 2020 · 9:57 pm

SCROOGE AND THE STARS (1963)

Scrooge and the Stars

Balladeer’s Blog’s Eleventh Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues! Back in the 2012 edition I reviewed Rich Little’s Christmas Carol, his 1978 television special. In that review I mentioned impressionist Little’s earlier, shorter, stand-up version of the special in which he used the voices of entirely different celebrities for the characters in A Christmas Carol.

This time around I will look at that 1963 AUDIO version. Rich Little had compiled the piece over the course of years, stretching back to his days as a DJ when he would ad-lib much of the material.

A historical footnote is the fact that – since Rich Little prepared the material far in advance of Christmas – he used the voice of John F Kennedy for the Ghost of Christmas Present. The record album version was released mere days after JFK’s assassination.

Continue reading →

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December 6, 2020 · 6:15 pm

SCROOGE’S ROCK AND ROLL CHRISTMAS (1983)

scrooges rock and rollChristmas Carol-A-Thon 2020, my ELEVENTH ANNUAL Carol-A-Thon,  continues with another post in Balladeer’s Blog’s annual orgy of entries on various versions of THE Christmas tale. 

Scrooge’s Rock & Roll Christmas grows on me more and more each time I watch it. It’s value as a version of A Christmas Carol is virtually nil, but it features some wonderful renditions of a variety of Yuletide songs along with some striking wintry scenery.

Most sources list this made-for- tv special as a 1984 production, but the actual copyright date on the VHS copy I tracked down says 1983, so that’s what I’m going by. If it first aired in late December 1983 it’s almost a 1984 product anyway so I can see where the confusion might come in.

A better title for this 45 minute novelty item would be Have Yourself A Has- Been Little Christmas since it features appearances by several rock singers who were already two decades past their days as chart- toppers. The premise of this telefilm is that a young lady looking for a record store (and how old does THAT sound these days) instead finds the establishment to be occupied by Ebenezer Scrooge, played by Jack Elam … yes, Jack Elam. Continue reading →

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December 2, 2020 · 12:07 am

I AM SCROOGE – A ZOMBIE STORY FOR CHRISTMAS (2009)

Balladeer’s Blog’s Eleventh Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues! Early in December is the ideal time to look at this dark-humored version of A Christmas Carol that was done in the style of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

I Am ScroogeI AM SCROOGE – A ZOMBIE STORY FOR CHRISTMAS (2009) – Written by Adam Roberts. This book was a gift from a friend a few years ago and it’s pretty entertaining. Think of The Dead Next Door set at Christmas.

Roberts plays with various aspects of the narrative, even joking about superogatory “o’s” in Marley’s moan of “Scrooooge.” He peppers in a lot of similar jokes all the way through the book. The schtick is exactly what you would expect – the title is a joking reference to I Am Legend followed by Dickens’ qualification of A Christmas Carol as “A Ghost Story For Christmas.” Continue reading →

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November 30, 2020 · 12:13 am

BLACKADDER’S CHRISTMAS CAROL (1988)

blackadder's christmas carolBLACKADDER’S CHRISTMAS CAROL (1988) – My 11th Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues here at Balladeer’s Blog! Long-time readers know what a big fan I am of Rowan Atkinson’s work – especially his Blackadder programs. Hell, I’m even an enormous fan of his more serious work in Full Throttle. And I never tire of telling anyone who will listen that I think he’d make a perfect Dikaiopolis in Aristophanes’ comedy The Acharnians. 

As to why it took me so long to finally get around to reviewing Blackadder’s Christmas Carol, it’s the same reason that applied to the George C Scott version: I wanted to handle some of the more obscure Carols before hitting the well-known ones.

This Christmas Special is set in Victorian England with Atkinson starring as Ebenezer Blackadder, owner of a moustache shop. Tony Robinson is on hand as yet another member of the Baldrick family line.

In typically perverse Blackadder fashion the storyline reverses the usual sequence of events. Ebenezer starts out as a kind-hearted and generous soul but soon the Christmas Spirit (Robbie Coltrane) shows him visions of Blackadders Past, Present and Yet-to-Come.     Continue reading →

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November 27, 2020 · 12:32 am

CHRISTMAS CAROL-A-THON 2020 BEGINS!

masc graveyard smallerIf it’s the Friday after Thanksgiving then it must be the start of Balladeer’s Blog’s Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon! As always I review obscure versions of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol AND well-known versions. I also post new reviews each year PLUS rotate in old favorites from the past. Long past? No, YOUR past.

Kicking off my Eleventh Christmas Carol-A-Thon is this look at many truly rare versions of the Carol. Long-time readers are aware of the obsessive lengths I have gone to over the years to obtain some of these gems but this post doesn’t bore you with those details. 

Ghost of Christmas PresentAren’t we all pretty fed up with the same versions of A Christmas Carol being rammed down our throats like Razzleberry Dressing every Christmas season while many of the clever but lesser known variations of the Dickens Yuletide classic languish in obscurity?

Drawing on the extensive, albeit geeky, expertise that I’ve gained in this subject over the years I’d like to spread the word about some of the versions of the story that can be found in the remote hinterlands of home video or audio.

This post will be a look at variations of the actual Dickens story, set in London in the 1840s. An entirely separate article could be written about adaptations of A Christmas Carol set in different time periods and locales, like Rod Serling’s anti-war parable Carol For Another Christmas, or the 1975 conservation short The Energy Carol or even the year 2000 Brazilian version depicting the Scrooge figure as a drug lord who repents. Just think of me as the Ghost of Christmas Carol Obscurities.

After reading this list you’ll hopefully conduct your own search for versions of the Carol beyond the limited world of Mr Magoo, Alastair Sim and George C Scott (“Dickens, you magnificent bastard! I read yer booooook!”) . 

The man all mimes aspire to be ... damn them.

The man all mimes aspire to be … damn them.

Marcel Marceau Presents a Christmas Carol (1973) – Marcel Marceau is possibly the only name that comes to mind if you try to think of famous mimes. In fact “Famous Mimes” would make for one easy  Jeopardy category because the response would always be “Who is Marcel Marceau?” Anyway, this BBC presentation featured Marceau acting out a pantomime of the Carol and playing every role.

This was accompanied by narration by another actor who once portrayed Scrooge, Michael Hordern. If you prefer versions of the Carol devoid of any and all speaking there are several silent movie Carols available out there.   Continue reading →

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December 25, 2019 · 4:45 am

CHRISTMAS CAROL-A-THON CONCLUDES: 2nd CHANCE FOR CHRISTMAS (2019)

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Christmas Carol-A-Thon 2019, Balladeer’s Blog’s TENTH Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon, comes to a close with a review of this 2019 item.

2nd Chance For Christmas2nd CHANCE FOR CHRISTMAS (2019) – (Special thanks to Balladeer’s Blog reader Lee Ann for recommending this Carol to me.)

Directed by Christopher Ray, this is an adaptation of the Dickens classic and sets the story in the present-day. The Scrooge stand-in is a Country Western singer named Chance Love (Brittany Underwood). My fellow Carol enthusiasts will immediately be put in mind of A Diva’s Christmas Carol, reviewed previously here at Balladeer’s Blog.

2nd Chance For Christmas shrewdly stakes out its own territory so that it stands out from the Vanessa Williams flick about a pop starlet named Ebony Williams. In addition the film shrewdly used a numerical designation for the first word in the title rather than spelling out “Second” ensuring it will be listed ahead of movies whose titles begin with any letters at all.

Brittany Underwood does a very good job as Chance, the mean-spirited and selfish singing starlet who abuses everyone around her. Every step of the way Underwood is up to the demands of the storyline and manages her comedic parts well, always the toughest challenge.

In fact nearly all the comedy bits in 2nd Chance For Christmas are well-written and well-executed, so I will avoid any spoilers regarding the jokes so as not to ruin them for first-time viewers.    Continue reading →

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December 24, 2019 · 3:41 pm

A SESAME STREET CHRISTMAS CAROL (2006)

masc chair and bottleBalladeer’s Blog’s TENTH Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon hurls toward its finale tomorrow! Here’s a look at yet another version of the Dickens Yuletide classic. And remember, if you have any 11 + sauce to spare in this holiday season, please donate it to the Ethan Van Sciver family.  

Sesame Street Christmas CarolA SESAME STREET CHRISTMAS CAROL (2006) – This 46 minute special, which presents Oscar the Grouch as the Ebenezer Scrooge substitute, opens and closes with some very Christmassy scenes of artificial snow falling on the Sesame Street set. The apartments on that street are all decorated for the holiday so everything looks very festive.

Obviously this version of A Christmas Carol is aimed at children and pretty much only children so don’t expect the broader appeal that lies in A Muppet Christmas Carol. Still, anyone with children of their own or nieces or nephews or really young siblings can take 46 minutes to hang out with the kids while they enjoy this.

The story does not follow the actual plot of A Christmas Carol but instead uses the ghostly visits as framing devices for short sketches featuring the likes of Big Bird, Tickle-Me-Elmo, Bert & Ernie, Snuffle-upagus and Mr Hooper. This is ideal for children’s shorter attention spans while the adults can enjoy long-ago clips from when Hooper and the original voice actors for those Muppets were all still alive.

We start with Oscar the Grouch trying to barricade himself in his garbage can to avoid all that mushy Christmas cheer. He is visited by Joe Marley, a Muppet who works as a delivery man for the Scaredy-Pants Delivery Service. Marley informs the annoyed Oscar that he will be receiving three packages which contain Ghost-O-Grams.  Continue reading →

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December 23, 2019 · 1:00 pm

A LUKE CAGE CHRISTMAS CAROL (1973)

Yes, it’s a Marvel Comics crossover with Balladeer’s Blog’s TENTH Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon! With all of the Marvel superheroes conquering the big and small screens here’s an action-packed Christmas Carol adaptation from the 1970s.  

luke-cage-christmas-carolJingle Bombs was the real title of this holiday tale which pitted superhero Luke Cage aka Hero for Hire aka Power Man against the one-off supervillain called Marley. Like a Guest Villain from the Adam West Batman show Marley uses a campy Christmas Carol motif for his nefarious plan … yet, oddly the story is kind of quaint.  

On Christmas Eve, Luke Cage is hanging out with his then-girlfriend Claire Temple, a nurse who worked at a clinic in the New York ghetto. Later on in the series Claire would be the center of a romantic triangle between Luke Cage and another of Marvel’s black superheroes – Black Goliath, Hank Pym’s former lab assistant who used Pym’s inventions to turn to giant-size and back. 

As night approaches Luke sees a ruckus outside the clinic: a man in Dickensian 1800s clothing is using his walking stick to beat a little handicapped boy named Timmy. Our hero goes out to save the little boy and is attacked by the strange man, who identifies himself as “Marley.”   Continue reading →

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