For your review, I have uploaded an old radio play, Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" narrated by Orson Wells, staring Lionel Barrymore as Scrooge.
For your review, I have uploaded an old radio play, Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" narrated by Orson Wells, staring Lionel Barrymore as Scrooge.
Stream it HERE or right-click THIS and select "save target as" to save to your computer.
I thought this would be a nice program to run around the Christmas Holiday.
Sorry, I forgot that Part15 doesn't recognize "mms" as an HTML code. So, both links are for downloading the file.
Or you can type the address mms://heartandhoof.com/radio/A_Christmas_Carol.mp3 to stream using Windows Media Player.
Thanks Alot
I have downloaded the file and will add it to rotation this evening.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
In addition to being one of the world's greatest talents, Orson Welles had a very interesting life and was badly mistreated for unfair reasons, sort of the way things are happening again today, but back to Orson Welles.
The Christmas Carol is also a very interesting story to study not just for the popular tale but to find hidden meanings in Charles Dicken's writing. I'm not that informed about it, but I heard a radio conversation suggesting that Dicken's was saying "more than appears on the surface."
I think I'll also download the program and try to listen "between the lines."
If anybody knows anything about it please come forward.
"If you see anything, say anything."
Thanks for the info ... I'll go get it for next week. BTW, if you just right click this, you should be able to D/L it in any platform:
http://heartandhoof.com/radio/A_Christmas_Carol.mp3
I was very sorry I couldn't attend, but Gerald Dickens, great-great-grandson of Charles Dickens appeared here at the San Juan Community Theatre a short while back. Just FYI, he tours a one-man show, talking about his great-great-grandfather, doing character interpretations, and such ... he seems to prefer smaller venues, community theatres, ship-board performances, or places with historical significance, and the like. Maybe you can get him to come to your neighborhood. As I understand it, his performances of "A Christmas Carol", especially in England, always sell out.
http://www.byerschoice.com/Page-Dickens-Returns_47.aspx
"I heard a radio conversation suggesting that Dicken's was saying "more than appears on the surface."
I think I'll also download the program and try to listen "between the lines."
If anybody knows anything about it please come forward."
It's a novella, not that long ... why not read it?
http://www.literature.org/authors/dickens-charles/christmas-carol/
I believe Dickens was himself moved by his own writing. He grew up poor, even though he considered himself to be of an educated class of folk. He was disappointed in his pop, who was the model for David Copperfield. Any author is influenced by some balance of his own culture and education, which was experiencing a resurgence of happier times of traditional Christmas as opposed to crass capitalism which had overtaken it (now where have I heard that before ;))... plus he was a devout believer in the Grace of God through Jesus Christ.
Be careful trying to read something into it that wasn't intended. I think it stands on its own, a story with very strong moral implications, which he and many other authors of his time wrote about. But that doesn't mean it's imagery is totally apparent today. And maybe it's OK to attach personality to it in any case.
Here's what I see, not that I'm a critical expert on DIckens ...
1) Marley's Ghost - an image of drudgery and loneliness ... Purgatory and Perdition.
2) The Ghost of Christmas Past - appeared in a strange light, similar to angels in scripture, which are always messengers. Scrooge's father appears to have been something like himself, but was changed and became "kinder than he was" before. His sister Fan had a large heart, but died, a predecessor in the story to Tiny Tim, who also had an outgoing unassuming spirit, but was physically frail. Link and contrast.
3) The Ghost of Christmas Present - Who wore a fancy robe that had magic powers to whisk them away .. which reminds me of the coat of many colors in Genesis, Israel's gift to his favorite son Joseph. And of the woman who had a bloody discharge (for what was it -- 10 years?), who with faith touched Jesus' robe and was instantly cured.
4) The Ghost of Christmas Future - Definitely appears as the Angel of Death, the Grim Reaper. 'Nuff said.
So, and I think this is why Dickens wrote this beloved story, we have messages of warning, but never without the gift of hope, which I always believe is at the heart of Christmas. And there you have it... Scrooge gets "born again" ... becomes a different person, better than he was, no longer miserable and alone, finally able to bear real fruit.
Funny, though. If you think about it too much, I suppose one could say it's still self-serving. He gives up his obsession with money, but he still gets plenty out of it. Now everybody likes him, he gets invited to dinner, has a lot of followers on Twitter, etc., etc. *<|:-)
Imagine meeting an interesting woman named Carol on Christmas Day. She would be "Christmas Carol."
Please don't escort me out, here is what I really have to say.
MRAM, thank you sir for the Orson Wells, which just got played on my station. The quality was perfect as if it was right from the 16-inch electrical transcription.
Ken, I didn't realize that Scrooge had a following on Twitter. Maybe he could do a "nice guy" version of that Donald Trump TV show. Instead of firing people at the end of the show he could give someone "another chance."
Funny you should mention it ... I'm playing it on air right now, just ending. Even if no one else is listening, I can enjoy it driving around town in the car *<|:-)
Also many thanks to MRAM for the link to it. I'm also playing a couple other holiday things tonight:
Bob Hope - Christmas Show, Story of Bingsy and Bobsy
Abbott & Costello - Christmas Shopping