Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol Orson Welles Lionel Barrymore 1938 Christmas Old Time Radio Shows

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  • Опубликовано: 7 дек 2022
  • The most beloved classic to this day by Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol.
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    The Campbell Playhouse (1938-1940):
    Yes, the soup company that we know of today! The Campbell Playhouse was a live CBS radio drama series directed by and starring Orson Welles. Produced by Welles and John Houseman, it was a sponsored continuation of The Mercury Theatre on the Air. The series offered hour-long adaptations of classic plays and novels, as well as adaptations of popular motion pictures.
    When Welles left at the end of the second season, The Campbell Playhouse changed format as a 30-minute weekly series that ran for one season (1940-41).
    (Wikipedia)
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Комментарии • 144

  • @patriciadilday447
    @patriciadilday447 Год назад +36

    My Grandmother would have been 19 when this was on the radio. It is very likely that she listened to this with her parents. I'm fighting back the tears, just thinking that. Thank you.

    • @theprimitivelibrary
      @theprimitivelibrary  Год назад +5

      Oh probably - family time around the radio was the thing back then. I'm sure my grandparents did the same thing.

    • @littlemissmichele9254
      @littlemissmichele9254 Год назад +4

      My nan too. Lovely to imagine them sat listening to it.

  • @kathrynramm1731
    @kathrynramm1731 7 месяцев назад +6

    I was born in 1942 but my parents showed us this movie as we were growing up now I am 81 and have never missed a single movie since beautiful meaning to spread love and good cheer and kindness ❤️👍🏼

    • @theprimitivelibrary
      @theprimitivelibrary  7 месяцев назад

      I completely agree I watch the same movies every Christmas!! They are just as great today as they where back then!

  • @Scorpio45Libra
    @Scorpio45Libra Год назад +12

    One of my absolute favorites!! The ending really tugged at my heart strings as this is the first Christmas in 58yrs. without my Mother. Such an amazing performance! 🥰💖

    • @melindawood3644
      @melindawood3644 Год назад +4

      Sorry for your loss of Mom. She's always with you in your heart. 💝💝🙏

    • @theprimitivelibrary
      @theprimitivelibrary  Год назад +4

      Oh I'm so sorry for your loss! She will always be with you 🙏💝💝

    • @Scorpio45Libra
      @Scorpio45Libra Год назад +1

      @@theprimitivelibrary Thank you!! 💖

    • @Scorpio45Libra
      @Scorpio45Libra Год назад +2

      @@melindawood3644 Thank you Melinda! 💖

    • @fromthesidelines
      @fromthesidelines Год назад +4

      Always think of the good times you shared with her, Sheryl. 😊

  • @daneh3443
    @daneh3443 6 месяцев назад +3

    A true classic and more entertaining than many television versions. Thanks for this gem from the past.

  • @kimtodd2657
    @kimtodd2657 Год назад +35

    Isn’t it amazingly the voices of Time passed legends,”That are just ALIVE today, as then”! TCM’ shows of this History, is as big or bigger still today!”THATS AMAZING!

    • @theprimitivelibrary
      @theprimitivelibrary  Год назад +11

      I agree .. these shows have stood the test of time and are just as great as they were when they first aired!

    • @beacee
      @beacee Год назад +9

      They are alive as long as we keep it alive. Lionel was legend. This is the role he most wanted to be remembered for. ❤

    • @jennleighwesson6089
      @jennleighwesson6089 Год назад +2

      @@theprimitivelibraryqqqqq

  • @donbrennan4993
    @donbrennan4993 Год назад +7

    How incredibly exciting it must have been to hear this broadcast in 1938. It is still thrilling today.

  • @hemming57
    @hemming57 Год назад +12

    Orson Welles was only 23 years old when this play was produced.

  • @INDYDan
    @INDYDan Год назад +9

    As mean as Mr. Lionel Barrymore sounds on TV and screen he sounds so pleasant when he's in a regular conversation. He is a great actor. 👍

    • @audreydaleski1067
      @audreydaleski1067 Год назад +2

      The greatest.

    • @deborahschuler8826
      @deborahschuler8826 6 месяцев назад +2

      In the Barrymore starred in a radio program called "Mayor of the Town" where he played a kindly, fatherly character. It was quite a difference from Scrooge or Mr. Potter, but his vouce could encompass both extremes. Also, check out his Grandpa Vanderhof in "You Can't Take It With You."

    • @INDYDan
      @INDYDan 6 месяцев назад +1

      @@deborahschuler8826 Thank you, I will 🎄🎅

  • @benjaminadams4957
    @benjaminadams4957 4 месяца назад +1

    So wonderful 😊

  • @nicholasmamounas9919
    @nicholasmamounas9919 6 месяцев назад +7

    I Just heard this program and I really enjoyed it Thank you to all the People who work on Primitive Library channel for posting it.

  • @gregstuartsmith
    @gregstuartsmith Год назад +8

    This rendition brought me to tears several times! The best version I’ve come across!

  • @creeg84
    @creeg84 6 месяцев назад +8

    Merry Christmas and Happy 2024 🍺

    • @theprimitivelibrary
      @theprimitivelibrary  6 месяцев назад +2

      Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you as well! 🎄

  • @joemonroe3811
    @joemonroe3811 6 месяцев назад +7

    ❤ tky have a merry Christmas everybody 2023

  • @christianradioE5
    @christianradioE5 Год назад +9

    DEC 2022 !! CLASSIC !!

  • @mrsbluesky8415
    @mrsbluesky8415 Год назад +11

    This version is better than most film versions. I think it’s the voices esp Orson Wells which is so expressive without being over the top.

  • @kimberlycoltrainrsrccr2626
    @kimberlycoltrainrsrccr2626 Год назад +16

    I don't know which I like him better as: Scrooge or Mr. Potter in It's a Wonderful Life! 😊
    Wonderful listen in Atl traffic🤣

    • @vintagebrew1057
      @vintagebrew1057 Год назад +4

      A genuine Victorian gentleman recreacting the role from that most Victorian of stories. Perfect listening in Snowy London.....

    • @theprimitivelibrary
      @theprimitivelibrary  Год назад +3

      Oh I agree... I think I'm leaning more towards It's a Wonderful Life since that is one of my favorite Christmas movies!

  • @johnnybgoode7983
    @johnnybgoode7983 6 месяцев назад +3

    Awesome Welles!

  • @ineffablemars
    @ineffablemars Год назад +8

    I love listening to this and imagining the scene in my head. I think radio like this was good for the vocabulary and general ability to speak well back then. People aren’t really good at speaking nowadays… myself included.

    • @jeffsmith2022
      @jeffsmith2022 Год назад +1

      Too busy texting and playing with your cell phone, that's why...

    • @ineffablemars
      @ineffablemars Год назад +1

      @@jeffsmith2022 lol I literally don’t text anyone

  • @d.arnoldmarshall2100
    @d.arnoldmarshall2100 6 месяцев назад +2

    This radio production was an annual event

  • @aliciaholborn6748
    @aliciaholborn6748 Год назад +4

    When I listen to an old radio show like this one, I think that my Mother and Father and their parents heard this same show when it 1st aired. I feel a distant connection at this sentimental season. 😊

    • @seanmahoney2755
      @seanmahoney2755 Год назад +3

      My parents loved radio shows too, the first podcasts!

  • @rebeccad5988
    @rebeccad5988 Год назад +4

    Thank You ❤️ Grandfather would listen on Sunday the radio made a special time for airing good memories with grandparents and listening today awesome
    Merry Christmas and to all good night It's A Wonderful Life
    Joy and Peace 🕊️🙏

  • @franknemeth7430
    @franknemeth7430 Год назад +7

    What a Treasure .

  • @WGARVA
    @WGARVA 8 месяцев назад +8

    Orson Welles' voice ❤

    • @theprimitivelibrary
      @theprimitivelibrary  8 месяцев назад +1

      gotta love it... you can always tell when its Orson on a show!!

    • @beacee
      @beacee 6 месяцев назад +2

      I believe this was from 1939. Lionel Barrymore had an amazing voice. No doubt why he played Scrooge for almost 20 years. Nothing better than these radio dramas!

    • @loganbigmo
      @loganbigmo 6 месяцев назад +1

      @@beacee 1939? So the 12/23/38 in the video is incorrect? Then again, I heard Lionel Barrymore passed on recording this in 1938 to not interfere with the 1938 movie...

  • @danzgodava
    @danzgodava Год назад +9

    orson welles,voice made for radio

    • @theprimitivelibrary
      @theprimitivelibrary  Год назад +2

      Def! he would have been great with audiobooks!

    • @giovanna722
      @giovanna722 Год назад +4

      One of the most famous voices of the last century.

  • @sadeaton
    @sadeaton Год назад +5

    Old school, I like it and thank you for sharing👍

  • @catherinefay2281
    @catherinefay2281 Год назад +7

    My favorite line is God Bless Us Everyone said by Tiny Tim . This is a Classic and one of my favorite stories I'm trying to collect every single verson of A Christmas Carol on DVd etc !

  • @lawrencegoldworm
    @lawrencegoldworm 6 месяцев назад +8

    Lionel Barrymore is the definitive Scrooge. I wonder if he drew on this character when he played Mr. Potter?

  • @ericjackson9256
    @ericjackson9256 Год назад +10

    a classic merry christmas

  • @Fred.pSonic
    @Fred.pSonic Год назад +8

    Listen to that dramatic score! Bernard Herrmann should get as much credit as Welles for creating such high art. Thank you TPL for the high fidelity upload, wow.

    • @JohannaLeigh
      @JohannaLeigh 7 месяцев назад +2

      Good grief! Bernard Herman wrote the score for Psycho and then the Brian DePalma film, Sisters in 1973.

  • @JohannaLeigh
    @JohannaLeigh 7 месяцев назад +8

    Stick around til the end for interview with Lionel Barrymore.

  • @4bobbyt
    @4bobbyt Год назад +5

    Probably the best version of this great story, in a recording that holds up, from Orson Welles' Mercury Company, with a sponsor finally. Thank you for posting this. in an age of Rage in which we live, it finally gave me a much needed Christmas spirit.

  • @cynthiabackman6174
    @cynthiabackman6174 Год назад +12

    Love this. Merry Christmas!

  • @Tmanaz480
    @Tmanaz480 Год назад +4

    "What right have you to be dismal about Christmas, uncle?" As we find out he had plenty of reasons poor guy.

  • @kenr4709
    @kenr4709 Год назад +7

    X I love this story, it’s my favorite Christmas movie every year, I have not seen this one before with Lionel Barrymore, but I know I’ll listen to it in the future again. I also love the film that George C Scott did playing Scrooge in a Christmas Carol as well, thank you for letting us see this Christmas past presentation. Merry Christmas to all! 52:05

  • @MsLeenite
    @MsLeenite Год назад +5

    What a wonderful Christmas treat! Thank you for posting this. Best wishes to all.

  • @kerriirvin5206
    @kerriirvin5206 Год назад +4

    ♥️🎄Thank you 🎄♥️

  • @Debdeaid
    @Debdeaid Год назад +5

    Thank you for sharing. What a treat.

  • @giovanna722
    @giovanna722 Год назад +4

    Wonderful sound. 1938!

  • @Tmanaz480
    @Tmanaz480 Год назад +7

    Sure, eventually radios grew screens, but even after that it was still 90% audio.

  • @teresamc521
    @teresamc521 Год назад +4

    What acting!!!

  • @racheldavin7763
    @racheldavin7763 Год назад +9

    It sounds like Mr. Potter from "It's a Wonderful Life" playing Scrooge...oh wait....

  • @dianahohimer1107
    @dianahohimer1107 Год назад +13

    Happy Christmas everyone

  • @5starubercar698
    @5starubercar698 Год назад +4

    Good afternoooooon!

  • @r.i.p.volodya
    @r.i.p.volodya Год назад +9

    The reading starts at 03:50

  • @mitchharvey5459
    @mitchharvey5459 Год назад +2

    Delighted I found this

  • @lightningbug276
    @lightningbug276 Год назад +3

    I enjoyed this so much! 🎄

  • @fromthesidelines
    @fromthesidelines Год назад +9

    Originally broadcast on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1939 [8-8:55pm(et)].
    The December 23, 1938 edition featured Welles himself as "Scrooge", because Lionel Barrymore was committed to narrate a condensed version of MGM's adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" [featuring Reginald Owen] on their "GOOD NEWS OF 1939" program on NBC {December 15, 1938}- and, because of his contract with the studio, could not appear on his traditional CBS dramatization that year, which he had been doing since 1934.

    • @theprimitivelibrary
      @theprimitivelibrary  Год назад +3

      That's intriguing since it was reported that he was sick! But it doesn't surprise me probably the network didn't want to announce what Lionel was working on so they had to say something.

    • @fromthesidelines
      @fromthesidelines Год назад +2

      He caught the "Louis B. Mayer Virus." 😉 Lionel's portion of that "GOOD NEWS" broadcast is on RUclips.

    • @sadeaton
      @sadeaton Год назад +4

      I had read that Barrymore couldn't play the role of Scrooge because he was having difficulty with arthritis or some sort of leg injury, which several years later led him to play old man Potter in It's a Wonderful Life from a wheelchair.

    • @theprimitivelibrary
      @theprimitivelibrary  Год назад +3

      @@sadeaton Yes - He was in a wheelchair by 1938 which is why he couldn't play the role of Scrooge - that part was given to Reginald Owen.

    • @sadeaton
      @sadeaton Год назад +2

      @@theprimitivelibrary My high school basketball coach looked like old man Potter, acted like him too.

  • @Kw1161
    @Kw1161 6 месяцев назад +2

    Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year 🎉🎉🎉🎉!

  • @psyclonejack1523
    @psyclonejack1523 Год назад +4

    Love it! Thanks for sharing!!

  • @leonasabo528
    @leonasabo528 Год назад +3

    Thank You.Merry Christmas Hugs

  • @PeaceOfGrace
    @PeaceOfGrace Год назад +4

    Thank you, that sounded great, considering how long ago it was recorded!

  • @kellygnow1
    @kellygnow1 Год назад +3

    Thank you

  • @ThreeDogHeads
    @ThreeDogHeads Год назад +9

    The recording is amazing. Thank you for posting it. However, this broadcast is actually the December 24, 1939 performance. The 1938 broadcast does not have Lionel Barrymore as Scrooge, but rather Welles himself.

  • @kelleyceccato7025
    @kelleyceccato7025 Год назад +4

    The great Lionel Barrymore's greatest hits-- Mr. Potter gets to transform into Dan Peggotty, or perhaps Grandpa Vanderhof.

  • @Peaceful-hi9iy
    @Peaceful-hi9iy Год назад +1

    Awesome!

  • @jeffsmith2022
    @jeffsmith2022 Год назад +4

    Too bad the other players were not introduced to us...🌲🌲🌲Merry Christmas to all...

    • @theprimitivelibrary
      @theprimitivelibrary  Год назад +2

      Merry Christmas!

    • @fromthesidelines
      @fromthesidelines Год назад +2

      The cast credits were left off of this version. The "Mercury Players" were: Everett Sloane (as "Young Scrooge"), Frank Readick, Bea Benaderet, Ray Collins, Erskine Sanford, George Coulouris, Georgia Backus, and several other fine actors.

    • @w9gb
      @w9gb Год назад +1

      Lionel Barrymore & Orson Welles have an Epilogue to the December 24, 1939 broadcast
      thanking their radio sponsor, Campbell Soup Co. and naming cast and broadcast support staff.

    • @fromthesidelines
      @fromthesidelines Год назад

      This version is similar to the one Campbell Soup Company distributed to local radio stations from the 1970's until a few years ago {with a new opening and closing narrated by Len Gochman; that one also eliminated the original closing and mention of the cast, and the CBS I.D. at 29:31}.

  • @seanmahoney2755
    @seanmahoney2755 Год назад +12

    Ebenezer Scrooge eventually bought the Campbells Soup Company and they now charge $2.00 a can. True story

    • @theprimitivelibrary
      @theprimitivelibrary  Год назад +3

      😂😂 how true that is!

    • @deborahschuler8826
      @deborahschuler8826 6 месяцев назад +1

      To this day, I can not eat chicken noodle soup with wide noodles or lots of chicken in it. Thanks to growing up on Campbell's, "proper" chicken noodle soup has to have narrow noodles and one small chunk of chicken (rarely, two chunks) floating in the broth.

  • @randb4865
    @randb4865 Год назад +9

    Your description is exactly reversed. This is Lionel Barrymore in the"5th annual" broadcast of A Christmas Carol, which is December 24, 1939. In 1938, his exclusive commitment to MGM prevented him, Orson Welles subbing as Scrooge that year.

    • @theprimitivelibrary
      @theprimitivelibrary  Год назад +4

      Yes, someone else has already said that; however, I use the date that is given on the files by Archive.org. I have removed the info I put in... but everywhere I have checked it states that he was in the 1938 and Orson Welles did the 1939. Too bad we will never see the original documentation from the broadcasts to find out. It would have been nice to have documents for all of the shows that were broadcasted back then!
      Do you mean the movie? He was to be in the MGM movie in 1938 but due to illness Reginald Owen played the part.
      Wikipedia: "By 1938, Barrymore's disability forced him to relinquish the role of Ebenezer Scrooge (a role he made famous on the radio) to British actor Reginald Owen in the MGM film version of A Christmas Carol."

    • @fromthesidelines
      @fromthesidelines Год назад +1

      Here's the 1938 edition, with Welles as "Scrooge": ruclips.net/video/kHcFl_1AFFI/видео.html

    • @fromthesidelines
      @fromthesidelines Год назад

      Here's the NEW YORK TIMES radio listings from December 15, 1938, noting Lionel's appearance on the "GOOD NEWS" program: www.jjonz.us/RadioLogs/pagesnfiles/logs_files/1930s/1938/38_12Dec/[n]38-12-15-(Thu).pdf

    • @fromthesidelines
      @fromthesidelines Год назад

      And Orson's production on "THE CAMPBELL PLAYHOUSE" (identified as the "MERCURY THEATRE") that year: www.jjonz.us/RadioLogs/pagesnfiles/logs_files/1930s/1938/38_12Dec/[n]38-12-23-(Fri).pdf

  • @schullieringer
    @schullieringer Год назад +5

    Does anyone know if this script is public domain?

  • @ZephaniahL
    @ZephaniahL Год назад +4

    So this was 1938? Ben Mankiewicz incorrectly, then, it seems, reported on TCM a few nights ago that so as not to compete with Reginald Owen's 1938 film version of A Christmas Carol, Barrymore decided to skip his standard radio performance as Scrooge.

    • @JohannaLeigh
      @JohannaLeigh 7 месяцев назад +1

      I just listened to a biography of Mr. Barrymore that said he was not physically able to play Scrooge. He had bad arthritis in his hip. So the role was given to Reginald Owens. But he liked playing the role on radio.

    • @ZephaniahL
      @ZephaniahL 7 месяцев назад +2

      @@JohannaLeigh Thanks! So that might be why he was sitting down throughout It’s A Wonderful Life.

    • @deborahschuler8826
      @deborahschuler8826 6 месяцев назад +1

      ​@@ZephaniahLBarrymore was also in a wheelchair when he played Dr. Gillespie in the Doctor Kildare movies.

  • @ssake1_IAL_Research
    @ssake1_IAL_Research 6 месяцев назад

    It is indeed a beloved classic, but after 14 years independent research, I'm convinced it was not originally written by Charles Dickens. What appears to have happened is that Dickens hurriedly re-worked a spiritualist redemption story for quick cash, modifying it for quick-sale. The original authors were an American couple named Mathew and Abby Whittier.

  • @mrbrown4553
    @mrbrown4553 Год назад +2

    Commercial rubbish, of its time - pure humbug!