General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTCM Showing Rod Serling's "Carol For Another Christmas!" Tonight (SUNDAY - First Time in 48 Years!)
I've wanted to see this since I was in college.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_for_Another_Christmas
Carol for Another Christmas, scripted by Rod Serling as a modernization of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and a plea for global cooperation between nations, was telecast only onceDecember 28, 1964.[1] The only TV movie ever directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, this was the film in which Peter Sellers gave his first performance after suffering a near-fatal heart attack. Sellers portrayed a demigod in an apocalyptic Christmas. Sterling Hayden, who costarred with Sellers in Dr. Strangelove earlier that year, was also featured.
Film critic Bhob Stewart provided some background on the production:
Presented without commercial interruptions, this "United Nations Special" was sponsored by the Xerox Corporation, the first of a series of Xerox specials promoting the UN. Director Joseph Mankiewicz's first work for television, the 90-minute ABC drama was publicized as having an all-star cast (which meant that names of some supporting cast members were not officially released). In Rod Serling's update of Charles Dickens, industrial tycoon Daniel Grudge (Sterling Hayden) has never recovered from the loss of his 22-year-old son Marley (Peter Fonda, whose scenes were cut, I think), killed in action during Christmas Eve of 1944. The embittered Grudge has only scorn for any American involvement in international affairs. But then the Ghost of Christmas Past (Steve Lawrence) takes him back through time to a World War I troopship. Grudge also is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present (Pat Hingle), and the Ghost of Christmas Future (Robert Shaw) gives him a tour across a desolate landscape where he sees the ruins of a once-great civilization. In the final weeks of post-production, Peter Fonda's scenes were deleted, but his image remained in the film, recognizable in a portrait on the wall.[2]
Others in the cast were Percy Rodriguez, Eva Marie Saint, Ben Gazzara, Barbara Ann Teer, James Shigeta and Britt Ekland. Henry Mancini wrote the theme music, which was recorded for his 1966 holiday LP, A Merry Mancini Christmas.
The film is not commercially available, but it can be seen at the Paley Center for Media in New York and Los Angeles and the Film and Television Archive at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Turner Classic Movies has recently announced that it will telecast Carol for Another Christmas for the first time in forty-eight years, on December 16 and 22, 2012. [p]
TCM ARTICLE:
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/963811/Carol-for-Another-Christmas-A/articles.html
Fridays Child
(23,998 posts)Bozita
(26,955 posts)We People
(619 posts)THANK YOU, Hissyspit!!
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)Much appreciated!
Nevernose
(13,081 posts)Hopefully she has a bigger role in this, but I'm excited to see it for many other reasons.
Berlum
(7,044 posts)Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)malaise
(269,365 posts)johnp3907
(3,737 posts)Or TV at all really. Is there any way I can see this? (I would never suggest that anyone violate copyright laws by DVRing this and posting it somewhere hint hint hint.)
xmas74
(29,685 posts)One of them will probably have it up.
Dalai_1
(1,301 posts)Just set my DVR..I did not see this when it was broadcast in '64 and
have not heard of it...always liked Rod Serling though..
sufrommich
(22,871 posts)SoCalDem
(103,856 posts)To be fair, a LOT of them were pretty awful, but many of them had a particularly "leftist" feel to them, and during the time when many of them would have naturally started to appear on tv, we were overrun with right wingers starting to really control things.
There are always gazillions of movies from the 30's & 40's but there is an empty space until the 80's... curious
You have to really search to find many movies (that are not westerns or bible fantasies) from those decades.
A truly great one "The 25th Hour" even had its name stolen by a recent movie, and the original is rarely ever shown and cannot be found easily even in online databases.. why?? It's pointedly anti-war... It's one of Anthony Quinn's best work.
Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)cynatnite
(31,011 posts)kalli007
(683 posts)In the first 5 minutes they jump right in.
HipChick
(25,485 posts)Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)Wind Dancer
(3,618 posts)I'm a big fan of Rod Serling and have never heard of this movie. I'll definitely record this on 12/22!
BeHereNow
(17,162 posts)Thanks for posting Hissyspit!
BHN
Berlum
(7,044 posts)For those of us without TCM, how was the film ?
JustAnotherGen
(32,069 posts)But I didn't see this until 8:30 - so I missed a big chunk.
Before my time on this earth - but still relevant today. If I had a VCR I'd tape it and ship it out to you this Sunday.
Berlum
(7,044 posts)I will seek it in Torrent-land
El Supremo
(20,365 posts)Too much over acting. Too preachy. Combining an anti-war message with helping the poor didn't work.
And I was wondering how they were going to transform tough guy, Sterling Hayden, into a bubbly nice person at the end. Well, they didn't.
Berlum
(7,044 posts)The Ghost of Christmas future showed the outcome of a Tea Party dominated world.
Scruffy Rumbler
(961 posts)Emperiel Me's coyboy hat turned court jester crown.... B*sh jr?
"Me! ME! ME! ME!"
WI_DEM
(33,497 posts)in the 1951 version of "A Christmas Carol" very much afterward.
Scruffy Rumbler
(961 posts)Watched it last night. A perfect example of television from that time period. A beautiful blend of theater and TV. Think use of lighting and darkness, minimal sets and superb acting and writing.
A profound observation on war, the human condition, motivation, mob rule. Prophetic genius of Rod Sterling at its best.
The scene concerning Hiroshima (school children), had me in tears. " 100,000 people killed in an instant, a number it took the Confederacy 4 years to reach. What are the implications of that? We can destroy everyone on the planet in an afternoon..." ( paraphrasing)
The scene concerning displaced people: heart wrenching. (Out of sight, out of mind)
A shout out to Hissyspit and Icypeas (?) for bring this to our awareness.