A Christmas Carol - December 23, 1938 - 01:00:47 - 20.8 MB

On December 23, 1938, Orson Welles and his Mercury radio players presented
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Cast: Orson Welles (Ebenezer Scrooge),
Hiram Sherman (Bob Cratchit), Brenda Forbes (Mrs. Cratchit), Arthur Anderson
(Ghost of Christmas Past), Eustace Wyatt (Ghost of Christmas Present), Frank
Readick (Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come), Alfred Shirley (Marley's Ghost),
Joseph Cotten (Scrooge's nephew Fred), Virginia Welles - Mrs. Welles at that
time, appearing as Anna Stafford (Belle), Kingsley Colton (Tiny Tim), George
Spelldon (Mr. Fezziwig), Alice Frost (Charwoman), Ernest Chappell (Announcer).
Adapted and directed by Orson Welles. Produced by John Houseman. Music by
Bernard Herrmann.

The first of two Orson Welles radio productions of A Christmas Carol. Both were
sponsored by The Campbell Soup Company and both were supposed to star Lionel
Barrymore in the role of Scrooge but Barrymore was forced to cancel this 1938
performance due to ill health. Welles stepped into the Scrooge role in addition
to voicing the narrator.

Listen/Download Absolutely Free at wWw.OrsOnRaDio.com

Although Barrymore returned as Scrooge in 1939, the 1938 cast was more remarkable,
including long-time Welles regular Joseph Cotten, and the surviving recording is
far better. Both performances are available at wWw.OrsOnRaDio.com

"A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas." was first published
as a novella in London by Chapman & Hall on December 19, 1843. The illustration of
Marley's Ghost used here is by John Leech, from the original 1843 edition.