Classic Ross Amico

Tag: A Christmas Carol

Serling’s Christmas Carol Twilight Zone on Friday

Serling’s surly Sterling is at the wounded heart of “Carol for Another Christmas” (1964). Sterling Hayden plays Daniel Grudge, a 20th century counterpart to Ebenezer Scrooge, in Rod Serling’s update of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”

A damaged Grudge, who suffered a personal loss during World War II, now adheres to a selfish doctrine. He shuns cultural exchange programs, humanitarian aid, and diplomacy (advocated by his nephew, Fred), in favor of isolationism, “America first,” and nuclear escalation. Three spirits – played by Steve Lawrence, Pat Hingle, and Robert Shaw – offer him a chance to connect with his humanity. The all-star cast also includes Ben Gazzara, Percy Rodriguez, Eve Marie Saint, James Shigeta, and Peter Sellers.

We’ll talk about it tonight, alongside one of Serling’s classic “Twilight Zone” episodes, “The Night of the Meek” (1959). Art Carney plays a disillusioned department store Santa, for whom a chance discovery restores meaning to his life – and the spirit of the season for everyone he encounters.

We’ll be hanging our stockings with care for a Rod Serling double-bill, on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Leave your lumps of coal in the comments section, as we livestream on Facebook, this FRIDAY EVENING AT A SPECIAL TIME, 7:30 EST.

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

December 17, 2021
Twilight Zone Christmas Carol Serling’s Sci-Fi

I’m going for my booster shot this afternoon, so in case I’m in the Twilight Zone tomorrow, I’m posting about this now.

This week on “Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner,” we offer, for your consideration, a discussion of Rod Serling’s “Carol for Another Christmas” (1964).

Serling updates Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” to the mid-20th century, with an all-star cast headed by Sterling Hayden (including, among others, Ben Gazzara, Pat Hingle, Steve Lawrence, Eva Marie Saint, Peter Sellers, and Robert Shaw as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come!). The director is four-time Academy Award winner Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

This is the first of our “viewer’s choice” selections, a “Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Feature” feature we hope to return to regularly in the future. Thanks to Jon Haag for his recommendation.

We had actually wanted to cover this rare TV movie last year, but at the time it wasn’t available for purchase or streaming. Some altruistic soul has since uploaded it to YouTube. The film is also scheduled for broadcast on Turner Classic Movies, on December 23 at 12 noon EST.

As a warm garnish to Serling’s Cold War “Christmas Carol,” we’ll also talk about “The Night of the Meek” (1959) from Season 2 of “The Twilight Zone,” with Art Carney a disillusioned department store Santa who discovers a most unusual bag of tricks.

Submitted for your approval: two middle-aged sci-fi geeks, working hard to spread some twilit holiday cheer, on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Fabricate your ironic twists in the comments section. It will be a lesson learned, I’m sure, when next we livestream on Facebook, this FRIDAY EVENING AT A SPECIAL TIME, 7:30 EST.

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

December 15, 2021
Scrooge Reimagined A Passionate Christmas Carol

Think you’re played-out on Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol?” Consider giving this one a shot.

“The Passion of Scrooge” is not just a filmed performance of a work by composer Jon Deak (who, from 1973 to 2009, was also a bassist with the New York Philharmonic); it is a collaborative documentary in which the film direction is every bit as expressive and essential to the overall experience as anything that happens musically or onstage.

The award-winning filmmaker, H. Paul Moon, has received perhaps his widest exposure through the nationwide television broadcast, on PBS, of his documentary “Samuel Barber: Absolute Beauty.” Moon traveled from D.C. to the studios of WWFM – The Classical Network to talk with me about Barber – who was born in West Chester, PA, and attended Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music – in 2017.

We met up again, a couple of years ago, to chat about his work on “Scrooge.” I’m delighted to find that he posted the audio file of our conversation.

Contemporary, challenging, and thought-provoking, “The Passion of Scrooge” strips away the accrued nostalgia for a well-worn holiday tradition to get at the heart of Dickens’ message.

Moon’s film is on BluRay and DVD and is also available for online streaming. To learn more about it, listen to our conversation – with selections from Deak’s opera – or visit scroogeopera.com.

At Paul’s suggestion, the balance of the hour during his visit to WWFM was devoted to a recording of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “On Christmas Night,” a rarely-heard masque also inspired by “A Christmas Carol.” Here’s a link to the music if you’d like to reconstruct the full experience.

Zen Violence Films

December 14, 2021
Musical Stocking Stuffers A Movie Christmas

This week on “Picture Perfect,” join me for an hour of musical stocking stuffers.

We’ll begin with selections from “Miracle on 34th Street,” from 1947. Maureen O’Hara, Natalie Wood, and Edmund Gwenn star. Gwenn won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Kris Kringle. Cyril J. Mockridge’s alternately bustling and sentimental score employs “Jingle Bells” as its Santa motif.

Then, drawing from the countless adaptations of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” we’ll turn to a 1938 version, featuring Reginald Owen as Scrooge. Franz Waxman’s music draws on traditional carols and, when Scrooge undergoes his Christmas morning transformation, a sly riff on Georges Bizet’s “Jeux d’enfants.”

For those who enjoy a little carnage with their Christmas, we’ll also hear selections from “Home Alone.” The 1990 film, in which diminutive Macaulay Culkin subjects would-be burglars Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern to a battery of cartoon violence, features a candy-coated score by John Williams.

There are those who consider “Ben-Hur” to be among the greatest film scores of all-time. From Miklós Rózsa’s work on the 1959 Oscar champ, we’ll hear music from the film’s opening Nativity sequence.

Then, Cary Grant plays an angel who answers the prayers of David Niven, attempting to raise funds for a new cathedral, in “The Bishop’s Wife.” Along the way, Grant also happens to fall for Lauretta Young. Monty Woolley, Elsa Lanchester, and James Gleason add to the whimsy. This charming 1947 romantic fantasy sports a memorable score by Hugo Friedhofer.

Finally, any sentiment in “The Holly and the Ivy,” from 1952, is hard-earned. Ralph Richardson plays the clueless patriarch of a troubled family, a village parson more concerned with his parishioners than those living under his own roof. When the family reunites for Christmas, longstanding frictions continue to wear, but they are gradually resolved. Malcolm Arnold’s score gives little hint of the film’s inherent drama. However, he does provide some boisterous arrangements of some familiar carols.

I hope you’ll join me for a cinematic Christmas this week, on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies. Yule be glad you did, this Saturday evening at 6:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

December 18, 2020
Dickens Movie Music on Picture Perfect

God bless us, every one!

This week on “Picture Perfect,” it’s music from movies inspired by the writings of Charles Dickens. Tune in for selections from “Nicholas Nickleby” (1947) by Lord Berners, “Oliver Twist” (1948) by Sir Arnold Bax, “David Copperfield” (1969) by Sir Malcolm Arnold, and “A Christmas Carol” (1951) by Richard Addinsell.

If I had my way, every fool who goes around with “Merry Christmas” on his lips should be boiled in his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly in his heart!

But this isn’t all about me. Take your pick of Dickens, on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, this Saturday evening at 6:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

December 12, 2020

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