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Bob Cratchit
Bob Cratchit is a fictional character in the Charles Dickens 1843 novel ''A Christmas Carol''. The abused, underpaid clerk of Ebenezer Scrooge (and possibly Jacob Marley, when he was alive), Cratchit has come to symbolize the poor working conditions, especially long working hours and low pay, endured by many working-class people in the early Victorian era. In the novel When Cratchit timidly asks Scrooge for Christmas Day off work so he can be with his family, Scrooge at first threatens to dock his pay, but reluctantly agrees on the condition that Cratchit comes to work early the day after Christmas. Cratchit and his family live in poverty because Scrooge is too miserly to pay him a decent wage. Cratchit's son, Tiny Tim, is crippled and sick; according to the Ghost of Christmas Present, Tim will die because the family is too poor to give him the treatment he needs. While Cratchit's family curses Scrooge for his stinginess, however, Cratchit says he feels sorry for his employer, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Christmas Carol
''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas Carol'' recounts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. After their visits, Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man. Dickens wrote ''A Christmas Carol'' during a period when the British were exploring and re-evaluating past Christmas traditions, including carols, and newer customs such as Christmas cards and Christmas trees. He was influenced by the experiences of his own youth and by the Christmas stories of other authors, including Washington Irving and Douglas Jerrold. Dickens had written three Christmas stories prior to the novella, and was inspired following a visit to the Field ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Television Film
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for initial showing in movie theaters, and direct-to-video films made for initial release on home video formats. In certain cases, such films may also be referred to and shown as a miniseries, which typically indicates a film that has been divided into multiple parts or a series that contains a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Origins and history Precursors of "television movies" include ''Talk Faster, Mister'', which aired on WABD (now WNYW) in New York City on December 18, 1944, and was produced by RKO Pictures, and the 1957 '' The Pied Piper of Hamelin'', based on the poem by Robert Browning, and starring Van Johnson, one of the first filmed "family musicals" made directly for television. That film was made in Technicolor, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Christmas Carol (TV Special)
''A Christmas Carol'' is a British-American animated adaptation of Charles Dickens's 1843 novella. The film was broadcast on U.S. television by ABC on December 21, 1971, and released theatrically soon after. In 1972, it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Plot The place: London. The time: 1843. Ebenezer Scrooge is about to meet the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future to teach him the true spirit of the season. This adaptation includes scenes of miners and sailors singing carols that were left out in previous adaptations. Cast (voices) *Alastair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge *Michael Redgrave as Narrator *Michael Hordern as Marley's Ghost *Diana Quick as Ghost of Christmas Past * Joan Sims as Mrs. Cratchit *Paul Whitsun-Jones as Fezziwig/Old Joe * David Tate as Fred/Charity Man *Felix Felton as Ghost of Christmas Present *Annie West as Belle *Melvyn Hayes as Bob Cratchit *Mary Ellen Ray as Mrs. Dilber * Alexander Williams as Tiny Tim (uncredited) Production ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melvyn Hayes
Melvyn Hayes (''né'' Hyams; 11 January 1935) is an English actor and voice over performer. He is best known for playing the effeminate Gunner (later Bombardier) "Gloria" Beaumont in the 1970s BBC sitcom '' It Ain't Half Hot Mum'', for appearing in the Cliff Richard musical films '' The Young Ones'', '' Summer Holiday'' and '' Wonderful Life'' as well as ''Here Come the Double Deckers'' (1970–1971). Professional career Early life and stage roles Born in Wandsworth, South London, Hayes attended Sir Walter St John's Grammar School For Boys, Battersea. As a youth he worked in Fleet Street, carrying advertising print blocks between newspapers. In 1950 he saw an advertisement seeking an assistant for the conjurer The Great Massoni. He got the job and was soon "disappearing twice daily for £4 per week" performing the Indian rope trick in Maskelyne's Mysteries at The Comedy Theatre in London. He was also in a theatrical troupe called Terry's Juveniles, and later appeared in rep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scrooge (1970 Film)
''Scrooge'' is a 1970 musical film adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1843 story ''A Christmas Carol''. It was filmed in London between January and May 1970 and directed by Ronald Neame, and starred Albert Finney as Ebenezer Scrooge. The film's score was composed by Leslie Bricusse and arranged and conducted by Ian Fraser. With eleven musical arrangements interspersed throughout, the award-winning motion picture is a faithful musical retelling of the original. The film was a follow-up to another Dickens musical adaptation, 1968’s award-winning ''Oliver!''. The posters for ''Scrooge'' included the tagline "What the dickens have they done to Scrooge?", designed to head off any criticism of an all-singing, all-dancing old skinflint. Finney won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy in 1971. The film received four Academy Award nominations, including for Best Original Song for "Thank You Very Much". Plot On Christmas Eve 1860, in London, Ebenezer Scrooge, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Collings
David Collings (4 June 1940 – 23 March 2020) was an English actor. In an extensive career he appeared in many roles on stage, television, film and radio, as well as various audio books, voiceovers, concert readings and other work. He garnered a following through his numerous appearances in cult sci-fi series such as ''Doctor Who'', '' Sapphire & Steel'' and ''Blake's 7'', as well as voicing the titular character in the series ''Monkey'' and Legolas in the classic BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. Biography Collings was born in Brighton on 4 June 1940. Film and television Collings's screen breakthrough came playing the protagonist Raskolnikov in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's ''Crime & Punishment'' (1964 with Associated-Rediffusion Television). The production was broadcast live. He has played historical characters such as Percy Grainger in Ken Russell's '' Song of Summer'' (1968), Richard Simmons in The Shadow of the Tower (1972), John Ruskin in '' The Love ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Cassidy
John Joseph Edward Cassidy (March 5, 1927 – December 12, 1976), was an American actor, singer and theater director known for his work in the theater, television and films. He received multiple Tony Award nominations and a win, as well as a Grammy Award, for his work on the Broadway production of the musical ''She Loves Me''. He also received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations. He was the father of teen idols David Cassidy and Shaun Cassidy. Early life He was born in New York, New York, the son of Charlotte (née Koehler) and William Cassidy. He was the youngest of five children. His father, an engineer at the Long Island Rail Road, was of Irish descent and his mother was of German ancestry. Career Cassidy achieved success as a musical performer on Broadway. He appeared in '' Alive and Kicking'', ''Wish You Were Here'', ''Shangri-La'', '' Maggie Flynn'', ''Fade Out – Fade In'', '' It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman'', and ''She Loves Me'', for which he wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Green Chri$tma$
"Green Chri$tma$" is a comedy single written and performed by Stan Freberg and released by Capitol Records in 1958 (catalog number F 4097). Musical arrangement and direction is made by Billy May, and performed by the Capitol Records house orchestra. Other vocal performances are by Daws Butler, Marvin Miller, Will Wright, and the Jud Conlon Chorale. The title is wordplay on the phrase "green Christmas", a Christmas with no snow, with "green" taking on a double meaning of the green ink uniformly used on U.S. currency at that time (and still predominant today). This and the replacement of each "s" in "Christmas" with a U.S. dollar sign refer to the theme of the sketch, the over-commercialization of Christmas. The sketch adapts two characters from Charles Dickens' 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol'', Ebenezer Scrooge (Freberg) and Bob Cratchit (Butler). The single developed substantial popularity despite efforts from the advertising agencies of the era to suppress its release and pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daws Butler
Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company where he originated the voices of many familiar characters, including Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Auggie Doggie, Loopy De Loop, Wally Gator, Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey, Snooper and Blabber, Hokey Wolf, Elroy Jetson, Peter Potamus, The Funky Phantom and Hair Bear. Early life and career Butler was born on November 16, 1916, in Toledo, Ohio, the only child of Charles Allen Butler and Ruth Butler. The family later moved from Ohio to Oak Park, Illinois, where Butler became interested in impersonating people. In 1935, the future voice master started as an impressionist, entering multiple amateur contests and winning most of them. He had entered them not with the intention of showing his talent, but as a personal challenge to overcome his shyness (with success). Nonetheless, Butler won professional engagemen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martyn Green
William Martin Green (22 April 1899 – 8 February 1975), known by his stage name, Martyn Green, was an English actor and singer. He is remembered for his performances and recordings as principal comedian of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, in the leading patter roles of the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas in the 1930s and 1940s, and for his career in America from the 1950s to the 1970s. After army service in World War I, Green studied singing and began to perform in musical theatre. In 1922 he joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, playing in the chorus and in an increasing number of small-to-medium sized roles, while understudying, and often substituting for, the company's principal comedian. Beginning in 1931, he was regularly given the roles of Major-General Stanley in ''The Pirates of Penzance'' and Robin Oakapple in '' Ruddigore''. In 1934, Green became the principal comedian, playing all the famous Gilbert and Sullivan patter roles, including Sir Joseph in ''H.M.S. Pina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Christmas Carol (Shower Of Stars)
"A Christmas Carol" is the December 23, 1954 episode of the hour-long American television anthology variety series, ''Shower of Stars''. The episode is an adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1843 novella of the same name. ''Shower of Stars'' had a four-season run from 1954 to 1958 on CBS, alternating every fourth week with the dramatic anthology series ''Climax!''. It was also one of the few American TV productions of the time telecast in the UK, in 1956. Unusually for the time, it was presented on film and in color. Only a black-and-white print of this episode seems to have survived, and it has been released on DVD. The commercials seen live during the program have also survived. The program is introduced on kinescope by host William Lundigan. The production boasted a script and lyrics by noted American playwright Maxwell Anderson, and a score by Bernard Herrmann. Fredric March, in his only known portrayal of the role, starred as Ebenezer Scrooge, and Basil Rathbone portrayed Marley ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Sweeney (director)
Bob Sweeney (October 19, 1918 – June 7, 1992) was an American actor, director and producer of radio, television and film. Early years Bob Sweeney was a graduate of Balboa High School in San Francisco and San Francisco State College. In the early part of World War II, he and college classmate George Fenneman formed a stand-up comedy team and entertained troops at military bases. Early career on radio and television Sweeney began his career on radio as an announcer and then became a comedian. From 1944 through 1948 he teamed with comedy partner Hal March in ''The Bob Sweeney-Hal March Show'' on CBS Radio. He went on to appear as a supporting character in various sitcoms in the early days of television including the role of Gilmore Cobb in the television version of '' My Favorite Husband'' (1953–54) with co-stars Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson. Sweeney made appearances on ''The Rifleman'' and '' Our Miss Brooks'' during its last two seasons of production (1955–195 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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