Welles Holiday Radio Broadcasts

[Wellesnet]

Including the West Coast performance of "A Christmas Carol" that John White alerted us to last year.

http://www.wellesnet.com/?page_id=8449

[Wich2]

Hello, all!

I am the friend of Arthur Anderson who posted about his autobio here a while back:
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1834&p=20119&hilit=anderson#p20119

Two bits of news to report on the Welles Holiday front:

Alas, Arthur will not be able to perform as "Past" in our CAROL tomorrow that was billboarded on this site. He did so for us in Manhattan last year, but suffered a mild heart attack just a few weeks ago. He is recovering very well, but just a few days ago his doctor nixed the idea of a field trip to venue of the show, the Church of St. Rita on Staten Island (the borough of his birth.) I did record a greeting from him for our audience there, though; so in true Network Radio Era style, he'll appear "By Transcription."

Also: on spot checking both, with respect I'd have to say that I question whether the files posted as East and West Coast versions of the classic 1939 Mercury/Barrymore CAROL are in fact two separate recordings? A careful listen finds the same inflections on the same words, the same precise drop-in points of music and effects, and even the same bobbled line by Barrymore in the Charity Gent scene at about 10:19.

Hope some of you from the NY area can join us for our CAROL:
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/20 ... icane.html

And for much, MUCH more on the century-long history of the radio/audio productions of Dickens' timeless tale, please check my recent book (which includes memories from Arthur, Barrymore, Rathbone and many actors in and listeners to vintage broadcasts):
http://www.bearmanormedia.com/index.php ... uct_id=549

Available, signed, directly from the author!

Happy holidays,
-Craig Wichman
Quicksilver Radio Theater

[Wellesnet]

Craig,
Please give Arthur our best as we hope for a speedy recovery.
Best of luck with your performance.
We have removed the "West Coast" show pending further review of the audio file we received.
Thanks!

[Wich2]

Thanks - will do. Arthur much appreciates gracious fans.

And we'll do our best tomorrow night! We have a great cast; and for my part, I love the story beyond words to tell, and consider the chance to play roles like this
"squeezing,wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner" a sort of sacred honor.

-Craig

[Wich2]

(For those interested in other vintage CAROLs, including a rare Barrymore:)

Dear Friends -

The great folks at SAME TIME, SAME STATION, Walden Hughes and John & Larry Gassman, have graciously invited me to visit with them this Friday night, December 20th.

Starting at about 11pm Eastern, we'll discuss the topic of my book "STANDING IN THE SPIRIT AT YOUR ELBOW - A History of Dicken's Christmas Carol as Radio/Audio Drama," with some clips of vintage productions. Then at about 11:30pm, they'll be running our original Quicksilver Radio Theater one-hour version of Mr. Dickens' beloved tale.

Tune in live at:

http://www.yesterdayusa.com/

(And you can call in and join us, at 714-545-2071!)

Merriest,
-Craig
(aka Scrooge, Reformed)

P.S. - If you can't make it Friday, I believe it will be repeated Monday morning; check site for details.

[Johnwhite]

Craig
Two or three points to differentiate the two broadcasts: In the West Coast (or second) version during Ernest Chappell's opening commercial at 2:13 there is the clear sound of a cork popping out of a bottle; in the East Coast (or first) version at the same point in the message at 2:40 there is no sound of the cork. In the East Coast version at 6:17 Scrooge directs Cratchit to "get the letter from Higgins & Blackthorn" and then go collect a debt; no such discussion appears in the West Coast Version. Later in the East Coast version at 12:45 Scrooge tells Cratchit it is too late to collect the debt; that does not appear in the West Coast version. At 11:27 in the West Coast version after the solicitation for the poor the door closes and then Scrooge tells Cratchit to "close the door"; Frank Readick then ad libs "It is closed, sir."

There are other examples which support there being two versions, but the above should prove sufficient. The designation of one being East Coast and the other being West Coast may be incorrect, but using deductive reasoning the reasonable inference can be made. One would expect the seasoned actors to deliver virtually the same delivery in each performance with only slight alterations.
John White

[Johnwhite]

Craig
I was dashing off to a meeting and did not indicate the door closing on the East Coast (or version one) it occurs at 12:24 and is preceded by Scrooge saying "Close the door" and there is the sound effect of the door closing. Incidentally, the music was not drop in, it was live: Bernard Herrmann conducted the CBS orchestra and Max Teer's mixed chorus. The flubbed line you mention in the West Coast version at 10:19 does not appear in the East Coast version (that line of dialog appears in the East Coast version at 11:20 and is not flubbed).

Now, obviously I'm working from the two versions I have. My copy of what I call the East Coast version has a WBBM station break. The West Coast version just has the 20 ssec. pause, which indicats to me that it may have been recorded from the Columbia Network feed.
John White

[Le Chiffre]

John, we'll try and put the West Coast performance you sent me back up, although there is a significant difference in sound quality between it and the "East Coast" performance we already have posted at the Main Page, so minute comparisms may be a bit tricky. I did, however, hear what sounds like a Champagne cork in the "East Coast" performance that we have posted, at about the 2:48 mark, right after Ernest Chappel says, “We at Campbell’s feel a special bond of warmth and gratitude towards each of you, our friends.”

http://www.wellesnet.com/?page_id=8449

At the 11:32 mark of the East Coast performance, after the two solicitors have left, Scrooge says to Cratchit, "Close the Door", to which Cratchit replies, "Yes Sir, I have closed it."

In the East Coast performance I heard no mention of Scrooge wanting Cratchit to collect a debt from another firm. However, in the 1938 version (with Welles as Scrooge) there is a dialogue exchange like that, with Scrooge wanting Cratchit to collect from "Poppergill", or something like that.

I'm a bit confused by all this, and I'm beginning to think, John, that either you or I may be confusing the east and west coast performances. Either that, or the West Coast performance was actually the one used for the commercial releases of the program.

[Johnwhite]

The confusion may be from what is posted presently. It sounds like what is posted is the version I am calling the West Coast version because it has the cork popping out of the bottle and the Frank Readick ad lib: "It is closed, sir." after the door had been closed. The key would be if there is the WBBM station break. I've not listened to that point on what is posted, but my copy of the version with the WBBM station break does not have the cork, the flubbed line during the solicitation, nor Frank's ad lib about the door being closed.

The 1938 version did not have Barrymore. Welles was Scrooge. The two 1939 versions feature Barrymore in that role. I'll have some more time later today to check all three recordings.

[Le Chiffre]

The '39 Christmas Carol performance on the Main Page was embedded from Archive.org, so I assume it's the standard one available for years. Also, I just checked Kim Kommando's Mercury Radio site at

http://www.mercurytheatre.info

and that one has the Champagne cork too. WBBM is a Chicago station, so they would have used the East Coast performance. All this suggests not only that the West Coast performance is the most common one in circulation, but another intriguing possibility: that every Campbell Playhouse show still available has two different performances in circulation throughout the world!

Craig,
Nice poster, looks like a Norman Rockwell!

[Johnwhite]

I may have resolved the issue. You are correct that the version on Kim's website Mercurytheatre.info is the version with the cork, the flubbed line during the solicitation and Readick's ad lib "yes sir, I have closed it." and the other things I mentioned. Yet it and the version posted on Wellesnet do not have the WBBM, Chicago station break. Good King Wenceslas carries over after Ernest Chappell network cue, "This is the Columbia Broadcasting System." I was thinking about the 20 sec. pause on War of the Worlds.

Both versions are on archive. org. The first in the audio files section is simply listed as A Christmas Carol (12241939) and does not have the WBBM station break, the second is listed as Campbell Playhouse A Christmas Carol and has this web address: https://archive.org/details/CampbellPla ... ol12241939 (this version does have the WBBM station break, but not the above mentioned flubbed lines and other anomalies. (Since this version does have the WBBM break, I have called it the East Coast version) Several other sites also have the version with the WBBM break. I have a disc of the first version (EAST Coast) with the WBBM break.

The tipoff to the different versions is the length, the one I call the West Coast version is shorter, partly because the tape playback is not the right speed. I corrected the pitch on my version. But the other versions including the one of Kim's website run at about at about 51 or 53 minutes.

Sorry for the long post, but it takes a while to sort it all out. The bottom line: The versions with the anomalies, flubbed lines, etc. does not have the WBBM break and it what I call the West Coast version. The versions with the WBBM break, with the additional lines about collecting the debt, etc. and without the flubbed lines, etc is the East Coast version.
John

[Le Chiffre]

Thanks John, nice find!

[Wich2]

Dear John and Mike-

Sorry to take a while to return to this topic. With the holidays, the weather, and family obligations, things were hectic.

John, just to be clear: I never said there were not two recordings of the '39 CAROL - just that the two originally posted here for the '13 holiday were one and the same. There are indeed two, with the differences you note and others. One I've always noticed is the flubbed "I don't make merry myself at Christmas time..." line by Barrymore to the Charity Gent. And your idea that they are West Coast and East Coast shows is a decent working theory. But there are issues with that idea, too:

For one, as you say, the recording with most of the mistakes is shorter. My copy has pretty good fidelity, but even pitched right, it only runs about 54+m. The other, like most Mercurys, is in the 59+m area. If the first is a transcription of a broadcast, that shortness is odd (of course, it is possible the disc had some damage that was removed at some later point in the rerecording of it - or it may have been cut for another reason; see below.) Now as you say, the shorter one has the possible cork sound, more mistakes, and I believe you said you thought Barrymore sounded a bit tipsy in his afterwords with Welles, making you think it may be the later, West Coast performance.

But the NY airing listed as 8pm would have been done at 5pm LA time, yes? And the Chicago airing is verified in newspaper listings as being at 9pm local time - in other words, it would be a 7pm LA show. But the longer recording, without the mistakes, has the WBBM i.d. So if these are East and Wests, the earlier, East show seems to be the one with the problems.

Another working hypothesis is that the shorter one is a rehearsal; we know from other extant recordings that the Merc made such. In favor of this idea, timings often varied as the show was still being set, and more mistakes are sometimes made in a looser rehearsal.

Or, the recording that we now have as a shorter version may have been trimmed years after, to allow for the heavier commercial load of later years. As I mention in my book, I first heard the '39 Carol on Ft. Wayne's WOWO-AM in the early '70s, probably syndicated by Charlie Michelson. And I am FAIRLY sure that I noticed the line bobble by Barrymore cited above at that time.

(And Mike, as to your wondering if their might be TWO versions of every Campbell's? I've spoken with several vets of the NY shows, and they claim to have only ever done one. So perhaps when they moved to LA.)

Complex, ain't it? Any light shed from any quarter would be welcome.

Best,
-Craig Wichman

[Le Chiffre]

Mike, as to your wondering if their might be TWO versions of every Campbell's? I've spoken with several vets of the NY shows, and they claim to have only ever done one. So perhaps when they moved to LA

Thanks for the info, Craig. Disappointing but not surprising; I figured it was too good to be true. I'm glad we've pretty much straightened out the case of ACC, though.

[Wich2]

'Welcome, Mike!

As to clearing up the mystery of ACC - who knows? Most of the folks involved are gone, and documentation in the radio field is notoriously sketchy...

Best,
-Craig