Here is the soundtrack to the much maligned 1954 television production of Dicken's seasonal classic. Despite the slightly dimmed star power of leads Fredric March and Basil Rathbone, a script by Maxwell Anderson and score by famed Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann, this version of the familiar tale of yuletide redemption is more of a curio than a lost treasure.
March is fairly forgettable as Scrooge and Rathbone is a real disappointment as
Marley but it is the songs by Anderson and Herrmann that tend to get the worst
slagging off when the production is discussed. There are admittedly no instant
classics here and the vibe is far lower key and chorale than later musical
forays into the miser's redemptive journey through space and time - no big
brassy Broadway numbers here. But a few of the tunes deserve more attention
then they've gotten.
Perhaps it helps that I heard the soundtrack last year before ever seeing the
grainy black and white mess that shows up on occasional budget video labels,
but I find these songs, performed by the cast and the Roger Wagner Chorale, to be a quite enjoyable listen. Your mileage may, as they
say, vary.
Please keep in mind that this is sourced from low quality archival video of a 50 year old television program...
