The Spirit of Christmas (TV program)
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2008) |
The Spirit of Christmas is a Christmas television special performed by marionettes. [1] It was first aired in 1950. Its half-hour showing time is divided into two segments, one dramatizing "A Visit from St. Nicholas" [2] and one telling the story of the Nativity. [3] The film is narrated by Alexander Scourby. The jacket of the DVD version calls it "The Philadelphia Holiday Classic," which refers to the region of the United States where it was originally broadcast.
In the 1950s and 1960's this special was aired multiple times per Christmas season, without commercial interruptions except for opening and closing remarks by "your telephone company" (Bell Telephone). It disappeared from the airwaves for several decades but recently has been aired on public television. [4] It is very unusual for its time in that it was made in color at a time when there were no color TV sets in existence, so viewers of the time saw it in black-and-white.
Mabel & Les Beaton, under their company, Stringtime Productions, produced this film circa 1950.
