Carol for Another Christmas
| A Carol for Another Christmas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Joseph L. Mankiewicz |
| Written by | Rod Serling |
| Produced by | Joseph L. Mankiewicz Edgar Rosenberg (executive producer) |
| Starring | opening credits in alphabetical order: Britt Ekland Ben Gazzara Sterling Hayden Pat Hingle Steve Lawrence Percy Rodriguez Eva Marie Saint Peter Sellers Robert Shaw James Shigeta Barbara Ann Teer |
| Cinematography | Arthur J. Ornitz |
| Edited by | Nathan Greene Robert Lawrence (supervising film editor) |
| Music by | Henry Mancini |
| Distributed by | ABC |
Release date |
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Running time | 84 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
A Carol for Another Christmas is a 1964 American television movie, scripted by Rod Serling as a modernization of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and a plea for global cooperation between nations. It was telecast only once, on December 28, 1964.[1] The only TV movie ever directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, this was the film in which Peter Sellers gave his first performance after suffering a series of near-fatal heart attacks in the wake of his marriage to Britt Ekland. Sellers portrayed a demagogue in an apocalyptic Christmas. Sterling Hayden, who costarred with Sellers in Dr. Strangelove earlier that year, was also featured.
Cast (in order of appearance)
- Percy Rodriguez as Charles
- Sterling Hayden as Daniel Grudge
- Ben Gazzara as Fred
- Barbara Ann Teer as Ruby
- Steve Lawrence as Ghost of Christmas Past
- Eva Marie Saint as WAVE
- James Shigeta as Doctor
- Pat Hingle as Ghost of Christmas Present
- Robert Shaw as Ghost of Christmas Future
- Peter Sellers as Imperial Me
- Britt Ekland as Mother
Production notes
Film critic Bhob Stewart provided some background on the production:
- Presented without commercial interruptions, this "United Nations Special" was sponsored by the Xerox Corporation, the first of a series of Xerox specials promoting the UN. Director Joseph Mankiewicz's first work for television, the 90-minute ABC drama was publicized as having an all-star cast (which meant that names of some supporting cast members were not officially released). In Rod Serling's update of Charles Dickens, industrial tycoon Daniel Grudge (Sterling Hayden) has never recovered from the loss of his 22-year-old son Marley (Peter Fonda), killed in action during Christmas Eve of 1944. The embittered Grudge has only scorn for any American involvement in international affairs. But then the Ghost of Christmas Past (Steve Lawrence) takes him back through time to a World War I troopship. Grudge also is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present (Pat Hingle), and the Ghost of Christmas Future (Robert Shaw) gives him a tour across a desolate landscape where he sees the ruins of a once-great civilization. In the final weeks of post-production, Peter Fonda's scenes were deleted, but his image remained in the film, recognizable in a portrait on the wall.[2]
The cast included Percy Rodriguez, Eva Marie Saint, Ben Gazzara, Barbara Ann Teer, James Shigeta and Britt Ekland. Henry Mancini wrote the theme music, which was recorded for his 1966 holiday LP, A Merry Mancini Christmas.
The film is not commercially available, but it can be seen at the Paley Center for Media in New York and Los Angeles and the Film and Television Archive at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Turner Classic Movies telecast Carol for Another Christmas for the first time in 48 years, on December 16 and 22, 2012. [3] A year later TCM aired Carol on December 19-20, 2013, and -- in what may be becoming a tradition -- again on December 18-19, 2014.
See also
- Who Has Seen the Wind (1965 TV film, also produced for the United Nations)
- The Poppy Is Also a Flower (1966 TV film, also produced for the United Nations)
- List of television films produced for American Broadcasting Company