The Stingiest Man in Town (1956)

The Stingiest Man in Town is a television special that premiered as an episode of the NBC anthology television series The Alcoa Hour on December 23, 1956. The story is a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The special featured Basil Rathbone (better known to classic movie fans for playing Sherlock Holmes in many adaptations of the great detective's adventures) as Ebenezer Scrooge.

Rankin/Bass later remade the musical as an animated special in 1978.

Availability

For a long time, this version of the musical was thought to be a lost film, a victim of the lack of preservation of many early television broadcasts. By chance, a copy of the master reel was found in the home of a retired executive for Alcoa, and restored for a DVD release, distributed on November 29, 2011.

Songs

The special's soundtrack featured the following songs:

• "Sing a Christmas Carol"
• "An Old Fashioned Christmas"
• "Humbug"
• "The Stingiest Man in Town"
• "I Wear a Chain"
• "Spirit Theme"
• "Golden Dreams"
• "It Might Have Been"
• "The Christmas Spirit"
• "Yes, There is a Santa Claus"
• "One Little Boy"
• "Birthday Party of the King"
• "Concerto Inferno"
• "Mankind Should be My Business"
• "Mary's Little Boy Child"
• "We're All Kids at Christmas"
• "The Story of Christmas"
• "The Lord's Prayer"
• "Happy Holidays To You"

External links

• The Stingiest Man in Town (1956) at the Internet Movie Database