The Spirit of Christmas (TV program)

The Spirit of Christmas is a Christmas television special performed by marionettes.[1] It first aired in 1953 in the United States.[1] Its half-hour showing time is divided into two marrionette segments, one dramatizing "A Visit from St. Nicholas" and one telling the story of the Nativity.[1] The live-action part of the film features Alexander Scourby, who narrates and also plays Clement Moore in the Visit from St. Nicholas segment. 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. The jacket also describes it as a "50s TV Christmas classic, which has led it to being misdated as first being shown in 1950.[1]

After its initial 1953 showing and into the 1960s, 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 was also available as a 16mm film licensed to schools for showings to students.[1][2] It disappeared from the airwaves for several decades but recently has been aired on public television since 1998.[3] Prints of the 16mm film occasionally show up at collectors auctions and on eBay. 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.

The "St. Nicholas" segment includes music from The Nutcracker ballet.[4]

Mabel and Les Beaton, through their company, Stringtime Productions, produced this film.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Patterson, Neal (December 9, 2008). "Once Upon a Toy blog by Polyvinylman". polyvinylman.blogspot.com. Retrieved February 20, 2014. This holiday special, first aired in 1953 and sponsored by Ma Bell, was produced by puppeteer Mabel Beaton. . . . Ms. Beaton started out performing marionette shows for her community in a make-shift theater during the 1930s and 40s. . . . she decided to elevate her puppeteering career by creating filmed marionette programs. She got lucky with her first try out of the gate when she presented her half-hour Christmas special, The Spirit of Christmas, to The Bell Telephone Company. The president enthusiastically green-lit the show as their 1953 Christmas special, and it became their holiday show for the next several years during the 50s. . . . My first exposure to it was in elementary school in the late 60s/early 70s. Every year, on the last day before Christmas vacation, the teacher would drag out that clunky 16 mm projector and put on the threadbare film print of The Spirit of Christmas. (includes photos of DVD jacket)
  2. ↑ "Shelby Social Club". May 27, 2009. Retrieved February 20, 2014. I remember those Christmas parties being held in the Lincoln High Auditorium in the 50′s. The would show a 16mm film from the Bell Telephone System called the Spirit of Christmas.
  3. ↑ http://www.tvparty.com/xmas2.html
  4. ↑ "The Nutcracker in popular culture - Film". Retrieved February 20, 2014. The Spirit of Christmas, a 1950 stop-motion made-for-TV featurette in color narrated by Alexander Scourby, utilizes the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, and this sequence also includes music from The Nutcracker.

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