Dewey70 Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Years ago, late '50s early '60's, in the Philadelphia area (at least) there were two Christmas shows performed with marionettes depicting the birth of Christ and The Night Before Christmas. They were always broadcast together. Each program was about 45 min. Does anyone out there remember these? Could these programs possibly be available on video? Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joebuck69 Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 I definitely remember those two programs from the late 50's. It was another part of the anticipation leading up to Christmas to see that show each year. Well, we only had one channel in those days. My memory may be hazy, but I thought each story was only 15 minutes long ...it was just a 30 minute show. There weren't too many 90 minute programs in those days. And it was sponsored by the phone company, for some reason. I don't know of any video that's available for the two episodes. Maybe TCM can dig them up, who knows who owns the rights to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Factotum Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 "THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS" was shown at one time on Channel 3, WRCV in Philadelphia every year as public Relations for the Bell Telephone Company. It was first released in 1950, with the inserts of Bell workers updated every few years until (as in it's present state) about 1962. It went into disuse because of it's age, but the PBS station in philadelphia (actually in nearby Wilmington, in Delaware) Channel 12 WHYY, has secured the film and now runs it themselves as a local Christmas tradition. They will show it a few times this month, so check out their site. The print is somewhat scratched and patched up. Alexander Scourby narrated both stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snorky Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 >Alexander Scourby narrated both stories. "The Voice"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Factotum Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Scourby must have been a very religious man. If you check his credits, he did the narration or voices for many Christian films, including cartoons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dewey70 Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 You are correct, they were only 15 min. ea. I found them on DVD at Amazon under the title, "Spirit of Christmas; a Philadelphia Tradition". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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