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The second episode of The Campbell Playhouse, titled “A Christmas Carol,” is a radio adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic novella. This episode originally aired on December 23, 1938, and features Orson Welles as the narrator and Lionel Barrymore as Ebenezer Scrooge

The Campbell Playhouse was a radio drama series that aired on CBS from 1938 to 1941.

Here's a breakdown of what made it interesting:

Star Power: It was directed by and starred the legendary Orson Welles, known for his innovative use of sound effects and captivating voice.

Classic Adaptations: During its first two seasons (1938-1940), the show focused on hour-long adaptations of classic plays, novels, and even some popular movies. Think "The Count of Monte Cristo" or "Rebecca" brought to life through radio.

Shifting Format: After Welles left, the show continued for a season with a shorter format (30 minutes) and a focus on lighter fare, often featuring Hollywood actors.

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Remember that times have changed, and some shows might not reflect the standards of today’s politically correct society. The shows do not necessarily reflect the views, standards, or beliefs of Entertainment Radio

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Transcript
00:00:00The
00:00:19speakers of Campbell's Soups present the Campbell Playhouse. Orson Welles, producers.
00:00:43Good evening, listeners. This is Ernest Chappell speaking. Tonight, Orson Welles and the Campbell
00:00:48Playhouse observe a Campbell tradition of longstanding. They bring you Charles Dickens'
00:00:52well-loved tale of Yuletide, A Christmas Carol. Four years ago, the makers of Campbell's Soups
00:00:58went shopping for a Christmas present to give to all their friends. They found it in this
00:01:02story, Charles Dickens' embodiment of the very spirit of Christmas. And they chose well,
00:01:08because throughout the country today, in thousands of homes, it has become an important and beloved
00:01:13custom to listen to this story. Tonight, this fourth annual presentation is brought to you
00:01:18with a sincere wish that your Christmas may be a happy one, and with the hope that the
00:01:23retelling of A Christmas Carol may help to make it so. And it is more than that,
00:01:28for with this Christmas present to you, Campbell say thank you for your purchases of Campbell's
00:01:33Soups throughout the months gone by. At the Christmas season, this becomes especially
00:01:37manifest. Everywhere, grocers see their shelves of Campbell's Soups dwindle more rapidly now
00:01:42than at any other time of the year. It used to be thought that the demand increased in
00:01:46preparation for the Christmas feast, but really it isn't that alone. Women like to have plenty
00:01:51of good soups on hand all through the holidays, so that they can serve piping hot, nourishing
00:01:57platefuls at any family mealtime. The youngsters are on the go all day long, making the most of
00:02:02the Christmas vacation, and soup can be ready for them in a jiffy. There's health and happiness in
00:02:08good, hot soup. Your grocer has Campbell's Soups. Twenty-one delicious kinds awaiting your
00:02:14selection. And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus
00:02:36that all the world should be taxed, and all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
00:02:43And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea,
00:02:49unto the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was one of the house of the lineage of
00:02:54David, to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was,
00:03:02that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
00:03:07And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes,
00:03:12and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
00:03:17And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their
00:03:22flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round
00:03:28about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold,
00:03:37I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For unto you is born this day
00:03:44in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord, and there shall be a sign unto you.
00:03:52You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there
00:03:58was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts, praising God, and saying, Glory to God
00:04:06in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. Since the days of Caesar Augustus,
00:04:18all people have celebrated by joy the great joy which shall be to all people.
00:04:27For unto us was born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
00:04:32And on this day, at least in the calendar of our year, we affirm the glory of our God by the laughter
00:04:39of our children. Every nation, according to its character and its taste, by some gift of gaiety,
00:04:45has enriched the tradition of this our solemnest festival. And because America is what it is,
00:04:52we are the fortunate heirs of the accumulated customs of almost two thousand years of keeping
00:04:57Christmas. The best songs that have been sung are sung by us. The best games that have been played,
00:05:05we play, and the best stories ever told are ours to tell. For storytelling has persisted as a
00:05:11Christmas ritual in spite of the printing press. A ceremony as hilarious and as serious as hanging a
00:05:17stocking, dressing the tree, and kissing under the mistletoe. And because Christmas is first of all
00:05:23for children, Christmas stories are fairy stories first of all. It is mildly surprising that the
00:05:30best of them all, which we're telling again for you tonight, is for everybody, and turns out to
00:05:36be a ghost story. I have endeavored, writes its author on its title page, I've endeavored in this
00:05:42ghostly little story to raise the ghost of an idea which shall not put my readers out of humor
00:05:47with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly,
00:05:54and no one wish to lay it. Designed your faithful friend and servant, Charles Dickens.
00:06:01Marley was dead to begin with. There's no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial
00:06:24was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed
00:06:28it, and Scrooge's name was good upon change for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley
00:06:33was as dead as a doornail. Scrooge knew he was dead. Of course he did. Scrooge and Marley were
00:06:38partners. I don't know how many years. Oh, he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge.
00:06:45Scrooge, a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner,
00:06:52secret and self-contained. Once upon a time, of all the good days in the year on Christmas Eve,
00:07:00old Scrooge sat busy in his counting house. It was a cold, bleak, biting evening, foggy with all,
00:07:06and he could hear the people in the court outside go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon
00:07:11their breasts and stamping their feet upon the pavement to warm them. The door of Scrooge's
00:07:15counting house was open, but he might keep his eyes upon the clerk, Bob Cratchit, when a cold
00:07:21and dismal little cell beyond worked at his ledgers. 29, 9 and carry 2. 13, 17, 7 and carry 1.
00:07:32Close the door, Cratchit. Shut out that infernal noise. Yes, Mr. Scrooge. Confound their impudence.
00:07:40Yeah, yeah, Cratchit. Yes, Mr. Scrooge. You ought to stop at Father Gilder on your way home tonight
00:07:45and collect that 17 shillings and sixpence he owed me since Michaelmas, and tell him I shall
00:07:49have the constable over here if he doesn't pay it once. Well, sir, Mr. Father Gilder's wife is...
00:07:53Why do I care about his wife? I want my 17 and six. I just thought it, being Christmas...
00:07:58Christmas, Christmas. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas, Bob. Oh, Mr. Fred. Well, Merry Christmas.
00:08:04Merry Christmas to you, Uncle. Merry Christmas, Uncle.
00:08:11Humbug. Christmas a humbug, Uncle? I'm sure you don't mean that. I do. Merry Christmas.
00:08:18What right have you to be merry? What season have you to be merry? You're poor enough. Come then,
00:08:22Uncle. What right have you to be dismal? You're rich enough. Humbug. Don't be cross, Uncle.
00:08:27Oh, but as can I be. I live in such a world of fools. When it's Christmas to you, what a time
00:08:32for paying bills without money. Merry Christmas. It's time for finding yourself a year older and
00:08:38not an hour richer. If I could work my will, every idiot who goes about with Merry Christmas
00:08:43on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding and buried with a stick of his own
00:08:46holly through his heart. Uncle. Nephew, keep Christmas in your own way. Let me keep it in mine.
00:08:53Keep it? But you don't keep it. Eh, let me leave it alone, then. What do you want, Nephew?
00:08:57Christmas gift, I have no doubt. I came to wish you a Merry Christmas, Uncle. Ah, Merry Christmas.
00:09:01Much good may Christmas do you. Much good has it ever done you. There are many things from which
00:09:05I've derived good by which I have not profited, I dare say, Uncle. Christmas among the rest.
00:09:10But I have always thought of Christmas time as a good time, a kind, forgiving, charitable,
00:09:15pleasant time. Therefore, Uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket,
00:09:20I believe it has done me good and will do me good. And I say, God bless it. God bless Christmas.
00:09:25Let me hear another sound from you out there, Bob Cratchit. You keep your Christmas by losing
00:09:30your situation. That's just you, Nephew. I wonder if you're going to Parliament.
00:09:35Talking up nonsense. Don't be angry, Uncle. I want nothing from you. I ask nothing of you.
00:09:40Why can't we be friends? Good afternoon. I'm sorry you feel that way. Well, I've tried.
00:09:47Uh, Merry Christmas to you, Uncle. Good afternoon. And, uh, Happy New Year, too. Humbug, humbug.
00:09:53Merry Christmas to you, Bob, and Mrs. And to Tiny Tim. Thank you, Mr. Fred. Same to you, sir.
00:09:59Good day, sir. Good day, Bob. Merry Christmas, Uncle Ebenezer. Squattle nonsense. Flummery.
00:10:07Talking of Christmas, not a, not a sixpence to jingle against another in his trousers pocket.
00:10:12Are you there, Bob Cratchit? Yes, sir. Yes, yes. What are you doing in there? Oh, I was only putting
00:10:17a bit more coal on the fire, Mr. Scrooge, seeing it's so cold in here, sir. You put that coal back
00:10:21in the scuttle? Yes, sir. Fire. Fire, indeed. I can tell you, if you use coal at that rate,
00:10:26you and I will soon part in company, Bob Cratchit. Do you understand that? Many a young fellow like
00:10:31your situation, you know. I'm sorry, sir. My fingers were getting a little stiff with the
00:10:36cold. Then put on your mitten. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Someone at the door. See who it is. Yes, sir.
00:10:42Merry Christmas, sir. Merry Christmas. Yes, sir. This is the firm of Scrooge and Marley. Yes,
00:10:47sir. I should like to see the head of the firm, if I may. Oh, very good, sir. Step this way,
00:10:51please. Yeah, what is it? A gentleman to see you, Mr. Scrooge. Huh? Have I the pleasure of
00:10:54addressing Mr. Scrooge or Mr. Marley? Well, Marley's been dead these seven years tonight. Oh. And I'm
00:10:59Scrooge, though I doubt that'll be any pleasure to you, sir. Oh, oh, I'm sure it will. Now, Mr.
00:11:05Scrooge, at this season of the year, it's only fitting that we who are more fortunate should
00:11:09raise a fund to buy the poor some meat and drink and means of warmth. You may not believe it, sir,
00:11:13but many thousands are now in want of common necessities, and hundreds of thousands are in
00:11:18want of comfort, sir. Are there no prisons? There are plenty of prisons, sir. And the workhouses,
00:11:23they're still in operation, I trust? I wish I could say they are not, but they are, sir. The
00:11:29treadmill and the pool law and pool bigger, then? Both very busy. I'm very glad to hear that. I was
00:11:34afraid from what you said at first that something had occurred to stop them in their usual course.
00:11:38Now, sir, what do you want with me? Well, Mr. Scrooge, a few of us are endeavoring to raise a
00:11:42fund for the poor and destitute. What shall I put you down for? Nothing. You wish to be anonymous,
00:11:48sir? I wish to be let alone. I don't make merry at Christmas time, and I can't afford to help make
00:11:53idle people merry. I help to support the establishment and take care of the poor.
00:11:57They cost enough that those who are badly off go there. Well, many can't go there,
00:12:01sir, and many would rather die. Let them do so and decrease the surplus population.
00:12:05Besides, how do I know that's true? You might know it someday, Mr. Scrooge. It's not my business.
00:12:11It's enough for a man to understand his own business and not to interfere with other people.
00:12:15Mine occupies me constantly. Good afternoon, sir. Cratchit, show this gentleman out.
00:12:19Cratchit! Yes, sir. This way, sir, please. Excuse me, sir. I couldn't help overhearing.
00:12:25I should like to contribute profits. It's all I can afford. But if there are others in worse
00:12:29situation than I... You're a generous fellow. I wish I might say the same of your employer.
00:12:34Good afternoon, sir. Good day. Merry Christmas. Good afternoon, sir. And a merry Christmas.
00:12:4115, 24, 31, 1 and carry 3. 17, 22, 33, 3 and carry 3. 4, 7, 8...
00:12:51Cratchit! Cratchit! Yes, sir. Cratchit, too late to have you go to Father Gill's. You'll be closed
00:13:01up for Christmas like these other fools. We may as well close up this place now. Yes, sir. It is
00:13:06getting a little dark. Hard to see the figures. I suppose you want the entire day tomorrow,
00:13:10Cratchit. If quite convenient, sir. It's not convenient and it's not fair. If I was to stop
00:13:14half a crowd of your wages for it, you'd think yourself ill-used, I'll be barren. Well, sir...
00:13:18And yet you don't think me ill-used when I pay a day's wages for no work.
00:13:22It's only once a year. Yeah, once a year. Once a year indeed. A fine excuse for picking a man's
00:13:27pocket every 25th of December. I suppose you must have the whole day. I'll see that you're here all
00:13:33the earlier the next morning. You understand? Oh, I will, sir. I will. Well, good night, sir.
00:13:38Good night, Ed. Good night.
00:13:44Merry Christmas, Mr. Scrooge!
00:13:52The office was closed to the twinkling and Bob Cratchit, with the long ends of his white
00:13:56comforter dangling below his waist, for he boasted no great coat, went down a slide on Corn Hill 20
00:14:02times in honor of its being Christmas Eve and then ran home to Camden Town as hard as he could pelt
00:14:06to play with his family at Blind Man's Buff.
00:14:14Scrooge, on the other hand, took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern and,
00:14:20having read all the newspapers and spent the rest of the evening with his banker's book,
00:14:25went home to his dismal house. The yard was so dark that even Scrooge, who knew its every stone,
00:14:31had to grope with his hands. The fog and frost hung about the black old gateway of the house.
00:14:38Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it. Before he shut his heavy door, he walked through his
00:14:44rooms to see that all was right. Sitting room, bedroom, lumber room, all as they should be.
00:14:51Nobody under the table, nobody under the sofa. Small fire in the grate of his bedroom,
00:14:56spoon and basin ready, and little saucepan of gruel upon the hob. Nobody under the bed,
00:15:01nobody in the closet. Closed his door and locked himself in, double locked himself in. Then took
00:15:08off his cravat, put on his dressing gown and slippers and his nightcap, and sat down before
00:15:13the fire to take his gruel. It was a very low fire, indeed, nothing on such a bitter night,
00:15:18not even enough to kindle a glow of light in the cheerless room.
00:15:21Scrooge stretched his numb fingers over the wretched fire.
00:15:36Then he saw something that made, that made him draw them back.
00:15:42Slowly, the meager embers dissolved before his astonished eyes, dissolved into a face,
00:15:48a ghostly face, but one that Scrooge recognized as the face of Marley. Marley, his partner,
00:15:56dead these seven years. He was not angry or ferocious, but looked at Scrooge as Marley
00:16:02used to look, with ghostly spectacles turned up on its ghostly face.
00:16:06He looked at Scrooge as Marley used to look, with ghostly spectacles turned up on its ghostly
00:16:11forehead. The hairs were curiously stirred, like flames blown from a chimney draft,
00:16:18and through the death-cold eyes, Scrooge saw the buttons on the back of his coat.
00:16:27Humbug! Humbug! Humbug! Scrooge got up and walked away from the fire.
00:16:36As he turned, his glance happened to rest upon a bell, a disused bell that hung in the corner
00:16:41of the room. It was with great astonishment and with a strange, inexplicable dread that as he
00:16:47dread that as he looked, he saw this bell begin to swing, slowly at first.
00:17:18It was the same face,
00:17:35the same face he had seen in the fire, Marley's face, and Marley,
00:17:39Marley's body, coming straight at him through the door, a body pale as the bluish smoke that
00:17:49comes out of a chimney on a cold day, a body so transparent that Scrooge, looking through his
00:17:53waistcoat, could see his watch in his waistcoat pocket. The chain he drew was clasped about his
00:18:02middle. It was long and wound about him like a tail, and it was made of cash boxes, keys,
00:18:07padlocks, and heavy purses wrought in steel. Even now Scrooge would not believe his eyes.
00:18:13The ghost advanced towards him. Ebenezer Scrooge, Ebenezer Scrooge. Marley, what do you want with me?
00:18:22Much. Who are you? Ask me who I was. Who were you then? You're particular for a ghost.
00:18:32In life I was your partner, Jacob Marley. Jacob Marley, but you're dead. You died seven years ago
00:18:39this very night. You do not believe in me then? I do not. Why do you doubt your senses? Because
00:18:46a little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheat you. You may be an
00:18:50undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato.
00:18:56There may be more gravy than grave about you, whatever you are. Humbug, I tell you. Humbug.
00:19:04At this the spirit, taking the bandage off from it round its head, as if it were too warm to wear
00:19:09indoors, its lower jaw dropped upon its breast. That is the worldly mind. Do you believe in me now?
00:19:18I do, Jacob. I do. Why do you walk the earth? Why do you come to me, Jacob? It is required of every
00:19:26man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow men and travel far and wide
00:19:33to witness what it cannot share but might have shared on earth and turn to heaven. Tell me,
00:19:39Jacob, what is that chain you wear around you? I wear the chain I forged in life. Cash boxes,
00:19:46keys, padlocks, ledgers, purses. I made it link by link by my own free will. Is its pattern
00:19:56strange to you, Ebenezer? Yours was as heavy and as long as this seven years ago,
00:20:03and you've labored on it since, Ebenezer. Jacob, old Jacob Marley, tell me more. Speak comfort to me,
00:20:10Jacob. I have none to give, Ebenezer. No rest, no peace, incessant torture of remorse. But you
00:20:19were always a good man of business, Jacob. Business? Mankind was my business. Charity,
00:20:26mercy, benevolence, they were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water
00:20:33in the comprehensive ocean of my business. Jacob! Hear me, Ebenezer Scrooge. My time is nearly gone.
00:20:41I will, I will, Jacob, but don't be hard on me. Speak to me, Jacob, but please don't be flowery.
00:20:49I'm here tonight to warn you that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate.
00:20:55You were always a good friend to me, Jacob. Thank you. And go on, go on, Jacob.
00:21:00Listen to me, Ebenezer. You will be haunted by three spirits. I think I'd rather not. Without
00:21:08their visits, Ebenezer Scrooge, you cannot hope to shun the path I tread. Expect the first tomorrow
00:21:16when the bell tolls one. Expect the second on the next night at the same hour. The third upon the
00:21:23next night. Look to see me no more, and look that for your own sake you remember what has passed
00:21:31between us. Marley! Jacob Marley!
00:21:54Scrooge awoke.
00:22:01He was lying on his bed fully dressed when suddenly the curtains of his bed were drawn
00:22:06aside and Scrooge found himself face to face with the unearthly visitor who drew them
00:22:12as close to it as I am now to you, and I am standing in the spirit at your elbow.
00:22:20It was a strange figure like a child, yet not so like a child as like an old man. Its hair which
00:22:26hung about its neck and down its back was white as if with age, and yet the face had not a wrinkle
00:22:31in it, and the tenderest bloom was on the skin. The arms were long and muscular, the hands the same
00:22:40as if its hold were of uncommon strength. Its dress was of the purest white trimmed with summer
00:22:46flowers. It held a branch of fresh green holly in its hand, but the strangest thing about it was
00:22:51that from the crown of its head there sprang a clear jet of light by which all this was visible
00:22:57and which was doubtless the occasion of its using in its duller moments a great extinguisher for a
00:23:02cap which it now held under its arm.
00:23:09Ebenezer Scrooge. Ebenezer Scrooge. Are you the spirit whose coming was foretold to me?
00:23:19I am. Who and what are you? I am the ghost of Christmas past. Long past? No, your past.
00:23:28What business brings you here? What do you want of me? Your welfare. Ebenezer Scrooge,
00:23:34rise and walk with me. No, no, not the window. I'm mortal. I'll fall down. There but a touch
00:23:43of my hand there upon your heart, and you shall be upheld in more than this. Come, follow me.
00:23:52Let us go.
00:24:02They stood upon an open country road with fields on either hand. The city had entirely vanished.
00:24:08The darkness and the mist had vanished with it, for it was a clear, cold winter day with snow
00:24:13upon the ground. They walked along the road. Scrooge began to recognize every gate, every post,
00:24:19every tree, until a little market town appeared in the distance with its bridge, its church,
00:24:24and winding river. Some shaggy ponies now were seen trotting towards them with boys upon their
00:24:29backs or in sleighs, and all these boys were in great spirits and showed to each other
00:24:34that they were happy, shouting through the broad fields until they were so full of music that the
00:24:39crisp air laughed to hear it. And there stood old Scrooge in his dressing gown and slippers
00:24:49and nightcap on the hill, and beside him the spirit of Christmas passed, and now the spirit
00:24:56spoke again. Not all the boys and girls were singing on that Christmas day, were they,
00:25:02Ebenezer Scrooge? See the bleak building over there? That building? I was a boy there.
00:25:10Yeah, I went to school in that place. You recollect the way? I could walk it blindfold.
00:25:15Strange you have forgotten it for so many years. Come, let us go closer. Look through the window
00:25:23into this cold, barren room. What do you see, Ebenezer Scrooge? I see a boy. A solitary child.
00:25:32Neglected by his friends. Sitting alone, a book open before him. Yes, I see. I know that boy.
00:25:42I was lonely. Poor boy. Your lip is trembling, Scrooge. And what's that on your cheek?
00:25:51Nothing, nothing. I wish... It's too late now. What is the matter? Nothing, nothing.
00:25:59Some boys singing a Christmas carol at my door last night. I should like to give them something,
00:26:04and so... That is all. Come, Ebenezer Scrooge. Let us see another Christmas.
00:26:30You know this, Ebenezer? Know it? Know it? This is the counting house where I was apprenticed.
00:26:40Listen. Come now. Choose your partners. It's my old master, bless his heart. My old master alive again.
00:26:51And we, his clerks, so full of joy on Christmas Eve.
00:26:54Come now. Hold hands, your partners. Bow in courtesy. Hold true.
00:27:10Look, Scrooge. Look at that carefree young man with the light heart and the gay smile.
00:27:16Do you recognize him, Ebenezer? What is the matter, Ebenezer? Nothing, nothing particular.
00:27:23Something I think... No, no, no. Only I should like to be able to say a word or two.
00:27:29It's my clerk, Bob Cratchit. That's all. That's all.
00:27:45My time grows short, and we have yet another journey to make. Where now? Come.
00:27:54Again, Scrooge saw himself in a room that was vaguely familiar. He was an older man,
00:28:06a man in the prime of his life. And he was not alone, but sat by the side of a fair young girl.
00:28:13There were tears in her eyes. Very little, I know. Another idol had displaced me.
00:28:21And if it can cheer and comfort you in time to come, as I would have tried to do,
00:28:26I have no just cause to grieve. What idol has displaced you? A golden one.
00:28:33Belle, listen to me. There's nothing the world so hard on as poverty, and yet nothing it pretends
00:28:40to condemn so much as the pursuit of wealth. The world again. You fear the world too much,
00:28:46Belle. Have I changed toward you? When we were engaged, we were both poor. Was it better then?
00:28:53Now, was it better to be poor? Better at least to be happy. You're changed. You were another man
00:28:59then. I was a boy. Do you blame me because I've grown wiser? Have I ever tried to break our
00:29:05engagement? You would, no. Never. In what then? In a changed nature, in an altered spirit,
00:29:11in everything that made my love of any value in your sight. So, I release you from your promise.
00:29:18Belle. Belle, I love you still. Oh, at first it may cause you pain to lose me,
00:29:25a very brief pain, but soon it will be dim, like a half-remembered dream,
00:29:32an unprofitable dream, and you'll be glad to be awake from such a dream.
00:29:37May you be happy in the life you have chosen, Ebenezer, for the love of him you once were.
00:29:48Spirit. Spirit, it is enough. Show me no more. These were shadows of the things that have been,
00:29:57that they are what they are. Do not blame me. No more, no more. One shadow more. Come.
00:30:06A relentless ghost penioned him in both his arms and forced him to observe what happened next.
00:30:17They were in a room, not very large or handsome, but full of comfort.
00:30:21All around them were the voices of children talking and laughing, and before the winter
00:30:25fire sat a beautiful young girl, so like the last that Scrooge believed it was the same,
00:30:31until he saw her, the girl he had been betrothed to, now a handsome middle-aged woman sitting with
00:30:38a husband at their own fireside. Do you see this man, Ebenezer Scrooge? This man might have been you,
00:30:47and that girl, that girl might have been your daughter, Ebenezer Scrooge. He might have called
00:30:54you father. She might have been a springtime in the haggard winter of your life. Spirit,
00:31:00let me go. Show me no more. Listen now while they speak, Ebenezer. I saw an old friend of yours
00:31:08today. Who was it? Yes. How can I? Oh, I know. Mr. Scrooge. Mr. Scrooge it was. I passed his
00:31:18office window. It wasn't shuttered, and there was a candle inside, so I couldn't help seeing him.
00:31:24His partner lies at the point of death, I hear, and there Scrooge sat all alone,
00:31:31quite alone in the world, I do believe. Spirit, spirit, reward me. Haunt me no more. Leave me.
00:31:37Take me back. Take me back.
00:31:47In his anguish, Scrooge began to struggle with the ghost of Christmas past. The lights in the
00:31:52crown of its head burned high and bright. Scrooge, in a last desperate effort, tore the
00:31:56extinguisher cap from its head, and by a sudden action, pressed it down upon its head.
00:32:05And Scrooge was conscious of being exhausted, and overcome by irresistible drowsiness.
00:32:12And further, of being in his own bedroom, he gave the cap a parting squeeze,
00:32:19in which his hand relaxed, and at barely time to reel the bed, before he sank into a heavy sleep.
00:32:27The stroke of one awakened him, and sat him bolt upright in his bed.
00:32:49We pause now for station identification. This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.
00:32:58So
00:33:15you are listening to the fourth annual presentation of Charles Dickens,
00:33:19A Christmas Carol, brought to you by the makers of Campbell's Soups.
00:33:23We return you now to the Campbell Playhouse and Orson Welles.
00:33:40On the stroke of one, Scrooge had awakened suddenly, and had sat him bolt upright in his
00:33:47own bed. He remembered the words of Marley's ghost, and wondered from which direction the
00:33:54second specter would appear. He drew aside the curtains, and established a sharp lookout all
00:33:58around the bed. At that moment, nothing between a baby and a rhinoceros would have astonished him
00:34:06very much. Now, being prepared for almost anything, he was not by any means prepared for nothing,
00:34:13and consequently, when no shape appeared, he was taken with a violent fit of trembling.
00:34:21Five minutes, ten minutes, a quarter of an hour went by, yet nothing came. And all this time,
00:34:31he sat upon the bed with his nightcap upon his head, the very core and center of a blaze of
00:34:36ruddy light which streamed upon it. Being only light, this was more alarming than a dozen ghosts.
00:34:44As he was powerless to make out what it meant, he began to think that the source of this ghostly
00:34:48light might be in the adjoining room. From whence, on further tracing, it seemed to shine. He got up
00:34:52softly and shuffled in his slippers to the door. It was his own sitting room, there was no doubt
00:34:57about that. But it had undergone a surprising transformation. The walls and ceiling were so
00:35:05hung with living green that it looked a perfect grove. From every part of which bright gleaming
00:35:12berries glistened and such a mighty blaze went roaring up the chimney as had never been known
00:35:17in Scrooge's time or for many and many a winter season gone. Heaped upon the floor to form a kind
00:35:23of throne were turkeys, geese, game, poultry, great joints of meat-sucking pigs, long wreaths of
00:35:30sausages, mince pies, plum puddings, barrels of oysters, red-hot chestnuts, and seething bowls
00:35:37of punch that made the chamber dim with their delicious steam. And in easy state upon this couch
00:35:44there sat a jolly giant, glorious to see, who bore a glowing torch in shape not unalike
00:35:51plenty's horn and held it up high up to shed its light on Scrooge as he came peeping around the
00:35:55door. Come in, come in, Ebenezer Scrooge, you know me better, man. Yeah, yeah. I am the ghost of Christmas
00:36:05presents, look upon me. You've never seen the like of me before. Spirit, spirit conduct me where you will.
00:36:15I went forth last time on compulsion and learned a lesson which is working now.
00:36:22If tonight you have anything to teach me,
00:36:26let me profit by it. Touch my robe, Ebenezer Scrooge, touch my robe.
00:36:32The room vanished, so did the fire. The ruddy glow, the hour of night vanished.
00:36:48Sunlight brushed them as they streamed through the clear morning air.
00:36:53The second specter flew at a more leisurely speed and Scrooge had time to observe
00:36:57people below him shoveling snow on the city roofs,
00:37:01calling out to one another from the parapets and now and then pelting each other with snowboards.
00:37:12In the streets below them the poultry shops were still half open
00:37:16and the fruiterers were radiant in their holiday glory.
00:37:21Scrooge and his ghostly guide circled the tall spires as the steeple called good people all
00:37:26to church or chapel.
00:37:44And there below them lay Camden Town with its squalid streets of ugly frame houses.
00:37:50Of all these dwellings the ghost selected the humblest for their visit.
00:37:55Scrooge, by now past all surprise, recognized Bob Cratchit's wife,
00:37:59dressed in a twice-turned gown but brave in ribbons, busily laying the table,
00:38:04assisting her with Belinda Cratchit, second of her daughters, also brave in ribbons,
00:38:09while Master Peter Cratchit plunged a fork into the saucepan of potatoes.
00:38:14And now two smaller Cratchits, boy and girl, came tearing in screaming that outside the bakers they
00:38:19had smelled a goose and known it for their own and now basking in luxurious thoughts of sage and
00:38:25onions. And three more young Cratchits danced about the table and once more the door opened.
00:38:37Poor children, quiet. Well, bless your heart alive, Martha, my dear. How late you are.
00:38:44Merry Christmas to you. Merry Christmas, Mother.
00:38:47Merry Christmas. How late you are, Martha.
00:38:50We had a deal of work to finish up last night and we had to clear away this morning.
00:38:54Well, never mind so long as you're here now. Sit you down before the fire and have a warm.
00:38:58Lord bless you. But where's Father?
00:39:00He's been to church with Tiny Tim. They'll be along directly.
00:39:04How is Tiny Tim, Mother? Any better at all?
00:39:07Sometimes I think he is and sometimes, sometimes I think,
00:39:13oh, dear God, if anything should happen to Tiny Tim, if Tiny Tim should die.
00:39:18Mother, you mustn't even think of such a thing.
00:39:21Here they come.
00:39:27Merry Christmas, Father, and Tim.
00:39:29Merry Christmas, Martha.
00:39:32And there was Bob Cratchit with at least three feet of comfort, exclusive of the fringe hanging
00:39:36down before him in his threadbare clothes, darned up and brushed to look seasonable and Tiny Tim
00:39:41upon his shoulder. Poor Tiny Tim. He carried a little crutch and had his limbs supported by an
00:39:47iron frame. How did little Tim behave in church, Bob?
00:39:50Oh, I like church, Mother. Oh, they sang the nicest hymns. The people were so kind to me.
00:39:55It was such fun riding home on Daddy's shoulder. He behaved as good as gold and better.
00:39:59Somehow he gets thoughtful sitting by himself so much and thinks the strangest things you've
00:40:03ever heard. He told me coming home that he hoped people saw him in church because he was lame and
00:40:09it might be pleasant for them to remember on Christmas Day who made lame beggars walk
00:40:13and blind men see.
00:40:15Tim, you darling.
00:40:16Mother, who's it, Daddy?
00:40:18Mother, I'm hungry.
00:40:20Oh, yes, children, already. Come, take your places and wait your turn.
00:40:26There's plenty of stuffing and dressing and plum pudding for all of you.
00:40:31Now, Martha, you take care of Tiny Tim. That's right. And see that he eats plenty.
00:40:35He must get strong and well.
00:40:37Now, shall we say grace?
00:40:38Yes, Bob.
00:40:39Our Father who art in heaven, we thank thee for the daily bread which in thy mercy thou
00:40:43dost give to us. Bless us this Christmas Day. Keep us all together so that for many years to come
00:40:49we may unite here to do thy will and praise thy name. Amen.
00:40:54And now, my dears, with such a dinner, a toast. A Merry Christmas to us all and God bless us.
00:41:01God bless us, everyone.
00:41:02And now to Mr. Scrooge. I'll give you a toast to Mr. Scrooge, the founder of the feast.
00:41:07The founder of the feast, indeed. Who pays you all a fifteen shillings a week?
00:41:12I wish I had him here. I'd give him a piece of my mind to feast on
00:41:16and I hope he'd have a good appetite for it.
00:41:18My dear children, Christmas Day.
00:41:20Well, it should be Christmas Day, I'm sure,
00:41:22on which one drinks the health of such an odious, stingy, unfeeling man as Mr. Scrooge.
00:41:27You know he is, Bob. Nobody knows it better than you, poor fellow.
00:41:31My dear, Christmas Day.
00:41:33Well, I'll drink his health for your sake and the day's.
00:41:37Not for his. Long life to him. A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
00:41:43He'll be very merry and very happy, I have no doubt.
00:41:46And I say God bless him too, Mother. And everyone.
00:41:53There was nothing of high mark in all this.
00:41:56They were not a handsome family, these Cratchits. They were not well-dressed.
00:41:59Their shoes were far from being waterproof.
00:42:01Their clothes were scanty and had known very likely the inside of a pawnbroker's.
00:42:07But they were happy, grateful, pleased with one another and contented with the time.
00:42:17And when at last they faded, Scrooge had his eye upon them,
00:42:22and especially on Tiny Tim, until the last.
00:42:28Spirit! Spirit! Tell me if... Tell me if Tiny Tim will live.
00:42:36I see a vacant seat in the poor chimney corner, and a Cratchit without an owner, carefully prepared.
00:42:42No, no, not kind spirit. Say he will be spared. Say he will live.
00:42:49If these shadows remain unaltered by the future, the child will die.
00:42:55The child will die.
00:43:11Many calls Scrooge made that night with the ghost of Christmas present.
00:43:16Now he stood upon a bleak and desert moor where monstrous masses of rude stone were
00:43:21cast about as though it were the burial place of giants.
00:43:24Down in the west the setting sun had left a streak of fiery red which glared upon the
00:43:28desolation for an instant like a sullen eye, then was lost in the thick gloom of darkest night.
00:43:36A light shone from the window of a hut. Passing through the wall of mud and stone,
00:43:40they found a cheerful company assembled around a glowing fire.
00:43:44An old, old man and woman with their children and their children's children all decked out
00:43:50gaily in their holiday attire. In this place enemies are Scrooge,
00:43:54the miners live, who labor in the bowels of the earth. Still they know me, you hear?
00:44:04Spirit did not tarry here, but bad Scrooge hold his robe.
00:44:09And passing on above the moor, they sped on, wither, not to see,
00:44:16to see, to Scrooge's horror. Looking back, he saw the last of the land.
00:44:23Below him were the waves breaking upon a frightful range of rocks.
00:44:29But built upon a dismal reef of sunken stones,
00:44:33some league or so from shore, there stood a solitary lighthouse.
00:44:39Great heaps of seaweed clung to its base, and storm birds,
00:44:44born of the wind, rose and fell about it like the waves they skim.
00:44:51Again the ghosts sped on above the dark and heaving sea,
00:44:54on and on until they lighted on a ship. They stood beside the helmsman at the wheel,
00:44:59the lookout and the bow, the men who had the watch, dark, ghostly figures in their several stations.
00:45:09Much they saw, and far they went, and many places they visited, but always with a happy end.
00:45:21The spirits stood beside sickbeds, and they were cheerful.
00:45:25On foreign lands, and they were close at home. By poverty, and it was rich.
00:45:31In almshouse, hospital, and jail, where vain man in his little brief authority
00:45:38had not made fast the door, and barred the spirit out, he left his blessing.
00:45:46It was a long night, if it were only a night. And it was strange, too, that while Scrooge remained
00:45:53unaltered, in his outward form the ghost grew older, clearly older.
00:46:03My life upon this globe is very brief, Ebenezer. It ends tonight.
00:46:09Tonight?
00:46:10Tonight at midnight. Hark, the hour is come.
00:46:16Not yet. There are still more things I wish to learn.
00:46:20These you will learn from still another spirit. Still another spirit, Ebenezer.
00:46:35Scrooge looked about him, the ghost. It had vanished.
00:46:41And he found himself once more in his bed, in his dressing gown, and his nightcap on his head.
00:46:47He heard the clock strike, and then he remembered the prediction of old Jacob Marley,
00:46:54and lifting up his eyes, beheld a solemn phantom, draped and hooded,
00:46:59coming toward him, like a mist along the ground.
00:47:04The spirit slowly, gravely, silently approached.
00:47:13In the very air through which it moved, it seemed to scatter gloom and mystery.
00:47:20I am the ghost of Christmas yet to come. Ebenezer,
00:47:27I am the ghost of Christmas yet to come. Ebenezer Scrooge, I am about to show you the shadows of the things that have not happened, but will happen in the time before us.
00:47:43Ghost of the future, I fear you more than any specter I've seen.
00:47:51Lead on, lead on.
00:47:57The night is waning fast, and it is precious time.
00:48:07Scrooge followed in the shadow of its dress, which bore him up, he thought, and carried him along.
00:48:13And suddenly, they were in a room which Scrooge seemed to remember having seen before, where a woman and a child were.
00:48:23Oh, my son, my little son. Tiny Tim, I loved him so.
00:48:33Mother dear, you mustn't. It's almost time for father to be home. Don't let him see you crying.
00:48:41Yes, mother. He's late tonight. He walks slower than he used to.
00:48:48And yet, I've known him to walk very fast indeed, with Tiny Tim on his shoulder.
00:48:56So have I, mother.
00:48:58But he was light to carry, and his father loved him so that it was no trouble, no trouble at all.
00:49:06Bob.
00:49:08Good evening, my dear.
00:49:10You're late, Bob.
00:49:13I went to the church hour today. I wish you could have gone with me.
00:49:17It would have done your heart good to see how sweet and green a place it is.
00:49:21But you'll see it often.
00:49:23I promised him, I promised Tiny Tim we'd walk there on a Sunday.
00:49:28Oh, Bob, Bob.
00:49:30It's God's will, my dear.
00:49:32Oh, my son, my little son. Tiny Tim, I loved him so.
00:49:42Oh.
00:49:57Scrooge tried to break through the shade that held him to talk with Bob Cratchit,
00:50:01to speak some word of comfort that the sleeve of the ghost of Christmas yet to come
00:50:06passed in front of him and shut the family from his view.
00:50:12And now they were in an obscure part of the town where Scrooge had never been before.
00:50:16The ways were foul and narrow, the shops and houses wretched, the people drunken,
00:50:20slipshod, ugly, the whole quarter reeked with crime, with filth and misery.
00:50:26Deep in this den of infamous resort, there was a low-browed, beetling pawn shop
00:50:33where iron old rags and bottles were bought.
00:50:37And there was an old charwoman standing at the counter.
00:50:40Don't do my bundle, Joe.
00:50:41I hope Scrooge didn't die of nothing catching, eh?
00:50:44Don't be afraid. I ain't so fond of his company that I'd take a chance at that.
00:50:50Ah, you may look through that shirt till your eyes ache and you won't find a hole in it.
00:50:55The best he had and a fine one, too. He'd have wasted it if it hadn't been for me.
00:51:01What do you call a wasting of it, Mrs. Dilbert?
00:51:04Putting it on him to be buried in.
00:51:08Somebody was fool enough to do it, but I took it off him again.
00:51:13If calico ain't good enough for such a purpose, it ain't good enough for anything.
00:51:18It can't look uglier than he did in that one, the old horror.
00:51:23And here's his bed curtains. Small use he'll have for them where he's going.
00:51:29That's the truest word one has heard you ever spoke, Mrs. Dilbert.
00:51:34So this is the end of him, you see.
00:51:37He frightened everyone away from him when he was alive to profit us when he was dead.
00:51:52The phantom spread its dark robe before him for a moment like a wing.
00:51:57Withdrawing, it revealed another place, a churchyard walled in by houses,
00:52:03run by grass and weeds, choked up with too much burying.
00:52:07Fapped with a repeated appetite.
00:52:10A worthy place.
00:52:12The spirit stood among the graves and pointed down towards it.
00:52:17And following the finger, read upon the stone of the neglected grave his own name.
00:52:24Ebenezer Scrooge.
00:52:27Spirit, am I, am I the man who lay dead upon that bed?
00:52:35The spirit pointed from the grave to him and back again.
00:52:39And the upper portion of its deep black garment was contracted for an instant in its folds.
00:52:45As if it had inclined its head.
00:52:47Ebenezer Scrooge.
00:52:50And then Scrooge saw an alteration in the phantom's hood and dress.
00:52:56It shrank, collapsed and dwindled into a bedpost.
00:53:00Yes, and the bedpost was his own, the bed was his own, the room was his own.
00:53:04Best and happiest of all, the time before him was his own to make amends in.
00:53:09Running to the window, he opened it.
00:53:11He put out his head.
00:53:12No fog, no mist, clear, bright, jovial, stirring cold.
00:53:18Cold piping for the blood to dance in.
00:53:22Golden sunlight, heavenly air.
00:53:24Sweet fresh air, merry bells.
00:53:27Oh, glorious, glorious.
00:53:29Boy, boy, what's the day?
00:53:32What's that, sir?
00:53:33What day is it, my fine fellow?
00:53:35Today?
00:53:36Why, it's Christmas Day.
00:53:37Christmas Day?
00:53:39Christmas Day, that I haven't missed it.
00:53:42The spirits have done it all in one night.
00:53:44All in one night.
00:53:45I don't know what to do.
00:53:46I'm as light as a feather.
00:53:47I'm as happy as an angel.
00:53:48I'm as merry as a schoolboy.
00:53:50Merry Christmas to everybody.
00:53:53Happy New Year.
00:53:54Happy New Year to all the world.
00:54:13Next morning, next morning, Scrooge was early at his office.
00:54:19He went early for a reason.
00:54:21He could only be there first and catch Bob Cratchit coming late.
00:54:25That was the thing he'd set his heart upon, and he did it.
00:54:28Yes, he did.
00:54:30The clock struck nine.
00:54:34No Bob.
00:54:35Quarter past, no Bob.
00:54:38Scrooge sat with his door wide open that he might see him come in.
00:54:44At last he came.
00:54:46Before he opened the door, he's comforted too.
00:54:48He's on his stool in the jiffy, driving away with his pen as if he were trying to overtake nine o'clock.
00:55:03Hello?
00:55:04You, uh, Cratchit.
00:55:06Yes, sir.
00:55:07Cratchit?
00:55:08Step this way, Cratchit, if you please.
00:55:10Yes, sir.
00:55:11Cratchit.
00:55:13What do you mean by coming in at this time of day?
00:55:16I'm very sorry, sir.
00:55:17I am behind my time.
00:55:18You are?
00:55:19Yes, I think you are.
00:55:21It's only once a year, Mr. Scrooge.
00:55:23It shall not be repeated.
00:55:24I was making rather merry yesterday, sir.
00:55:26And I'll tell you what, my friend.
00:55:28I'm not going to stand this sort of thing any longer.
00:55:32And therefore, and therefore, Bob Cratchit, I'm about to raise your salary.
00:55:39Are you, are you quite yourself, sir?
00:55:42No!
00:55:43No, thank heaven, I'm not quite myself.
00:55:45Merry Christmas, Bob!
00:55:47Merry Christmas, my good fellow.
00:55:49Merry Christmas, and I've given you for many a year, I'll raise your salary, and we'll
00:55:53see what we can do for Tiny Tim and the rest of your family.
00:55:55We'll discuss it this very afternoon over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob.
00:55:59Make up the fires, make them up, and buy another cool scuttle before you dot another I.
00:56:04Bob Cratchit!
00:56:09And Scrooge was better than his word.
00:56:14He did it all, and infinitely more, and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second
00:56:21father.
00:56:22He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man as the good old city knew,
00:56:28or any other good old city, town, or borough in the good old world.
00:56:32He had no further intercourse with spirits, but lived upon the total abstinence principle
00:56:38ever afterwards, and it was always said of him that he knew how to keep Christmas well
00:56:44if any man alive possessed the knowledge.
00:56:48May that be truly said of us, and of all of us.
00:56:51And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us, everyone.
00:56:57Sing hallelujah, sing hallelujah, sing for Israel's our Lord.
00:57:03Sing hallelujah, sing hallelujah, sing for Israel's our Lord.
00:57:09Sing hallelujah, sing hallelujah, sing for Israel's our Lord.
00:57:19You have just heard the fourth annual presentation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, offered
00:57:24for your enjoyment by the makers of Campbell's Soups, and here is Orson Welles.
00:57:28Ladies and gentlemen, this is the first year I've shared in this happy tradition of the
00:57:31Campbell Playhouse, and I'm only sorry that that very, very grand actor, Lionel Barrymore,
00:57:36was not able to come to New York this Christmas to be part of our broadcast tonight.
00:57:41We're depending upon him to be with us next year, as he's been in the past, and I'm looking
00:57:46forward to it.
00:57:47And now, a word about next week's show.
00:57:50Next Friday night, I shall have the great pleasure of welcoming as our guest star, one
00:57:55of the most elusive stars in motion pictures, Miss Catherine Hepburn.
00:58:00Miss Hepburn, making her first radio appearance in more than four years, joins me in a dramatization
00:58:05of Ernest Hemingway's greatest novel, Farewell to Arms.
00:58:10Ladies and gentlemen, the night before, the night before Christmas, and all through the
00:58:19Campbell Playhouse, not a creature is stirring that doesn't wish you a Merry Christmas.
00:58:24This goes for all of us, for my sponsor, for myself, for all of us, from Johnny Dietz,
00:58:28who runs the machinery in the control room, to Miss Hess, who types the Campbell Playhouse
00:58:33scripts.
00:58:34Merry Christmas.
00:58:35Merry Christmas from all of us to all of you.
00:58:37Merry Christmas.
00:58:39Frank Herman and his band of merry melodians wish you a Merry Christmas.
00:58:46Ora Nichols and her demon crew of sound technicians wish you a Merry Christmas.
00:58:58Orson Welles and his considerable aggregation of dramatic talent, including Hiram Sherman,
00:59:03who played Bob Cratchit, Ray Collins, who was the man who asked for arms, Frank Reddick,
00:59:07who was the ghost of Christmas yet to come, Eustace Wyatt, who was the ghost of Christmas
00:59:10present, Arthur Anderson, who was the ghost of Christmas past, Alf Shirley, who was Marley's
00:59:14ghost, Alice Frost, who was the charwoman, Brenda Forbes, who was Mrs. Cratchit, Joseph
00:59:18Cotton, who was nephew Fred, Anna Stafford, who was Belle, Kingsley Colton, who was Tiny
00:59:22Tim, and George Spelvin, who was Mr. Peswig, all wish you a Merry Christmas.
00:59:27Merry Christmas.
00:59:29And finally, as Tiny Tim says, God bless us everyone.
00:59:37Merry Christmas.
00:59:59Don't fail to listen in next Friday night when Orson Welles brings to the Campbell Playhouse
01:00:05Miss Catherine Hepburn in his own dramatization of Ernest Hemingway's great novel, A Farewell
01:00:10to Arms.
01:00:11This is Ernest Chappell wishing you all a very Merry Christmas on behalf of the makers
01:00:16of Campbell's Soups.
01:00:28This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.
01:00:34© BF-WATCH TV 2021