Ebony Pictures & The Mystery Of The Black Sherlock Holmes

Over the past decade or so there has been an increased interest in the beginnings of Black Cinema in America with note being taken by the works of Oscar Micheau in particular (who I had previously written about here). However even as  Micheaux's serious, somber and ambitious films were aiming to "uplift the race" there were others who sought to simply provide entertainment producing lowbrow slapstick and low budget adventure films to match those in the larger world of white cinema and Vaudeville.

Vaudeville had in fact taken some of its tropes and traditions from the earlier genre of Minstrel Shows which had swept the country in the mid-nineteenth century and provided the first example of mass entertainment in America. The history of Minstrelsy is too long and convoluted to detail here but it began as an authentically black form of comedy, music and dance which by the mid-century had developed a star system of touring acts both black and white. By about the 1880's the large and rather formalized travelling Minstrel shows had in effect been broken down into smaller parts that would make their way into smaller and cheaper white owned Medicine Shows in rural areas and Vaudeville in the cities. A network of Vaudeville theatre chains would stretch across the US and Canada much as later movie theatre chains would do and while these theatres would provide opportunities for black entertainers they would also have to put up with the insults and indignities of the Jim Crow era and by the 1890's a parallel network of black owned theatres had sprung up  across the country.



Inevitably once movie theatres largely replaced Vaudeville this model would eventually be recreated with chains of black owned movie houses. These theatres, usually small, existed in black neighbourhoods in big cities like New York and Chicago to smaller towns into the South along with travelling tent shows in more rural areas that could set up a screen and projector. Besides these black owned enterprises in some cities white owned theatres in black neighbourhoods would set aside a day of the week to program movies with black stars or all-black casts for what were called Midnight Rambles. Naturally the existence of such networks required a regular stream of such movies which would be filled by a variety of movies of various genres ranging from the serious minded social melodramas of Oscar Micheaux to more lowbrow fare including musicals (including by Louis Jordan who I wrote about here), comedies, film noirs, romances, even westerns (including those of Herb Jeffries (which I also wrote about here) and at least one monster movie in "Son Of Ingagi" (written about here). Most if not all of these films were made quickly on a low budget, were largely unknown to the larger white audiences and have until recently been largely ignored by film histories with many being presumed lost.              

Some of these all-black movies were indeed produced and directed by black filmmakers the first of which was the Lincoln Motion Picture Company which ran from 1916 to 1923 making only five films from which remains only one feature and fragments of a second. Other films were actually produced by the same white owned Poverty Row studios who spotted an opportunity to churned out low-budget westerns and comedies albeit under different studio names. One of the first and most controversial of these studios was Ebony Films which operated of of Chicago in the 1910's. While the Lincoln Company's films were of a similar serious and ambitious nature as those of Micheaux, those of Ebony Films were another matter.



Ebony Films was in fact a white owned company which started out as Historical Features Films based in Chicago in around 1915. The name suggests that either they had ambitions to be making feature length epics or more likely that they wanted to create the illusion that they were and they do seem to have made some educational films. In the event the bulk of their films (most which do not survive) appear to be limited to comedies and a few rumored westerns. Given that they shot their films in Chicago one can assume their "westerns" were shoddy low budget affairs although in the 1910's when most films,including westerns, were still shot in New York and New Jersey (including "The Great Train Robbery" and the many shorts of Bronco Billy) this was not unusual. The studio's bread and butter however were its one reel comedies which by all accounts were of the lowest common denominator type of slapstick and full of "ethnic" humour which they openly marketed as such. By "ethnic" we of course mean "racist" with crude and insulting stereotypical tropes ridiculing various groups including Blacks, Asians, Jews, Mexicans, Irish, Italians and Native People among others long being popular fare in film and Vaudeville. However by the 1910's some of these tropes were becoming less fashionable with members of these groups begining to make their displeasure known. The 1915 release of DW Griffith's uber-race baiting "Birth Of A Nation" led to such a backlash from the Black Press and a organized campaign, probably the first of it's kind, to address not only protest the treatment of and portrayal of Blacks in show business but more importantly the creation of an alternative that would be owned and staffed by Black filmmakers and directed at Black audiences and t's not a coincidence that both Oscar Micheaux and Lincoln Motion Pictures began the following year.

"TWO KNIGHTS OF VAUDEVILLE" (1915);


The plot of this film, such as it is, is simple even by the standards of the slapstick genre. Two guys stumble onto tickets to a vaudeville show which have been dropped by a wealthy white man and they invite a lady friend to join them. At the show after a couple of (white) acrobatic and juggling acts the two men become so disruptive they are kicked out. They then decide it will be easy to put on their own show so they set up a theatre (in what appears to be an empty warehouse) and put on a show for an all black paying audience. However they are so inept that the audience heckles and pelts them with trash ultimately rioting and destroying the theatre.

This is slapstick film with performances of the two main characters (played by the obscure Jimmy Marshall and Frank Montgomery) being clownish buffoons behaving as naughty and rambunctious children, unsophisticated and dim with the ill-fitting clothes they wear being either oversized or too small. Defenders of the film may point out that such broad clownish characters were common in slapstick films of the 1910's including those of Mack Sennett, Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle, Ben Turpin and Larry Semon and this is true. In fact some of these white characters are actually more clownish than those in this film. However these white characters are presented as exaggerated trickster characters living among the otherwise normal world of straight society and reacting to it in over-the-top ways. In this film the other Black characters (represented by the audience who riot at the end) are also childish and immature whereas the white characters are either authority figures (represented by the wealthy man, a theatre usher and a cop) or the vaudeville performers who may be slightly clownish but are clearly doing so in the context of performing on stage. The white theatre itself is also shown as an imposing building with columns and box seats compared to the warehouse the Black show is held at with plank benches and improvised curtain. The Black characters are in fact following the traditional tropes of the Black Face minstrel shows, with Blacks as clownish, childish, silly, unsophisticated and prone to violence. The one exception is the role of the Lady Friend of the two main characters. She dresses smartly and fashionably, attempts to restrain the others, does not get thrown out of the vaudeville theatre and in effect acts as both the straight man and mother figure. It may or may not be a coincidence that she is also notably lighter skinned than the other characters. The Black audience at the second show is also dressed respectably enough although they are quickly unruly.



However what really gives the film's attitude towards Blacks which any Black viewer was bound to notice is the use of exaggerated and outdated Minstrel show speech for the characters who say things like; "What yo' go and mess up the party fo" and "Jest all time messin' up something. Nevah again". It's not just the two main clownish characters who talk this way as the signs put up announcing their performance are even worse with signs saying; "Vodevil 5 Sense", "Too famuz akters prezented on a big stage. Hear to day" and the performers billed as "Akrobats". Some of the letters are also transposed backwards as if written by a child. The obvious inference being that they are semi-literate and the all-black audience seems to accept this. The real life Black film audiences would not.  

By the 1910's some of the use of racial and ethnic tropes were becoming less fashionable with members of these groups organizing to protest such treatment and even some white middle-class audiences becoming uncomfortable with such overtly demeaning subject matter. The 1915 release of DW Griffith's pro-KKK "Birth Of A Nation" led to such a backlash from the Black Press and a organized campaign, probably the first of its kind, to not only protest the treatment of and portrayal of Blacks in show business but more importantly call for the creation of an alternative that would be owned and staffed by Black filmmakers and directed at Black audiences and it's not a coincidence that both Oscar Micheaux and Lincoln Motion Pictures began the following year.

Meanwhile the white owners of Historical Films were facing a dilemma; their comedies were fairly successful enough with white audiences but were condemned in the Black Press as demeaning in ways they were no longer prepared to meekly accept. Faced with the choice of continuing to make their lowbrow films which while fairly profitable were embarrassing and had limited appeal or they could make some attempt to clean up their act. Somewhat surprisingly they not only opted for the latter option but they went all in on a complete makeover to appeal to Black audiences. Starting in 1915 they changed the name to Ebony Studios and hired an all (or at least mostly) Black creative staff and all-black theatre troupe and tried to appeal to both black and white audiences. For the next two years Ebony Films would make two dozen films, a respectable number, most of which appear to be comedy shorts, some of which parody white films including "Birth Of A Nation", westerns, adventure and spy films (including a Sherlock Holmes parody) and even monster movies. Until recently the output and quality of these films was mostly a mystery and none appeared to survive aside from some promotional material but over the past decade a collection of several of them have surfaced and can now be seen albeit in somewhat distressed or incomplete condition.


LUTHER POLLARD

While the owners of Ebony Films may have been of limited talents the black directors and actors they hired were not. Chief amongst these were the Pollard Brothers, Luther and Fritz. Chicago native Luther, a writer and sometime director and was appointed President and General Manager and set to work bringing in his younger brother Fredrick Douglas (AKA Fritz) Pollard a charismatic figure who like the later Paul Robeson was an actor, writer and star football player who would also serve as a talent scout and casting director. It was presumably Fritz who hired George Lewis, an actor and director who already had his own theatre troupe in the George Lewis Players who would make up much of Ebony Pictures regulars in all of their subsequent films.


FRITZ POLLARD

Among the players were leading man Sam Robinson, Rudolph Tatum, a sidekick, Sam Jacks, a tall straight man foil and pretty young leading lady Evon Junior (also billed as Yvonne). George Lewis himself would appear in supporting roles usually as a dignified authority figure foil as would the Pollard Brothers on occasion. Given that the troupe was named after Lewis it's likely Lewis played some sort of role behind the camera as well. He also appears older than Robinson, Tatum or Junior. From 1917 the cast of all of Ebony Pictures films seem to have come from the George Lewis Players. One notable difference in the later Ebony films of the era under the direction of the Pollard Brothers and George Lewis (at least those that survive and what can be gleaned from the others) from the earlier films is that not only are the casts are entirely or mostly black but they would exist in a world where Blacks would not simply be Minstrel Show stereotypes but also respectable middle-class figures. The clownish characters would remain as these were accepted slapstick tropes but they would exist in a larger world of respectable Black bourgeois society that would include Black professors, lawyers, doctors and businessmen as well as policemen and few white characters would be shown at all and if so only incidentally if needed by the story.

"THE RECKLESS ROVER" (1918)


Sam Robinson is a layabout named Rastus who is behind on his rent. His landlady gets a cop to throw him out of his room and after a chase he takes shelter in a Chinese laundry where the owner gives him a job. However due to Sam's incompetence and irresponsibility he soon causes chaos. Rummaging around the shop he stumbles on to an opium pipe and proceeds to get stoned. His over enthusiastic flirting with a young woman (Evon Junior) leads her to call for a policeman who of course turns out to be the one who chased Sam earlier and he again has to flee. Finis.



Here we see what would become the basic standard for Ebony films; broad slapstick humour and energy with Robinson playing a roguish bumbling oaf who gets himself in trouble. His character can be seen as perpetuating some racial stereotypes from Minstrelsy but is mostly within the bounds of a Mack Sennett slapstick film of the era. However the intertitle cards do use images obviously taken from the most racist Minstrelsy tropes as is the character name Rastus and it's not hard to see why Black audiences were outraged even if the cast is all Black. Besides Minstrelsy the film also includes a stereotypical Chinese coolie (complete with opium pipe). Trivia note; As in an early example of an Easter Egg as Rastus runs away we can see a poster for the DW Grifith movie "Hearts Of The World", but at least it's not "Birth Of A Nation". If Ebony was hoping to broaden their appeal this film can hardly be considered a good omen.  

"THE COMEBACK OF BARNACLE BILL" (1918);


This is a rural based comedy in which Sam Robinson plays a bumbling farm hand with a crush on farm girl Evon Junior who is the daughter of owner Sam Jacks. After Junior rejects him Sam decides to go off into the woods and shoot himself but instead stumbles on to a couple of thieves who are in the process of hiding some ill-gotten money. He accidentally fires his gun and scares them off, discovers the money and takes it back to the farm where he hides it. Meanwhile Junior has a young suitor, Hector, visiting from the city and the family head off to pick him up at the train station in a horse buggy during which Sam tries to foil his bumbling. Arriving at the farm Hector tries to impress with his golf skill which more of Sam's bumbling interferes with causing more chaos. Meanwhile a lawyer (George Lewis) arrives to foreclose on the farm for its unpaid mortgage. Hector attempts to raise the money to pay off the debt but is informed by telegram he does not have the money (here the print is too damaged to actually read it) so Sam runs off and eventually finds the robber's money he stashed and pays off the debt. Suddenly here the film runs out so we don't know how it ended.  



Like all the other surviving films of the later period of Ebony Pictures this film is in a distressed and fragmentary state suffering from significant water damage which makes parts of it impossible to make out (including two important letters the contents of which we must speculate) and the ending is also missing. The title make no apparent sense as the original Barnacle Bill was a character taken from a 19th century drinking song and was supposed to be a sailor, unless that is somehow explained by the missing footage although it's hard to see how. We can however see that this film is an improvement over the earlier film in that while the character played by Sam Robinson is an oaf he is within the bounds of white slapstick clowns as are the other more straight characters. The lawyer coming to enforce the foreclosure is also black and not a figure of mockery. The film does not rely on tropes left over from Minstrelsy and there is no use of the demeaning semi-literate dialogue. The George Lewis players appear to provide the cast for all subsequent Ebony Pictures and it's notable that the main two actors from the 1915 vaudeville film do not make an appearance again although it's possible the female character from that film is Evon Junior from this and subsequent films.


EVON JUNIOR

This film is a slight improvement over the previous film and less demeaning. The performances are slightly less broad but still fall within the slapstick genre. The plot is rambling and unfocused but at least it does have a plot. However while this film is better it was still subject to criticism in the Black press who wanted more serious and thoughtful portrayals of Black characters of the sort that Lincoln Pictures and Oscar Micheux were now making while Ebony Pictures were still focused on low-brow comedies. This would continue even while leaving behind the rural setting of this film for the big city that was more familiar to the Black audiences Ebony was aiming for.

"MERCY THE MUMMY MUMBLED" (1918);


Sam Robinson plays a hustler who comes up with a scheme to sell a fake mummy to a Professor (George Lewis) and buys a prop mummy case from a stage costumer and pays a sidekick (Tatum) to be wrapped up and pretend to be the mummy. He contacts an agent who examines the mummy and falls for the ruse buying it for $1000 after getting into a fight over the money. Meanwhile two agents for the Egyptian government are searching for lost mummies taken by American missionaries. Two delivery men are hired to transport the money by horse drawn wagon. While doing so the coffin with Tatum still inside falls off the wagon and is dragged through the streets. As the lid comes off Tatum scrambles to try to escape but the wagon drivers hit him on the head knocking him out, force him back into the coffin band continue to the professor's lab where he takes possession. Meanwhile the two Egyptian agents have tracked the delivery and show up at the lab to demand the return of the mummy but the professor throws them out. At this point the film halts with the ending being lost. Presumably they return and some sort of melee ensues with the "Mummy" coming back to life and emerging from his coffin, terrifying everybody into fleeing or causing a chase.

This film print is in better condition but it's also more truncated with more missing footage,inlcuding the ending which can only be guessed at. The story, what survives, is more coherent with more openings for slapstick hijinks. The plot is silly and outlandish but shows some imagination and could easily be the basis for a white Three Stooges short of later years. As in the previous film there is a scene involving an object containing a character being dragged behind a wagon at some speed which would have involved some skilled camerawork. Moving the story from a rural setting means the secondary characters are less country bumpkinish. The film's title had led some horror film historians to wonder if this film (long considered lost) might have been an early Mummy movie but we have enough to see that it clearly is not.


GEORGE LEWIS

While the white owners of Ebony were willing to hire black artists and even put them into positions of production it's clear that whoever was in front or even behind the camera those in the office and marketing dept were clearly white and still aiming at a mostly white audience as one of their promotional packages sent out to theatre owners helpfully explains;

"Ebony Pictures are something different. Actors are Negros, just plain folks. If you know anything about THESE PEOPLE (emphasis mine) you must admit they are funny. Funniest people in the world. Bring a laugh when no others can. THEY (emphasis mine) are natural comedians, full of innate humor and pantomime which enables them to portray comedy as no one can. What colored Vaudeville acts mean as attractions to Vaudeville managers, Ebony Pictures will mean as attractions to the motion picture exhibits."

Obviously this was written by a white PR flack and aimed at white theatre owners appealing to white audiences as the use of terms like "these people" make clear. In spite of their, probably somewhat sincere attempts to broaden their appeal to black audiences they are also promising nothing more than cheap laughs with no suggestion of anything more. Another promo sheet enthuses;

"Ebony Comedies are not an experiment but a big success. What has heretofore been considered impossible by producers has been successfully accomplished in these comedies; The agreeable Black Faced act of the spoken stage is now paralleled in motion pictures."

Adding; "Think! Real Negro humor successfully portrayed on the screen." With another ad specifically chiming in "Unsurpassed as attractions for children".



Not all the promo sheets are this patronizing but the obvious target for them was clearly white theatre owners who are assured that these films are acceptable to white audiences with some (but not all) specifically using the term "Black Face" which was obviously aimed at white audiences. The only concession to Black sensibilities was the use of the term "Negro" which was then favoured by the Black Press and intellectuals instead of terms like "colored" (which also shows up) or the more insulting terms left over from Minstrelsy like "darkies". However in the same paragraph the unknown but almost certainly white writer switches back to using the term "colored". The Black press was not fooled with theatre and film editor Tony Langston of the black owned Chicago Defender urging theatre owners not to book the films saying they caused "respectable ladies and gentlemen to blush with shame and humiliation".

New Gerneral Manager Luther Pollard tried to push back on the image of Ebony Pictures being simply a ron t-for it's white owners writing in one to George P. Johnson of the black owned Lincoln Motion Picture Company, Pollard wrote that his comedies “proved to the public that colored players can put over good comedy without any of that crap shooting, chicken stealing, razor display, water melon eating stuff that the colored people generally have been a little disgusted in seeing. You do not find that stuff in Ebony comedies.” But his attempts, while by all accounts sincere, were constantly being undermined by the marketting tactics of his white employers.

One note that while production and casting of Ebony films after 1917 would be handled by Black artists there was at least one exception in Robert J Horner, a white screenwriter of less than savoury reputation who was listed as the writer of several of these films. One has to wonder if he was responsible for some of the Minstrelsy tropes that would remain.

After such an unpromising start at least some later Ebony films would show some improvements and while still sporting limited budgets would also include some somewhat more ambitious parodies of white films. It's worth remembering that the original black minstrel shows were also full of parodies of white fancy dress dances and fashions and had indeed started that way although white audiences were largely oblivious to this.  

"A BLACK SHERLOCK HOLMES" (1918);


Sam Robinson is again the lead as a private detective Knick Garter (a play on the fictional detective Nick Carter already the subject of several books and films) who dresses like Sherlock Holmes wearing a deerstalker hat (sideways) and tweed suit sporting a large pipe and magnifying glass with his bumbling sidekick (Rudolph Tatum). The case involves a chemist (Lewis) who has invented a new type of explosive and is targeted by a conman (Sam Jacks) who eventually kidnaps the  daughter (Evon Junior) who Garter/Holmes has a crush on. Garter/Holmes who is of the Inspector Clouseau school of inept detectives spies on the conman and gives chase ending in a shootout and rescue of the damsel in distress after which the conman meekly surrenders and one of his henchmen switches sides and runs off to elope with the daughter and they all live happily ever after which Garter/Holmes graciously accepts.



This one is actually complete albeit heavily distressed by water damage in some parts making those scenes a little difficult to fully follow however the story is essentially complete. The story is workable enough and Robinson has a more clearly defined character and look. Although long considered lost this is probably the best known Ebony film by the same sort of roundabout way that "Mercy The Mummy Mumbled" got a bit of notice by horror film historians, Sherlock Holmes historians had noticed this tile as an intriguing early Holmes film with a Black Sherlock but without having any details to work with. Now by actually viewing it we can see that it is obviously a parody of sorts. The story has nothing to actually do with Holmes of course and the characters are the usual broad comedy foils without too many carry-overs from Minstrelsy. Robinson is competent enough and the studio apparently saw enough potential in his bumbling detective to make a sequel of sorts.

"SPYING THE SPY" (1918);


Robinson's bumbling detective returns wearing the same deerstalker cap and tweed suit although this time his name has changed to Sam Sambo and he has no sidekick. With America now involved in World War One he has taken it upon himself to search for German spies and thinks he has found one named "Schwartz" who he makes a citizen's arrest of by throwing a bag over him and marching off to the police station. Once turned over to the police Schwartz is revealed to be a respectable black man (Schwartz is literally German for black) who the police promptly release, throwing Sam out of the station. Sam is however still convinced that Schwartz is a German spy and tails him as he goes into a building. It is revealed that Mr Schwartz is in fact a member of a Masons like secret society who are in the process of having an initiation ceremony dressed in dark hooded robes emblazoned with a skull & crossbones when Sam sneaks in. Recognizing Sam, Schwartz decides to turn the tables and put him through the ritual which includes dumping him into a jail cell with an animated skeleton and a simulated beheading. After terrorizing Sam the group allows him to escape by slipping him a gun with blanks and when he shoots it they all fall "dead" and he runs off. Finis.

Unlike "A Black Sherlock Holmes" this film has not been noticed by Holmes historians but Robinson clearly plays the same character (albeit with a different name) although if anything he's even dumber this time. This is still a lowest denominator slapstick; some film historians have suggested that there might be a theme of mocking "A Birth Of A Nation" in the secret society with their robes and hoods terrorizing Sam. However this is reading too much into this film (probably based more on the promotional posters rather than viewing the actual film which was long thought lost) the robed figures are clearly black and are not real villains committing any actual violence and Sam is not a real victim but is a oafish clod who besides being in the wrong has even assaulted and kidnapped Mr Schwartz early in the film. Schwartz and the robed characters are presented as respectable middle-class men and definitely not Klansmen. In fact there actually were all-black counterparts of the all-white Masons including the Prince Hall Masons who still exist. Additionally unlike most of the later Ebony films of the Pollard era there are white characters in the role of the police officers who are minor characters but they behave fairly and responsibly. There is no explicitly or implicitly racial critique to be found here. In fact, changing the name of the Robinson character from Nick Garter, a mild parody of a white fictional character, to Sambo, an explicitly racist Minstrelsy trope is even a step backwards.



We can't be sure exactly in what order the later Ebony films were actually made. At least two dozen films were released in 1917 and 1918 with "A Black Sherlock Holmes" listed as released in April 15 1918 and "Spying The Spy" in April 22 however they were probably not filmed in that sequence as there are clearly large snow drifts to be seen in "Spying The Spy" so it must have been filmed in the winter of 1917-1918 but no earlier as America did not declare war in Germany until April 1917. Thus "Sherlock Holmes" might have been filmed afterwards with the name change from Sambo to Nick Garter being an update for a character who was considered as a possible recurring role.


SAM ROBINSON

That would never happen as Ebony Films attempts to rebrand for Black audiences would never be really accepted and would continue to face criticism from the Black press like the Chicago Defender who called for a boycott. To make things worse the studio continued to re-release their earlier films. As the studio was trying to market to both Black and white audiences some of the promotional posters and title cards also continued to use blackface imagery which may have amused whites but did not go unnoticed by the Defender. Ebony's attempts to play both sides were bound to fail and by 1919 Ebony closed up shop for good. There may have been other factors; at the end of the Great War there was an economic recession and more importantly the larger film industry which had originally been based in New York and New Jersey was packing up and moving to Hollywood. Ebony would not be among them, in fact out of Ebony's Black cast and producers virtually none would have any known film credits after Ebony shut down. It could be that none of them made the move to Hollywood and instead stayed in Chicago or made their way to New York and worked on the Vaudeville stage. While the films of Ebony Pictures have some historical interest as artifacts of early Black cinema it can't really be said that Ebony itself left any real legacy as all it's films were soon lost and forgotten and unlike some other failed studios, record labels and publishing houses none of it's creative staff would use their experience to make other films. The one odd exception was white screenwriter Robert J Horner who did make his way to Hollywood where he would have a long if undistinguished career as a director and producer in spite of having only one eye, no working legs and no apparent talent. He would carry on the fringes of Poverty Row making notoriously low quality B Movie (or lower) Westerns considered some of the worst of a not very demanding genre and dodging lawsuits, creditors and fraud arrests until his death in 1949.          


ROBERT J HORNER

Sam Robinson has been named by some sources as a younger brother of Bill Bojangles Robinson, later known as the famed tap dancer and already fairly well known as a Vaudeville player. But was he really? The backstory is complicated. Bojangles (whose actual birth name was Luther) is known to have had a younger brother named Bill. As he entered show business Luther decided that Luther wasn't a good stage name and switched to his brother's name of Bill. In spite of his cheery and unflappable public image in private Bojangles was known to be rather stubborn and quick tempered and he convinced (or bullied) his younger brother to go along with this and so when he then in turn eventually entered show business as a musician he changed his name to Percy. It's possible that before adopting the name of Percy as a musician he started out as an actor under the name Sam. Sam Robinson's film credits (which include an early Mary Pickford film) have has no other (known) film credits after Ebony Films shut down so if Sam and Percy are indeed he same person he could have quit acting and switched to music under the name Percy in order to dodge the bad press these film had gotten in the Black press. No other Robinson brother is listed however there is also a problem with the birthdate given for Sam as he is listed as being born in 1888 in Richmond, Virginia, which was the home of Bill who was born in 1878. However the brother's parents are known to have died in 1884 whereupon the brothers were raised by their grandparents with no known step brothers. It's possible that Sam is also Percy and the 1888 birth date given is simply wrong. It's also possible Sam might have been a cousin rather than brother who billed himself as such however it's more likely that the later claim that Sam was one of the Robinson Brothers was a mistake made by a later writer based on the coincidence of having the same name (admittedly not uncommon) and coming from the same town at roughly the same time.
All this leaves open the possibilities that Sam Robinson;
a) May in fact have been Percy, the younger brother of Bojangles acting under yet another different name (his real name being Bill remember) and the listed birthdate of 1888 is simply wrong as both parents died in 1884. Since Percy was known as a working musician he may have used the alias Sam since the Ebony Films were not popular in the black community and might have detracted from his musical career.
b) He may have had some other family connection with Bojangles and Percy, perhaps a younger cousin, exploiting the same last name by claiming he was yet another brother.
c) He may have had no connection at all and had adopted the persona either coincidentally having the real name Sam Robinson (hardly an unsusal name) or with that being an entirely made up stage name.
d) It's also possible that Sam Robinson was indeed his real name and that some latter day researcher just assumed that he was a younger brother to Bojangles and listed him as such and since everybody involved is long dead there is nobody to ask.

A close look at the census reports for Richmond, Virginia in the 1880's might clear this up but we may never know for sure. At any rate Sam Robinson is listed as dying in 1971 (assuming that's true) but with no other film credits. As Ebony Films was closing up shop in Chicago the film industry was also moving to Hollywood and if Sam didn't want to relocate and stayed in Chicago then that would explain why he has no other film credits. He could have stayed on in Chicago with the George Lewis players and worked in vaudeville, continued on as a musician (as Percy) or perhaps he simply retired from show biz. At any rate the question as to who exactly Sam Robinson was or wasn't is a bigger mystery than the ones faced by Knick Garter.


SAM ROBINSON

The failure of Ebony Films to attract a Black audience can be traced to a few reasons. While the later films are typical enough of white slapstick films of the era and are usually competently done and performed and if they had been made a few years earlier or perhaps even a few years later they might have been acceptable enough if not exactly respectable guilty pleasures. By modern standards they are not notably different from the films then being made by Mack Sennett starring the likes of Fatty Arbuckle, Ben Turpin and the Keystone Kops with one promotional flyer actually shows a group of dozing Black policeman implying they may have made a Keystone Kops type short now lost, with the Sergent showing a distinct and probably not coincidental resemblance to the white actor Ford Sterling who played the same role in the actual Keystone Kops series. If anything in fact they are actually more restrainedthan the Sennet films. Sam Robinson is photogenic enough and shows some skill with physical comedy and it's easy to see how Ebony producers saw him as a possible comedy leading man.


PROMO SHEET SHOWING BLACK KEYSTONE KOPS

Indeed at the same time these films were being made the Black comic Bert Williams was a legitimate star playing bumbling sad sacks, and in the early sound era Spencer Williams would have career as both an actor and writer/director making a series of all-black films that were popular with Black audiences in the 1930's and 40's including broad comedies. In fact Bert Williams was the first Black multi-media star as a success on film and stage with hit records and sheet music and if he hadn't died in 1922 he almost certainly would have continued into the twenties and would be better remembered today. Williams was certainly more talented than Robinson with his characters having depth and vulnerability and he was seen as a figure who had worked his way for years through the white world while maintaining his dignity and was a genuinely popular figure with both blacks and whites as well and among the major stars of the day. For comparison note the subtley and pathos in his most famous routine from "A Natural Born Gambler" (1916) in which Williams, playing a luckless card-shark, ends up in jail playing a hand of invisible poker with himself and still losing.

BERT WILLIAMS IN "A NATURAL BORN GAMBLER" (1916);


Ebony were never able to shake their image of being a white owned studio cynically attempting to appeal to black audiences by hiring some black performers and those audiences saw through this whether or not that's entirely fair, especially to those performers themselves. This perception was certainly not helped by the continued use of Minstrel show images in the title cards in some of the films, the use of Minstrel show names like Sambo and Rastus and the patronizing tone of the promotional material which even if the general public did not see was seen by the press. Ultimately in the wake of "Birth Of A Nation" the Black community, it's leaders and especially the Black press was simply no longer prepared to put up with the slights, insults and patronizing attitudes they saw in the entire Ebony Pictures project. They wanted films and literature that treated them seriously and thoughtfully and they were already getting that from filmmakers like Oscar Micheux and Lincoln Pictures. In fact from the end of Ebony Films in 1919 and the death of Bert Williams there were no known Black comedy films made for a decade until the sound era. A decade later when Spencer Williams was making his films, at least some which included some broad slapstick humour (he would infamously later appear in "Amos & Andy" films) black audiences were more prepared to accept some silliness but 1917 to 1919 were no time for frivolity. Even if Ebony had been more thoughtful and sensitive in their presentation there was simply no demand for what they were offering in Black America at that time.

The Many Ghosts Of Ebenezer Scooge

Two years ago for Christmas I wrote an article covering all the surviving versions of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" so this year as a somewhat belated follow up I decided to review all the black and white sound versions, at least the ones I could find or are currently available. The previous article can be found here so there's no reason to do a recap.

BRANSBY WILLIAMS;

The first sound production of "A Christmas Carol" would come as early as 1926, before sound films would even become standard releases. In fact this version was merely a short film done as a demonstration of some of the new sound film technology. The sound in this case was played on a phonograph that would be synched up to the screen, a cumbersome process that would not catch on and this film would become lost although a sound recording of what appears to be the soundtrack or at least a recreation of it does survive. Scrooge is played by Bransby Williams, a popular star of stage and radio who had played the role before. However here he is not so much playing the role as reciting the basic plot and doing a couple voices. There are no other cast members. The entire disc is only about ten minutes which is far too short and instead of presenting the various Spirits Williams merely describes them and moves on to the end. While of some historical interest this can hardly be considered a proper portrayal. Williams would later play a proper version on the BBC in 1950 which like most British TV is lost or not currently available.

BRANSBY WILLIAMS AS SCROOGE (1926);


It's appropriate that the first proper sound version should come from Britain and would star possibly the most qualified actor to ever take on the role and who had already played the role on film. Sir Seymour Hicks (1871-1949) had been a major star of the London stage for years including working with stars Sir Henry Irving and Charles Frohman, when he began playing the role of Scrooge with a script he wrote, starting in 1901 playing the role hundreds of times with great success allowing him to set up his own company and build his own theatres, the Aldwych and Hicks Theatres. His company included family members including his wife, Elaline Terriss and brother-in-law Tom whose father William Terriss was a well known actor in his own right who Hicks had worked with until Terriss was murdered in 1901. Hicks was the best known Scrooge of the Edwardian stage so his moving the role to film was a natural. Like most stage actors of the 1900's Hicks showed little interest in the crude film vignettes of the early era, however by the 1910's film as a medium had advanced in its ability to tell a proper story lasting longer than a single reel. Hicks would star in an 1913 version which included his wife and other notable figures of the Edwardian stage which is still extant and which I already discussed in my previous article. Hicks would continue to play Scrooge and other characters on stage along with making some movies into the sound era which would lead to the first sound remake in 1932.

SIR SEYMOUR HICKS;



"SCROOGE" (1935);


Directed by Henry Edwards
Cast;
Sir Seymor Hicks ~ Ebenezer Scrooge
Donald Calthrop ~ Bob Cratchit
Robert Cochran ~ Nephew Fred Holliwell
Mary Glynne ~  Belle
Barbara Everest ~ Mrs. Cratchit
Eve Gray ~ Janet Holliwell
Philip Frost ~ Tiny Tim
Claude Rains ~ Jacob Marley (voice only)
Marie Ney ~ Spirit of Christmas Past (voice only)
Oscar Asche ~ Spirit Of Christmas Present
C. V. France ~ Spirit of Christmas Future
Athene Seyler ~ Charwoman
Margaret Yarde as Scrooge's Laundress
D.J Williams ~ Undertaker
Robert Morley as Rich Man (uncredited)

All of the silent versions, including the previous 1913 Hicks version, suffered from making shortcuts to the plot, sometimes eliminating entire important characters with most also taking a fairly perfunctory attitude towards the actual filming which tended to show a lack of any real sense of style. This time however we have a proper film treatment and it's this film that sets the template for every subsequent Scrooge film. It's fortunate that Hicks waited a couple years after the first introduction of sound and filming techniques caught up with the need to record so we do get a camera that is mobile enough to avoid seeming overly stage-bound. Twice we get a sweeping view of how London celebrates Christmas and the camera soars over a miniature of the city and then to a rain and windswept lighthouse and a storm lashed ship at sea with sailors shouting their season's greetings through the maelstrom. This evocative sequence, which would later be reproduced almost identically for an animated version in the nineteen sixties, resembles a similar sweeping vista in the 1926 FW Murnau version of "Faust". Other more obvious influences from German film comes in the sequence with the Ghost Of Christmas Future which is the highlight of the film. Previously the film has been shot with gritty realism but now we switch to classic Expressionist shadowplay with Scrooge being shot as a shadow silhouette or even a disembodied head superimposed onto it's own shadow while the Ghost's skeletal hand points over him. While these scenes have a nightmarish quality they are essentially dreamlike compared to the even darker scenes where the Undertaker, Mrs Dilber the Charwoman and the Laundress haggle with Old Joe the Fence over Scrooge's stolen possessions. Here we get a London underworld with characters shot as disembodied learing faces and grasping goblin-like hands fondling their ill-gotten coins. The later classic 1951 Alistar Sim version would do it's own take on this scene with some fine acting but even that excellent version doesn't match the Stygian gloom of this version. While there are some Expressionist flourishes here as well the main influences here were likely closer at home. In 1872 the French illustrator Gustave Dore did a series of iconic views of London including its underground in the age of Jack the Ripper showing London in its seedy, grimy glory and it's Dore's London we see here.  


GUSTAVE DORE'S LONDON UNDERWORLD

The sets and costumes here are vividly Dickensian; dark, cold and gloomy with none of the ornate decoration of some later versions. The building interiors are sparse, spartan and unadorned although the streets are busy and vibrant. This is a harsh London with none of the usual romantic escapism of other portrayals of the Victorian Era with the entire main cast seeming to be cold, hungry and worn down, an effect accented by their often threadbare clothes. Instead of the glamour that the Victorian Era is usually shown with here we get the dreary, desperate city of the muckraking photographers like Jacob Riis showed in his contemporary series of photos of New York. It's probably not a coincidence that this film was shot during the depths of the Great Depression and in Britain. America had spent the previous Roaring Twenties in an extended economic boom, however illusionary, as had Weimar Germany. By contrast in Britain the twenties had already experienced an extended recession and political instability by the time the actual Depression hit Britain. In American and German film the thirties were a time of lavish escapism but there is none of that in this version which can truly be called Dickensian. As evidence that this was a conscious artistic decision and not due to budget constraints we have the scenes of Christmas for the Upper Crust at the Lord Mayor's Ball which is indeed lush and ornate.    

  This version is not without its flaws. Chief amongst them was the bizarre decision to not show Jacob Marley but to instead have him as a disembodied voice thus depriving the film of one of its most iconic images. As by 1932 film techniques were fully capable of shooting a double exposure ghostly image the decision to not do so here is frankly inexplicable. As Hicks was known for having played the role on stage for over twenty years it's possible that this was how the character was done on stage but it shows a lack of film technique that the film does display elsewhere. Similarly the Ghost of Christmas Past is only shown one once as a ghostly silhouette and then only briefly cutting the visit to Scrooge's past too abrupt to have much impact. Unlike most later versions we also do not really see a young Scrooge presumably because again this was not done on stage and Hicks, being in his sixties by this point, was too old to pull off the youthfulScrooge and didn't want to share the role with another younger actor. Shortening these scenes also makes Scrooge's rehabilitation too abrupt. Unlike some other versions Scrooge's where transformation takes time as he slowly realizes how his past life shaped him and what it has cost but by rushing through things we miss the whole point of this transformation as Scrooge caves almost instantly. As is common with many films of the era the musical soundtrack can be a bit overpowering at times.



As Scrooge, Hicks is an ill-tempered, glowering presence. Stocky and florid with wild hair, bushy caterpillar eyebrows and a lumbering, bullish walk. For a stage actor he is not especially histrionic and avoids going over-the-top in his portrayal. Setting aside the relative absence of Jacob Marley and the ghost of Christmas Past the supporting characters set the template for most of the succeeding decades. As Cratchit Donald Calthrop is appropriately frail, stooped, servile and weather-beaten. The trio of greedy Charwoman, Laundress, Undertaker and the Fence are vividly decadent and debased. The actor playing Tiny Tim is not as cloying as others would be in this maudlin role.


DONALD CATHROP AS CRATCHIT

Sir Seymour Hicks was born in 1871 and had appeared on the stage from the time he was a teen and would continue acting almost up to his death in 1949 aged 78. Director Henry Edwards (1882-1952) had a long career as an actor and director dating back to 1915. Donald Calthrop (1888-1940) also had a career starting in the silent ear and would later include five of Alfred Hitchcock's UK productions. The voice of Jacob Marley was played by Claude Raines in one of his early roles which was ironic as he would later become famous as the Invisible Man. Another actor making an appearance in an early role was Robert Morley as one of the gentlemen asking Scrooge for alms for the poor. 

REGINALD OWEN; The Hicks film was successful enough to inspire an American version just a few years later giving the story the patented Hollywood treatment.

"A CHRISTMAS CAROL" (1938);


Directed by Edwin Marin
Cast;
Reginald Owen ~ Ebaneezer Scrooge
Gene Lockhart ~ Bob Cratchit
Kathleen Lockhart ~ Mrs Cratchit
Terry Kilburn ~ Tiny Tim
Barry MacKay ~ Nephew Fred Holliwell
Lynne Carver ~ Bess (Fred's Fiancee)
Leo G Carroll ~ Jacob Marley
Ann Rutherford ~ Ghost Of Christmas Past
Lionel Braham ~ Ghost Of Christmas Present
Ronald Sinclair ~ Young Scrooge
Elvira Stevens ~ Fann Scrooge
Olaf Hytten ~ School Master

After the grime and gloom of the British Hicks version this American shows the kind of flair of most Depression era Hollywood with lush detailed sets, elegant costumes and a soundtrack of swirling strings. Even the house and clothes of the Cratchits are comfortably bourgeois and cozy especially compared to the spartan and beleaguered ones in the Hicks version. Similarly Scrooge's home is richly furnished and not the chilly tomb of Hicks' version. The same is true of the exteriors which don't really look like Victorian London and could be any major city. This is all pretty to look at but it can hardly be called Dickensian. It does however reflect the escapist tastes of American Depression era audiences (the same trend can be seen in German films of the era) at least in major studio productions and this film was an immediate hit. This film does have some improvements over the Hicks version starting with having an actual visible Jacob Marley and Ghost of Christmas Past instead of a disembodied voice. Marley was played by veteran character actor Leo G Carroll and his portrayal has been the standard ever since with its chains and lock boxes, spectacles askew and jaw held in place by a bandage. Similarly while in the Hicks version the Ghost of Christmas Past was a vague (and presumably male) ghostly presence with a menacing echoing voice here she is a beautiful blonde (Ann Rutherford) who speaks and interacts as any mortal would thus allowing for more meaningful dialogue. This allows for the film to spend more time on Scrooge's backstory that has also become standard in all subsequent versions.


REGINALD OWEN & ANNE RUTHERFORD AS THE GHOST OF XMAS PAST

This version also clearly looks better than the Hicks version with it's bright and clear cinematography. There are however also some weaknesses compared to the Hicks version. As a tradeoff for spending more time with Scrooge's past we spend less time on the Christmas present and we do not get any version of the sweeping panorama of the city. It's possible that this may not have been a creative decision but may be that shooting on existing Hollywood studio sets they simply did not have the appropriate sets and miniatures to recreate Dickensian London handy and decided to dispense with them. It's noticeable that the exteriors we do see could basically represent any Victorian city and were probably already in place. There is also nothing to compare to the nightmarish scene selling Scrooge's last effects at the Old Joe the Fence's darkened lair.


GUSTAVE DORE'S LONDON UNDERWORLD

Reginald Owen as Scrooge is solid but unremarkable, lacking the brooding glower of Hicks or the self-loathing menace of the later Alister Sim and coming off as merely a crotchety old coot. Owen in some other roles had been a rather stolid and stocky presence even as he played Sherlock Holmes but here he is unrecognizable seeming to have lost weight and with an odd scuttling gait that would later be copied by Albert Finney in his 1970 musical adaptation. The Cratchits were played by actual married couple Gene and June Lockhart and they do have a natural familiarity and ease however Gene looks far too well fed and comfortable compared to Donald Calthrop's careworn, stoop shouldered version. Cathrop was believably meek and servile while Lockhart was so oppressively upbeat as to seem almost imbecilic and even getting fired (which doesn't happen in most versions) can't dampen his good cheer for long. The Cratchit's middle daughter was also played by their daughter June who would later go on to star in the 1950's and 60's on TV shows "Lassie", "Petticoat Junction" and "Lost In Space" and as of this writing she is still alive. We also spend more time with Scrooge's nephew Fred and his fiancee Bess who are a typical blandly attractive and wholesome Hollywood couple. One exception is Tiny Tim as played by Terry Kilburn who is sickly cloying even by the standards of the day. Kilburn would appear in "The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes" (1939), "The Swiss Family Robinson" (1940), "Black Beauty" (1946) and some Andy Hardy and Bulldog Drummond films. As of this writing he is also still living.


REGINALD OWEN & GENE LOCKHART AS CRACHIT

Reginald Owen (born 1887) was British actor who had a long film career as far back as 1911 in Britain before moving to Hollywood which had already included appearing in early two sound Sherlock Holmes films including appearing as both Dr Watson (opposite Clive Brook in 1932) and Holmes himself in 1933 giving him the odd and somewhat unenviable distinction of playing not one but three classic characters of Victorian fiction (Scrooge, Holmes and Watson) only to see them taken over and personified by other actors (Alistar Sim, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce) in his own lifetime. Owen was not actually the first choice to be Scrooge with the role originally planned for Lionel Barrymore who had played the role on radio and was a bigger star but he was not available, they did get him for the trailer. Owen would have long life and career into the TV era usually in supporting roles in such films as the notorious epic bomb "Hotel Imperial" (1939), an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Kidnapped" (1938), the 1962 adaptation of Jules Verne's "Five Weeks In A Balloon" and on TV in "Bewitched" and the supernatural anthology series "One Step Beyond" before dying in 1972.


REGINALD OWEN
The Owens version was an immediate hit and would become the standard version for (at least in North America) until the classic 1951 Alistar Sim version and even today there are some Americans who list this as their favorite version but frankly that's a hard argument to see. It's attractive and its acting and direction are perfectly competent and I can understand preferring it to the more downbeat Hicks version but it's basically bland and lacks the personality, atmosphere and depth of the Hicks Scrooge let alone the masterful 1951 version with Alistar Sim.

ALISTAIR SIM;



The Hicks and Owens films became the standard versions that would be rereleased every Christmas season with the Hicks version in the UK and Owens version in North America for the next twenty years with no other film production until a British production would become the iconic portrayal.

"SCROOGE" (1951);


Directed by Brian Desmond Hurst
Cast;
Alistair Sim ~ Ebaneezer Scrooge
Mervyn Johns ~ Bob Cratchit
Hermione Bradley ~ Mrs Cratchit
Michael Hordern ~ Jacob Marley
Michael Dolan ~ Ghost Of Christmas Past
Francis De Wolf ~ Ghost Of Christmas Present
Kathleen Harrison ~ Mrs Dilber the Charwoman
Louise Hampton ~ The Laundress
Miles Malleson ~ Old Joe the Fence
Glyn Dearman ~ Tiny Tim
Carol Marsh ~ Fanny Scrooge
Rona Anderson ~ Alice
George Cole ~ Young Scrooge
Patrick Macnee ~ Young Marley  

By the time this version was made over a decade had passed since the previous versions and the lush and syrupy  escapism of the Owen version was quaintly old fashioned in the age of stylish Film Noir and gritty Realism and this version has elements of both. It's a return to the dark and gloomy Dickensian world of the Hicks version but done with a better budget. Scrooge's mansion and office are dusty tombs with cobwebs and tattered drapes, Cratchit's home is spartan and London looks cold and lonely except in the scenes from Scrooge's past and again at the end when everything seems more lively meaning this was a creative decision rather than a budgetary restraint as may have been partially the case in the Hicks version. The costumes are however not as threadbare as those in the Hicks version. Everything looks authentic and lived-in as only an English production could have pulled off. There are also better special effects particularly in the scene where Marley's Ghost visits and shows Scrooge the street scene where the massed spirits ineffectively try to aid a homeless mother and child in the snow below. The music is used more sparingly than in the 1938 version but it has more impact.

For the first time this version narrative structure gives plenty of time to vividly establish Scrooge's miserly character as well as spending enough time with each of the Spirits to justify his redemption which unlike in the previous versions happened more slowly rather than abruptly as the realization dawns on him making his final redemption scene more satisfying.



While the whole film is well made and true to the source in it's writing the focal point and the thing everybody remembers is always Alistair Sim's Scrooge. Sim brought a depth and complexity to the role. His Scrooge wasn't just crotchy, rude and cheap, he was cruel, cynical, arrogant and full of sheer disgust and revulsion for his fellow man, a true misanthrope. In the scene where he is seen signing Marley's death notice and inheriting his miserable estate has no actual dialogue or action other than the sneer on his face as the Spirit describes him as a miserable, grasping, covetous old miser but the sneer indeed tells us all we need to know about Scrooge's character. At the same time Sim manages to convey something else about Scrooge that wasn't made clear before. That he is also a frightened old man full of self-loathing. His Scrooge is self aware, he knows he is a bad person however much he may justify it, and so watching him learn (or relearn) how he got that way and what the consequences are make his redemption arc feel earned in a way previous efforts had not. The famous scene where at the end where Scrooge wakes up and is overjoyed at getting a second chance was criticized by some as being overly broad and indeed he does seem to be almost having a nervous breakdown but given the real depth of Sim's performance and after watching the film spend enough time to develop his Scrooge it does feel like an organic reaction. Perhaps more revealing and far more subtle is the scene where he arrives at his nephew's house for dinner and hesitates at the door, shoulders hunched with a look of his fear of rejection before being wordlessly encouraged by the maid. The entire scene is in fact worldless but has more emotional power beyond what may have been in the script.  



Besides Sim the rest of the cast was solid with Mervyn Jones also being the best Cratchit so far, certainly more believable than Gene Lockhart and with more depth than Donald Calthrop. Michael Hordern's Marley is more ghostly and anguished than Leo J Carroll in the 1938 version although he is helped by better special effects. One notable change from the Owen version is switching the Ghost of Christmas from a beautiful woman to a wizened old man. This is a lateral move but perhaps it ultimately better served the story to have the spirit be a remote figure rather than the lovely Ann Rutherford. Another change is the increased prominence given to Kathleen Harrison as Mrs Dilber the Charwoman. The role had existed in the Owen version but here she is given much more dialogue and Harrison plays off Sim well in his classic morning after scene. She is also excellent in the scene with Old Joe the Fence as is the rest of her partners in crime although this scene isn't as creepy and nightmarish as in the Dore influenced Hicks version it is more realistic. As a final note modern audiences will spot as young Marley Patrick Mcnee who would later go on to become John Steed in the classic 1960's spy series "The Avengers".      



Sim was a Scottish actor who was previously best known as a comic actor but he seems to have been the filmmaker's first choice and this role would become his legacy. He would take much of the decade off as he was apparently somewhat typecast and seen as being something of a relic as tastes changed in modern British cinema. Sim was a private man who gave few interviews so if he had become somewhat resentful of being overshadowed by his creation as basil Rathbone had been about his Sherlock Holmes he never said so. In fact he would later reprise the role in an animated version in 1971 but that will have to wait for another year. He died in 1976.



The Alistair Sim performance became instantly definitive in Britain but while it took longer for Americans to catch up once they did the 1951 production would become an annual Christmas tradition effectively discouraging any more large screen productions until 1970's musical production with Albert Finney and Alec Guinness. Instead for the rest of the 50's and 60's productions would be limited to TV.

TAYLOR HOLMES (1949);



Most of the various TV productions do not survive and included a 1947 starring John Carradine and his young son David and an even younger Eva Marie Saint as Cratchit children. Other versions were made as early as 1943 but like most if not all early TV shows they were done live and no copies were preserved with the oldest surviving version coming from 1949 in a short half hour version narrated by Vincent Price.

"THE CHRISTMAS CAROL" (1949);


Cast;
Narrator ~ Vincent Price
Taylor Holmes ~ Ebaneezer Scrooge
Pat White ~ Bob Cratchit
Nelson Leigh ~ Jacob Marley
Queenie Leonard ~ Mrs Cratchit
Jill St John ~ Bessie Cratchit

At only a half hour this version obviously skimps on the details and races through the story although unlike some longer versions it actually does include all the major characters. The cast of mostly no-names (aside from Price obviously) was probably obscure even then and would remain so. Taylor Holmes is the least intimidating Scrooge yet seeming merely cranky and the rest of the cast are similarly competent but bland and it's a shame they didn't just get Price to play Scrooge or at least Marley which would have added an interesting touch. The sets are also bland and lack character. This version could best be described as perfunctory. Aside from Price the best known actor here was Queenie Leonard who played Mrs Crachit, she was a veteran stage and cabaret star from Britain before moving to America and a long career in TV and doing voice work for Disney. She died in 2002. One of the Cratchit daughters was played by a young Jill St John, future starlet and Bond Girl then only nine and still under her real name of Jill Oppenheim, as of this writing she is still alive. Taylor Holmes died in 1959.


TAYLOR HOLMES & NELSON LIEGH


FREDRICK MARCH (1954);



Directed by Ralph Levy
Cast;
Fredrick March ~ Ebaneezer Scrooge
Basil Rathbone ~ Jacob Marley
Bob Sweeney ~ Bob Cratchit
Fred Middleton ~ Nephew Fred Holliwell and the Ghost of Christmas Present
Sally Fraser ~ Belle and the Ghost of Christmas Past
Queenie Leonard ~ Mrs Cratchit
Bonnie Franklin ~ Susan Cratchit

Part of an anthology series called "Shower Of Stars" which featured treatments of stories from a variety of sources ranging from contemporary melodramas to ghost stories and works of classical literature usually featuring a couple of stars from the big screen. It was originally broadcast in both black & white and colour versions but only the B&W version has survived. Unlike other TV treatments of the era it took a full hour and had a more suitable budget for sets allowing for a more cinematic look. This is partially a musical with several musical numbers mostly in the first half, these tend to the maudlin and overwrought and slow the proceedings down and affect the erratic pacing. At times there are scenes with more dialogue than other adaptations while others race along too abruptly particularly towards the end as if the filmmakers suddenly remembered they needed to wrap things up. There is not even a Ghost of Christmas Future instead having Scrooge visit a graveyard accompanied only by a cackling raven as he finds his own grave. The graveyard does have a spooky b-movie look and the other sets look authentic enough although without either the lushness of the Reginald Owen Hollywood production or the seedy grandeur of the Sim or Hicks versions. Fredrick March was by this point an established Hollywood star since the beginning of the sound era including appearing in "Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde" (1931), "Death Takes A Holiday" (1934), "Les Miserables" (1935), "Anna Kerenina" (1935) and "A Star Is Born" (1937) and was certainly capable of playing a cantankerous old bastard and he effortlessly does so here although he doesn't have the larger-than-life quality of Alistar Sim. Perhaps to make the rather square jawed March look more like the classic image of Scrooge he is given a distractingly large fake nose.


FREDRICK MARCH

Marley is played by Basil Rathbone, then even more famous from the iconic Sherlock Holmes series whose ghost is even more desparing than usual and also gets more dialogue. Given that this is at least partially a musical much of the rest of the cast were chosen for being singers rather than actors and are merely competent. This is true of the other Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present who also appear as Scrooge's past fiancee Belle and nephew Fred. Having some characters doing double duty as ghosts was unusual if not unique but has occasionally been done since notably in the 1979 American/Canadian TV adaptation by Henry Winkler, a 2004 TV musical starring Kelsey Grammer and a "WKRP" special episode with mixed results.


BASIL RATHBONE AS MARLEY

Another difference from most other but versions (with the notable exception of the Reginald Owen Hollywood version) the Ghost of Christmas past is played by a beautiful woman, here the tall blonde Sally Fraser, a TV actress better known from various B-Horror movies like "It Conquered The World" (1956), "Giant From The Unknown" (1958), "War Of The Colossal Beast" (1958) and "Earth Versus The Spider" (1958) and the TV anthology series "One Step Beyond". She retired by 1970 and lived until 2019. Mrs Cratchit was played again by Queenie Leonard returning from playing the same role in the 1949 Taylor Holmes version. Once again one of the Crachit daughters was played by a future star in Bonnie Franklin who would later star in the popular 1980's sitcom "One Day At A Time".


SALLY FRASER

BASIL RATHBONE (1956 & 1959);

Already an established star for his iconic portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in a series of films in the forties would play Scrooge twice becoming the second actor to play both Holmes and Scrooge after Reginald Owen. This first being a musical version.

"THE STINGIEST MAN IN TOWN" (1956);


Cast;
Basil Rathbone ~ Ebaneezer Scrooge
Martyn Green ~ Bob Cratchit
Robert Weede ~ Jacob Marley
Johnny Desmond ~ Nephew Fred
Ian Martin ~ Ghost of Christmas Past
Vic Damone ~ Young Scrooge
Patrice Munsel ~ Belle
Robert Wright ~ Ghost of Christmas Present
The Four Lads ~ Carolers

This is a musical version which is twice as long as previous TV versions, longer in fact than the film versions and a fairly major production by the standards of 1950's TV. Most of the cast are not surprisingly singers rather than actors with Vic Damone, Johnny Desmond and the Four Lads being Pop stars (but most definitely not Rock & Roll or Jazz) of the era. And then there's Basil Rathbone. Best known as the iconic version of Sherlock Holmes in the previous decade on both film and radio although by this time his career was in decline having been somewhat typecast as Holmes on the big screen he had retreated to TV and B-horror movies. He was still a respected figure and had previously played Marley so his casting made sense and he does indeed provide whatever heft this version has. It needs it too. The sings can be generously described as slight and forgettable ranging from sappy to histrionic styles that were already old hat and they often drag out the pace. Most of the performances are merely adequate aside from Rathbone who is too skilled an actor to simply phone it in. With his cadaverous face, fright wig hair and harsh, creaking voice he is the image of Dickens' Scrooge and he does a credible job although he can not match the depth of Alistair Sim. On the other hand while a skilled actor he clearly can not sing so it's fortunate that he is given few chances to do so.


BASIL RATHBONE AS SCROOGE

Given the restrictions of TV productions of the era this does a reasonably good job of working with the stagebound sets which are more detailed than previous TV versions. As for the story, although this version is twice the length of previous TV versions since most of that time is spent on extended musical numbers this does not mean that we really spend much greater time on the character's development. This can be seen in the scenes from Scrooge's past which are done as syrupy and over-wrought song and dance routines which lack the bitter-sweet mood the scene requires for Scrooge's future redemption to have real impact. The final scene at the graveyard with the Ghost Of Christmas Future discards the treacle ballads for an interpretive dance number which is rather spooky leading to Rathbone's emotional breakdown. Among the rest of the cast besides the singers sharp-eyed viewers will notice one of the Gentlemen from the beginning seeking a donation for charity is John McIver who would later show up in "Twilight Zone".  

    After the musical version Rathbone would finally get to play Scrooge again in a non-musical version, albeit another brief one.

"A CHRISTMAS CAROL" (1959);


Cast;
Fredrick March ~ Host & Narrator
Basil Rathbone ~ Ebaneezer Scrooge
Wilfred Fletcher ~ Jacob Marley
Bob Townley ~ Bob Cratchit
Walter Hudd ~ Ghost Of Christmas Past
Alexander Gauge ~ Ghost Of Christmas Present
Brian McDermont ~ Nephew Fred

This was part of an anthology series hosted by Fredrick March who played Scrooge in the 1954 version and narrates here as Vincent Price had done previously. Once again this is another version that is too short and perfunctory to do more than a basic if credible job of telling the story, in fact it appears to basically be a restaging of the Taylor Holmes version from a decade earlier along with some scenes being lifted word-for-word from non-musical Rathbone version albeit with better sets and direction and a stronger cast. The Ghost of Christmas Future scene does show some more artistic directorial choices but given the abbreviated nature of this version it is too short to make much of an impression. Rathbone, whon had played Marley opposite March in 1954 is fine and could have easily done an effective Scrooge in a proper version as it is; he still ranks near the top in our survey of black and white Scrooges behind only Alistar Sim. Rathbone died in 1967 having been reduced to mostly playing in low budget drive-in theatre horror fare like "Tales Of Terror" (1962), "Voyage To A Prehistoric Planet" (1965), "The Ghost In The Invisible Bikini" (1966) and "Hillbillies In A Haunted House" (1967). Fredrich March had better luck, appearing in prestige films like "Inherit The Wind" (1960) and "Twelve Days In May" (1964) dying in 1975.


BASIL RATHBONE

STERLING HAYDEN (1969);

The last major black & white Scrooge production would come from some high powered names including Joseph Mankiewicz and Rod Serling and star an impressive cast.

"A MODERN CHRISTMAS CAROL" (1965);


Directed by Joseph Mankiewicz Cast;
Sterling Hayden  ~  Daniel Grudge
Ben Gazzara ~ Nephew Fred
Steve Lawrence  ~  Ghost Of Christmas Past
Pat Hingle  ~  Ghost Of Christmas Present
Robert Shaw  ~  Ghost Of Christmas Future
Peter Sellers ~ The Imperial Me
Percy Rodriquez ~ Charles the Butler
Eva Marie Saint ~ Navy Nurse Lt Gibson
James Shigeta ~ Doctor
Britt Ekland ~ Mother
Peter Fonda ~ Marley Grudge

Written by Rod Serling this version updates the Dickens story into a modern America to present a different political story focusing on anti-war. Serling was of course an innovative and thoughtful writer however he could be overly wordy and at times preachy. In the context of the half hour "Twilight Zone" episodes these urges were usually kept in check but given ninety minutes to play with (that's actually longer than any previous version) and under the direction of the the equally intense Mankiewicz he is allowed to let his typewriter work overtime and the results are more like a dour and angry sermon than even Dickens himself allowed.

In this version Scrooge, renamed as Dan Grudge and played by Sterling Hayden, is a millionaire who is grieving the loss of his son in war and has turned his back on humanity becoming a belligerent Cold War isolationism motivated more by fear and bitterness rather than Scrooge's greed. The various Ghosts show Scrooge, I mean Grudge, the results of war and isolationism and lecture him on his selfishness. And I do mean lecture. Each visit is an extended hectoring monologue which drag on without any of the quirky touches Serling was known for. There are a few scenes creatively shot but the whole show is dour and slow moving. There is an impressive cast including Ben Gazzara as Grudge's nephew, Robert Shaw as the Ghost of Christmas Future, Pat Hingle (best known from Clint Eastwood movies) at the Ghost of Christmas Present, Steve Lawrence (best known as a singer) as the Ghost of Christmas Past along with Eva Marie Saint ("The Manchurian Candidate"), James Shigeta ("The Flower Drum Song" and a later Christmas classic, "Die Hard") Peter Sellers and a cameo from Sellers then wife Britt Eckland. Unlike most versions this is very talky and so Shaw's Ghost gets to make his own speeches with which his cold, clipped, accent gives added bite.


STERLING HAYDEN AS GRUDGE & ROBERT SHAW AS THE GHOST OF XMAS FUTURE

Hayden is fine as Grudge although lacking the depth of Sim's Scrooge or even Owen. Hayden and Sellers were fresh off appearing together in "Dr Stangeglove" and while Hayden is more understated than his character in that film Sellers is typically over-the-top in a scenery chewing which has no comparable character in the traditional story, or any other. While this version is longer than previous versions and far more dialogue heavy it is shallower as we don't actually see any of Grudge's past or evolution and the characters lack depth being instead stock archetypes who declaim somber lectures so there is no real connection with the viewer. Even the ending is thoughtful and understated rather than joyous so Hayden does not get a version of Sim's giddy Christmas Day speech. Long as this is it was originally even longer as Grudge's son was played by Peter Fonda but he was cut out of most of the finished product and so only appears as a ghostly image and in a large painting. Other actors reportedly cast but dropped or cut out were Christopher Plummer and Richard Harris. Sterling Hayden had already starred in Stanley Kubrick's first important film "The Killing" (1956) and would later appear in "The Godfather". He died in 1986. Eva Marie Saint had made her debut in the lost 1947 TV version with John Carradine and as of this writing is still living (at 99 years old!) as is Britt Eckland.


STERLING HAYDEN & EVA MARIE SAINT

This is typically stagebound but unlike the earlier TV entries there is some creative camera work and innovative set design. There is also a solid musical soundtrack from Henry Manicini including a guest appearance from the Andrews Sisters. In future years there would be other attempts to update the Scrooge story including versions starring Henry Winkler, Bill Murray and the cast of WKRP all of which, whatever their shortcomings, are more watchable and certainly more entertaining than this dour, hectoring sermon which however sincere and well meaning does not show Rod Serling at his best and lacks the sense of humour he was certainly capable of instead replacing Dickens' more maudlin excesses with his own. This version was in fact originally planned as a political broadside during the 1964 Presidential election promoting the work of the United Nations and taking pointed swipes at the Vietnam War, segregation and GOP candidate Barry Goldwater for his isolationism and sabre rattling rhetoric in the however reportedly the ABC censors insisted on making cuts and toning down some of the dialogue for fear of offending the GOP. The entire cast felt strongly enough about the project that they each took substantial pay cuts to appear (including the prickly Sellers who was also coming off a serious heart attack) however the show received poor reviews and after airing was shelved for the next fifty years when it was rediscovered and aired again on TCM and released on DVD.  


ROD SERLING


THE FOUR LADS