Carol for Another Christmas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Carol for Another Christmas
Directed by	Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Produced by	Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Written by	Rod Serling Charles Dickens (Book: A Christmas Carol)
Starring	Peter Sellers Sterling Hayden Britt Ekland Ben Gazzara Percy Rodriguez Eva Marie Saint Barbara Ann Teer Steve Lawrence James Shigeta Pat Hingle Robert Shaw
Music by	Henry Mancini
Cinematography	Arthur Ornitz
Editing by	Nathan Greene Robert Lawrence
Distributed by	ABC
Release date(s)	December 28, 1964
Running time	84 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Carol for Another Christmas, scripted by Rod Serling as a modernization of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and a plea for global cooperation between nations, was telecast only once -- December 28, 1964. ^[1] The only TV movie ever directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, this was the film in which Peter Sellers gave his first performance after suffering a near fatal heart attack. Sellers portrayed a demigod in an apocalyptic Christmas. Sterling Hayden was also featured.

Bhob Stewart provided some background on the production:

Presented without commercial interruptions, this "United Nations Special" was sponsored by the Xerox Corporation, the first of a series of Xerox specials promoting the UN. Director Joseph Mankiewicz's first work for television, the 90-minute ABC drama was publicized as having an all-star cast (which meant that names of some supporting cast members were not officially released). In Rod Serling's update of Charles Dickens, industrial tycoon Daniel Grudge (Sterling Hayden) has never recovered from the loss of his 22-year-old son Marley (Peter Fonda), killed in action during Christmas Eve of 1944. The embittered Grudge has only scorn for any American involvement in international affairs. But then the Ghost of Christmas Past (Steve Lawrence) takes him back through time to a World War I troopship. Grudge also is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present (Pat Hingle), and the Ghost of Christmas Future (Robert Shaw) gives him a tour across a desolate landscape where he sees the ruins of a once-great civilization. In the final weeks of post-production, Peter Fonda's scenes were deleted, but his image remained in the film, recognizable in a portrait on the wall. ^[2]

Others in the cast were Percy Rodriguez, Eva Marie Saint, Ben Gazzara, Barbara Ann Teer, James Shigeta and Britt Ekland.