Rod Serling's "Carol for Another Christmas" Offers Different Take on the Dickens Classic

In honor of the impending Christmas holiday and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Washington this week, I thought I'd share the film A Carol for Another Christmas, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and broadcast on ABC television just days after Christmas in 1964. The movie was written by Rod Serling of The Twilight Zone fame. It was sponsored by Xerox with the goal of promoting the United Nations. It stars Sterling Hayden, Peter Sellers, Ben Gazzara, Britt Ekland and James Shigeta. 

The film is based on the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. Hayden plays wealthy industrialist Daniel Grudge, an America-first isolationist who is sitting at home alone on Christmas Eve when he's visited by his nephew, Fred (Gazzara), a liberal educator. Grudge holds his nephew in contempt for his "bleeding-heart" views and his interest in seeing the United States work with other nations to reduce the risk of war. Yet Fred seems to touch something in his uncle by reminding him that Grudge's son, Marley, was killed in battle on Christmas Eve during World War II.

After sending his nephew away, Grudge appears shaken to hear the sound of an old song start playing. He is then visited by a series of ghosts who lead him to reconsider his narrow-minded lack of concern for those outside the U.S. and his former refusal to acknowledge issues beyond this country's borders. In the film's final scene, Grudge's butler is shouted down by a rabid group of selfish America First types when he urges the survivors of a future nuclear holocaust to cooperate. This sorry spectacle seems, at last, to affect Grudge's thinking. Following the last of the three ghostly visits, Grudge shows evidence of a serious change of heart.

The film's message is somewhat heavy-handed to be sure, but a heavy hand is sometimes required to reach people like Matt Gaetz, Donald Trump, Jr. and Lauren Boebert. I for one am proud of the United States for supporting Ukraine against the unprovoked attack of Putin's Russian forces. This will be a difficult Christmas for too many millions around the world but we must remain engaged and committed to helping others as best we can.  

Hear E.G. Marshall's "A Christmas Carol" from the CBS Radio Mystery Theater