The Spirit of Christmas (TV program)
The Spirit of Christmas is a Christmas television special performed by marionettes.[1] It first aired in 1953 in the United States.[1] Its half-hour showing time is divided into two marrionette segments, one dramatizing "A Visit from St. Nicholas" and one telling the story of the Nativity.[1] The live-action part of the film features Alexander Scourby, who narrates and also plays Clement Moore in the Visit from St. Nicholas segment. The jacket of the DVD version calls it "The Philadelphia Holiday Classic," which refers to the region of the United States where it was originally broadcast. The jacket also describes it as a "50s TV Christmas classic, which has led it to being misdated as first being shown in 1950.[1]
After its initial 1953 showing and into the 1960s, this special was aired multiple times per Christmas season, without commercial interruptions except for opening and closing remarks by "your telephone company" (Bell Telephone). It was also available as a 16mm film licensed to schools for showings to students.[1][2] It disappeared from the airwaves for several decades but recently has been aired on public television since 1998.[3] Prints of the 16mm film occasionally show up at collectors auctions and on eBay. It is very unusual for its time in that it was made in color at a time when there were no color TV sets in existence, so viewers of the time saw it in black-and-white.
The "St. Nicholas" segment includes music from The Nutcracker ballet.[citation needed]
Mabel and Les Beaton, through their company, Stringtime Productions, produced this film.[1]
