A Carol for Another Christmas (1964) on Netflix
Industrialist Daniel Grudge, embittered since his son Marley died in the war, scorns American involvement abroad. On Christmas Eve his nephew Fred argues with him, and three ghosts arrive.
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- Netflix3.2/5
- IMDb6.6/101,897 votes
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Trailer
Plot summary
Daniel Grudge, a wealthy American industrialist, has never recovered from the death of his son Marley, killed in action on Christmas Eve 1944. He is a fierce isolationist who wants his country to stay out of world affairs and build up its arsenal. On Christmas Eve, his nephew Fred visits and complains that Grudge blocked a planned cultural exchange with a Polish university. They argue: Fred wants American aid and communication to prevent future wars, while Grudge scorns foreign aid and the United Nations. Fred reminds him that they both loved Marley. After Fred leaves, a record player starts by itself, and Grudge sees a vision of Marley at the dining table. He is then visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve.
Cast
- Barbara Ann Teeras Ruby
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about A Carol for Another Christmas (1964)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz never directed for television at any other point in his career; this UN-sponsored special was his only TV work, taken on partly because he needed a job after Cleopatra had damaged his reputation the year before.
- Peter Sellers' role as "Imperial Me" was his first performance after he nearly died from a heart attack earlier in 1964.
- Sellers was reportedly commanding $750,000 or more per picture at the time, but he waived his usual fee and appeared in the special for just $350, the Screen Actors Guild's weekly minimum.
- Peter Fonda's scenes as the dead son Marley were cut before release, leaving only fleeting glimpses of him reflected in a glass door; his character survives on screen mainly as a large portrait hanging in his father's study.
- The main character was originally written as Benjamin Grudge so his name could be shortened to the pun "B. Grudge," but ABC renamed him Daniel Grudge and delayed the broadcast until eight weeks after the 1964 election, fearing the initials "B.G." would be read as a jab at Republican candidate Barry Goldwater.
- After its original 1964 broadcast, the film was not shown again anywhere for 48 years, resurfacing only when Turner Classic Movies finally aired it in 2012.
- Before it even aired, the John Birch Society organized a letter-writing campaign against the UN-promoting special, and sponsor Xerox reported receiving roughly equal numbers of letters, about 6,000 each way, for and against it.
