The Spirit of Christmas
The Spirit of Christmas
| 01 December 1953 (USA)
The Spirit of Christmas Trailers

This Christmas film, created as a special for television broadcast throughout the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania viewing region, was produced by puppeteer Mabel Beaton and her husband Les for Bell Telephone Company and first aired in 1953. Following a short live-action opening portion, featured are two extended marionette segments, the first dramatizing Clement Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas", the second reverently telling the Nativity story; the two stories are staged in classic, traditional style. From 1953 onward, for several years, The Spirit of Christmas was broadcast in the intended region multiple times per holiday season. It was also available as a 16mm film licensed to schools for showings to students. This film often is misstated to have originally been broadcast in 1950.

Reviews
angelafranklin-27341

This Christmas program is not going to please many people because it lacks a huge WOW FACTOR in terms of visuals. What it does so wonderfully is that it lets you use your imagination. Mabel Beaton uses puppets in this program to great effect. The story is pace beautifully. The film is made "WITH GREAT LOVE" which is apparent.The way this program was made and produced I am sure was the inspiration for the well know "Rankin-Bass" Christmas Specials. If you have kids watch this with them during the holidays. It may play on some PBS stations but it is however worth buying. Trust me it is GREAT.

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lanadavis-43758

Doing research on this special I saw there is two dates. Some people states its from 1653 others 1950. I am willing to be the real date is 1953. The Spirit of Christmas is a Christmas television special performed by marionettes. It first aired in 1953 in the United States.[1] Its half-hour showing time is divided into two segments, one dramatizing "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (AKA THE NIGHT BEFORE Christmas) 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 mis-dated as first being shown in 1950.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.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.This is a very special program. Yes its done with puppets but there is depth. You can tell this was made with MAJOR TLC. Now the DVD that I have has a making of feature and its very informative. What would be nice that whoever owns this film would have is restored to its original color brilliance. This is well worth watching. On Christmas Eve you should gather everyone around and watch it with your family and close friends. The special is magic. It is the perfect way to end the night.

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bobeich1

My memories of this fantastic Christmas special are the same as most others. Christmas in the 1950's was officially here when we saw the Bell Telephone special, "The Spirit of Christmas" shown not only at our school (Ingomar Elementary), but we also got to see it again on TV.Every subsequent Christmas was missing something without being able to see this special memory from my childhood. I was so happy to find that it is now available on DVD.My question is: Does anyone know of a version of this special that includes the original introduction, intermission and ending with the Bell Telephone operator speaking? To me, this helped to make this special what it was.Thanks for any help. Bob Eich, Pittsburgh, PA

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kga58

I've been looking for this for years, but didn't know the title. I heard the familiar voice on a TV program and made note of the name--Alexander Scourby. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that I found out the title and that it was available on DVD. Like a previous poster, I saw this every year as a child in elementary school. It was something I looked forward to each year. The puppetry was so impressive to a younger child back then--waaaaay before all the overdone CG effects of contemporary entertainment. Even now the puppet work still looks good. Both segments have such a simple charm. The puppets are costumed as live actors would be---this is far from a shoestring production! This is a timeless classic--required Christmas season viewing.

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