Musical Monday
My first of two viewings for Musical Monday. 1979 was one of those interesting years for A Christmas Carol. An American Christmas Carol gave us the modernized adaptation in 1930’s depression U.S.A. with Henry Winkler. There was the short Bugs Bunny’s Christmas Carol that was part of an anthology of new television shorts, and Rich Little’s Christmas Carol, though made in ’78, was broadcast in 1979. Then there is Skinflint: A Country Christmas Carol.
Skinflint is a U.S. television made musical version of A Christmas Carol that is pretty much forgotten. It is set to original country music. Most of the performers are a who’s who of country music stars of the time. There are also a few familiar faces that are not country music stars.
It follows the general template of A Christmas Carol reimagined in modern 1979 Tennessee, U.S.A. This version’s Scrooge is Cyrus Flint (Hoyt Axton), a banker and leading citizen of Flint City, TN. He doesn’t like people withdrawing their own money from his bank; he encourages everyone to deposit and keep it there. His Cratchit is Dennis Pritchitt (Mel Tillis). He and his wife (Lynn Anderson) have a sick son, TJ. Pritchitt’s wife, Laura, is trying to win a country music song writing contest. Flint’s nephew, Roger (Larry Gatlin of the Gatlin Brothers) is an insurance salesman and invites his uncle to celebrate Christmas with him. Flint is visited by his deceased partner, Jacob Burley (Tom T. Hall) to sing to him and let him know he will be visited by three ghosts. The Ghost of Christmas Past is played by Martha Raye who’s costuming makes her look like Minnie Pearl. Flint’s past girlfriend is played by Barbara Mandrell. The Ghost of Christmas Present appears in Flint’s bedroom accompanied by a brass band (Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass). The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is eerie and spooky (I liked it).
Also appearing in various parts and scenes is Dottie West, The Statler Brothers, and late ‘70’s hairstyles. Dave Madden (best known from Laugh-In and as Rueben Kincaid in The Partridge Family) appears in small role as this version’s charity solicitor, looking for a donation from Flint.
The concept for this may have seemed good as an idea, but it falls flat in production. Most of cast are good as country music performers but don’t fare well when stepping away from the microphone. The songs are passable but half of them sound out of place in the context of A Christmas Carol story. Cyrus Flint’s character isn’t particularly nasty. He’s written as a man that loves money and doesn’t want to let go of any, but his means of obtaining and retaining it are very mild compared to any Scrooge before him. Traditional Dickens lines sound forced and phony when occasionally spoken.
This was only aired on U.S. television once and it has never been released for home viewing. If you’re “lucky” you may find someone with an at home recorded VHS copy. It’s an interesting footnote considering versions of A Christmas Carol and worth viewing as a curiousity.
