Christmas With series  (Passport TV classics)

 

                                           Picture: C     Sound: C     Extras: D     Episodes:

Beverly Hillbillies                                                                            C-

Bing Crosby & Kate Smith                                                                C

Jack Benny                                                                                    C+

Ozzie & Harriett                                                                             C

Red Skelton                                                                                   C+

 

 

The Beverly Hillbillies installment in the series has a Thanksgiving episode that is missing the original theme song in the opening credits.  Christmas At The Clampetts chops off the opening all together, so fans will be disappointed by the presentation.  These shows were about as convincing as their Kellogg’s Corn Flakes ads.

 

Crosby & Kate has Clairol Loving Care, Bold detergent, Chiffon Margarine and Dentu-Creme sponsoring the title program from the Hollywood Bowl in 1966.  It is in black and white, but I wondered if this might exist somewhere in color.  It was definitely shot on videotape.  Bob Newhart and Cyd Charisse guest star in what is a usually sappy show, but has its moments.  Watching the kids, all I could think of is how their father physically abused them, putting a dark cloud over an already shaky show.  More interesting is the Shower of Stars installment featuring A Christmas Carol with Frederick March as Scrooge and Basil Rathbone.  It was shot in color, but it is sadly a monochrome copy here and was sponsored by Chrysler.  Sometimes, black and white prints were circulated of color productions because they were less expensive to produce and many stations were still only broadcasting in monochrome.  Bernard Herrmann did the music and that also brings it above the low expectations one might have of early TV like this.  The vocal music is a bit much and plays like filler, but the score gets outright Psycho with its strings.  Future One Day At A Time star Bonnie Franklin is here with her sister Judy as Susan and Martha Cratchit.  George E. Diskant, A.S.C., shot the shot.  Each show runs about an hour.

 

Jack Benny offers a Holiday Program that was issued on his Passport DVD box set reviewed elsewhere on this site and includes Mel Blanc and a New Years installment is a half-hour and also amusing.  It is the only show devoted to the beginning of the year among all the shows featured in the series and I like it.  That makes this the best of the five DVDs featured here.

 

The Ozzie & Harriett set offers the episodes Busy Christmas from 1956 in a print that notes the show is eight or so years old and The Late Christmas Gift presented by Aunt Jemima.  The character on the box is largely featured on the box in full “racist-rama”.  If they were still not so good to this day, this brand would have disappeared altogether.  Both are mediocre and for fans of the show only.

 

Red Skelton offers one show enacting O. Henry’s The Cop & The Anthem as his perennial clown character sponsored by Pet Milk and Johnson Wax, while the second show is Freddie & The Yuletide Doll, which is miming al the way.  The first is meant for an hour-long slot, the second a half-hour slot and is missing its end credits.

 

All are in full screen 1.33 X 1 black and white, though the footage is often a few generations down and a few shows noted might have been in color.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono sound is on the weak side and is also a few generations down in all cases as well.  Without extras, this is a budget line series and we cover these so you will have a happy holiday.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo