Quiz 3 on "A Topper Christmas Carol" (1953), Starring Leo G. Carroll

 1.  What is unusual about the Ghost of Christmas Future, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol, and what are two reasons this is unusual?



 2.  Who knocks Mrs. Cratchit onto her Christmas Dinner table so hard that it collapses under her, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?



 3.  Whom does the Ghost of Christmas Past show "the Scrooge," in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?



 4.  What does the neighbor boy do to "the Scrooge," in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?



 5.  What does the neighbor boy give "the Scrooge" for Christmas, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?



 6.  What does the neighbor boy claim he does with the sort of item he gives "the Scrooge" for Christmas, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?



 7.  What is Thelma's surname, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?



 8.  What is Thelma's marital status, and who invited her (presumably) to attend the Christmas Party at the Topper Residence, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?



 9.  Whom does Tiny Tim want to grow up to be like, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?



10.  Who, besides Thelma, attends the Christmas Party at the Topper Residence, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?

Answers will be published by January 25, 2023.

Quiz by William Mortensen Vaughan

Answers to Quiz 2 on "A Topper Christmas Carol" (1953), Starring Leo G. Carroll

 1.  What is the neighbor boy's first name, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol? 

Timmy.

 2.  What is Topper's first name? 

Cosmo.

 3.  Whom does the Ghost of Christmas Past resemble, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?

Marion Kerby.

 4.  How far back in time does the Ghost of Christmas Past take "the Scrooge," in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?

Twenty-five years.

 5.  What is Mrs. Topper's first name?

Henrietta

 6.  Where does Mr. Topper work?

At a bank.

 7.  What game does Topper usually play on Sunday?

Golf.

 8.  How many people attended Mr. and Mrs. Topper's wedding?

More than two hundred.

 9.  Whom does the Ghost of Christmas Present resemble, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?

George Kerby

10.  Whom does the Ghost of Christmas Future resemble, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?

Neil.

Quiz and Answers by William Mortensen Vaughan

Quiz 2 on "A Topper Christmas Carol" (1953), Starring Leo G. Carroll

 1.  What is the neighbor boy's first name, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?



 2.  What is Topper's first name?



 3.  Whom does the Ghost of Christmas Past resemble, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?



 4.  How far back in time does the Ghost of Christmas Past take "the Scrooge," in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?



 5.  What is Mrs. Topper's first name?



 6.  Where does Topper work?



 7.  What game does Topper usually play on Sunday?



 8.  How many people attended Mr. and Mrs. Topper's wedding, and where did it take place?



 9.  Whom does the Ghost of Christmas Present resemble, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?



10.  Whom does the Ghost of Christmas Future resemble, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?

Answers were published January 9, 2023.

Quiz by William Mortensen Vaughan

Quiz 1 on "A Topper Christmas Carol" (1953), Starring Leo G. Carroll

 1.  When and where did this episode premiere?



 2.  When and where does this episode take place?



 3.  According to whom, who "must be color blind" in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?



 4.  Which Christmas is this, that the ghosts of the Mr. Kerby and his wife are spending with Topper? (Give an ordinal number.)



 5.  What is the surname of Topper's neighbor boy, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?



 6.  What is the name of the dog, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?



 7.  What does the dog have in common with its owners, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?



 8.  What breed of dog appears in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?



 9.  Who falls asleep, and dreams that he is Scrooge, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?



10.  Who is Katie, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?

Answers were published December 29, 2022.

Quiz by William Mortensen Vaughan

Answers to Quiz 1 on "A Topper Christmas Carol" (1953), Starring Leo G. Carroll

 1.  When and where did this episode premiere? 

Friday, December 25, 1953; U.S.A.

 2.  When and where does this episode take place?

Circa 1955, in Topper's home, in Los Angeles

 3.  According to whom, who "must be color blind" in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?

Marion says Topper "must be color blind."

 4.  Which Christmas is this, that the ghosts of the Mr. Kerby and his wife are spending with Topper? (Give an ordinal number.)

First

 5.  What is the surname of Topper's neighbor boy, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?

Welch

 6.  What is the name of the dog, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?

Neil

 7.  What does the dog have in common with its owners, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?

It's a ghost.

 8.  What breed of dog appears in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?

St. Bernard

 9.  Who falls asleep, and dreams that he is Scrooge, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?

Topper

10.  Who is Katie, in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol?

The cook

Quiz and Answers by William Mortensen Vaughan

Topper's Christmas Carol (1953): Review by William Mortensen Vaughan

Title:  "A Topper Christmas Carol"

Adaptation:  Starring Leo G. Carroll, as Cosmo Topper, "the Scrooge"

Dates and Places of Earliest Release:  

FRI, 25 DEC 1953 U.S.A.

 

My Rating:  **(Substandard; black and white)

Format Reviewed:  live-action television episode,  streamed from YouTube

 

Runtime:  30 minutes 

 

Availability:  

As of December 14, 2022, this film was available to stream for free on YouTube.

Does this adaptation include the phrase "God bless us...?" 

No.

Is this adaptation reverent? 

Not particularly.

Does this adaptation mention "God" or "Christ"?

No.

What does my wife think of this adaptation?
She's not interested in it.

Where and when does this adaptation take place?

Los Angeles, California, circa 1950

 
What language and/or dialects are used?  

American English

How closely does this adaptation follow the original novel, by Charles Dickens?

This adaptation makes drastic departures from the original novel. It is framed as the day dream of Cosmo Topper, a banker who lives with his wife and three ghosts, in L.A.:  George Kerby; his wife, Marion; and their St. Bernard, Neil.

The scene opens with the ghost of Marion Kerby helping Mr. Topper decorate his Christmas Tree. Neil is there, and Mr. Kerby also appears to give advice.

Then Mr. Topper's wife, Henrietta, arrives, soon followed by Dr. Lang and Thelma, and they have a small Christmas Party, during which Mr. Topper begins reading A Christmas Carol. His wife keeps interrupting, so finally, he asks her to read it.

As she does so, he falls asleep. During his nap, he dreams that he is Scrooge. A woman who resembles appears as the Ghost of Christmas Past, and shows him on a date with his wife before they were married.

Then a man who resembles Mr. Kerby appears to him as the Ghost of Christmas Present, dressed in a box with a ribbon, as if he were a Christmas Present. He shows Mr. Topper how a neighbor boy, named Tiny Tim, abuses his parents (Mr. and Mrs. Cratchit, who look like Dr. Lang and Thelam) and threatens to run away from home and move in with Mr. Topper. (The boy knocks his mother onto their Christmas Dinner Table so hard that it collapses under her.)

A talking dog who looks like Neil appears to Topper as the Ghost of Christmas Future. Neil tries to get Topper to follow him, but, back in "reality," Henrietta wakes Topper up from his nap.

Then the neighbor boy, who inspired Topper to dream of Tiny Tim, arrives and gives Topper a Christmas present, which Topper opens, to discover it's a slingshot, which the boy claims he uses "for hitting cats."

Then Henrietta discovers another "gift":  Neil, who has appeared so that she can seem him. (She doesn't know about the three ghosts who haunt her home.)

Is this adaptation a prequel or a sequel?  No.

Is this adaptation supernatural? 

Yes, this film features ghosts.

Is this adaptation "framed"?  

Yes, it is framed as a day dream which Topper has while his wife reads A Christmas Carol at their Christmas Party.

Is this adaptation a musical?  

No.

 

What songs and/or dances are included?  

Theme music composed by Roy Ingraham, Charles Koff, and Edward Paul

How attractive and effective is the visual art?  

The set, wardrobe, and art are adequate.

How creative and intense are the transitions, especially when "the Scrooge" is taken from one time and/or place to another?

The transitions are adequate.

 

What aerial and/or nap-of-the-earth footage is included?  

N/A  

 

What use is made of background extras?  

Adequate use is made of background extras.

What is the most remarkable thing about this adaptation? 

The most remarkable thing about this adaptation is, perhaps, that it features the ghost of a St. Bernard.
 
What bonus material is included on the tape or DVD? 

N/A

Test your knowledge of this adaptation by taking these quizzes:

Quiz  1 of 2

Quiz  2 of 2

    

Review and quizzes by William Mortensen Vaughan

The Annotated Christmas Carol, Edited by Michael Patrick Hearn: Review by William Mortensen Vaughan

 The Annotated Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was edited by Michael Patrick Hearn. The edition I'm reviewing was published in 2004. It is illustrated by the original illustrator of A Christmas Carol, John Leech, et al. It consists of four major sections: 

1. Introduction to The Annotated Christmas Carol
2. The Annotated Christmas Carol
3. Introduction to A Christmas Carol. In Four Staves
4. A Christmas Carol. In Four Staves
   

The pages before the second section are numbered with lower case, Roman numerals. The Introduction to The Annotated Christmas Carol spans pages from xiii to cxiv (13 to 114, for those of you unfamiliar with Roman numerals); the previous pages include cover pages, Contents, Acknowledgments, et cetera. The introductions contain, essentially, information about three topics:

1. A history of Christmas
2. The life of Charles Dickens
3. A history of the original and early editions of A Christmas Carol
   

A Christmas Carol. In Four StavesI is a copy of the 1867 edition, which was an abridged adaptation that Charles Dickens referred to while giving public readings of the novel. Included among the pages of The Annotated Christmas Carol and the abridged version are annotations, or footnotes, with explanations of archaic terms, and historical insights.

Test your knowledge of these topics by taking the following quizzes:

U N D E R  C O N S T R U C T I O N ! ! !

Test your knowledge of Christmas by taking these quizzes:

Quiz  1 of [T.B.D.] on Christmas

Quiz  2 of [T.B.D.] on Christmas

Quiz  3 of [T.B.D.] on Christmas

Quiz  4 of [T.B.D.] on Christmas

Quiz  5 of [T.B.D.] on Christmas

Quiz  6 of [T.B.D.] on Christmas

Quiz  7 of [T.B.D.] on Christmas

Quiz  8 of [T.B.D.] on Christmas

Quiz  9 of [T.B.D.] on Christmas

Quiz  10 of [T.B.D.] on Christmas

Test your knowledge of Charles Dickens by taking these quizzes:

Quiz 1  of [T.B.D.] on The Life of Charles Dickens

Quiz 2 of [T.B.D.] on The Life of Charles Dickens

Test your knowledge of A Christmas Carol by taking these quizzes:

Quiz 1 of [T.B.D.] on A Christmas Carol

Quiz 2 of [T.B.D.] on A Christmas Carol

Quiz 3 of [T.B.D.] on A Christmas Carol

Quiz 4 of [T.B.D.] on A Christmas Carol

Quiz 5 of [T.B.D.] on A Christmas Carol

Review and Quizzes by William Mortensen Vaughan