MGM Parade (TV Series) Episode #1.15 (1955) User Reviews

The version of this shown on the Turner Classic Movie Channel . . .

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 18 December 2014]

. . . runs just 26 minutes, 12.2 seconds, since all the original ads have been excised. (It's a sad commentary on what today's sheep-like TV viewers are willing to tolerate that in 1955 American citizens only had to put up with 7 minutes, 34 seconds of mindless corporate drivel per hour, while today's lemmings must sit through nearly half an hour of brain debris per hour, if this 1955 show is a typical example. That is, poor people do--the rich have fancy and expensive means of skipping the ads targeted at those "beneath them.") Judy Garland is on screen here for 2 minutes, 5 seconds to sing one song. Next, a Readers Digest condensed version of the entire Reginald Owen version of A CHR1STMAS CAROL is presented. (Why kill all the suspense BEFORE re-release, with a whole new generation of viewers born since 1938?) Finally, Ann Blyth and Vic Damone spend another two minutes singing a song from Kismet. As Tiny Tim would say, before North Korea's Deity had to give prior approval to all American movie scripts, "God bless us, each and everyone."

Christmas Carols

[wes-connors · 4/10 · 8 December 2011]

Now that you have all of your Christmas shopping done - or most of it - "MGM Parade" host George Murphy wants to keep your yuletide spirits high with some MGM film clips. First up is a slightly edited down Judy Garland singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" from "Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944). Co-star Margaret O'Brien listens quietly. The bulk of the half-hour is devoted to a condensed version of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" (1938) starring Reginald Owen (as Ebenezer Scrooge), Gene Lockhart (as Bob Cratchit), Terry Kilburn (as Tiny Tim) and many others. Lastly, Ann Blyth and Vic Damone perform "Stranger in Paradise" in a clip from the current MGM attraction "Kismet" (1955). Both musical numbers were from color films, but "MGM Parade" telecast them in glorious black-and-white.

**** MGM Parade #15 (12/21/55) George Murphy ~ George Murphy, Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Judy Garland