Classic Christmas Radio Plays

By: Campbell Playhouse, Author's Playhouse, Lux Radio Theatre, more

Narrated by: Orson Welles, Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, Roddy McDowall, Ruth Hussey

This collection contains six classic Christmas radio productions from the '30s, '40s, and '50s:

"A Christmas Carol" from Campbell Playhouse, with Orson Welles as host and Lionel Barrymore as Ebeneezer Scrooge (December 24, 1939)

"Christmas by Injunction", a dramatization of O. Henry's classic story, from Author's Playhouse (December 21, 1941)

"Miracle on 34th Street" from Lux Radio Theatre, with the stars of the original motion picture: Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, and Edmund Gwenn (December 25, 1949)

"'Twas the Night Before Christmas" by Paul Gallico, from Radio City Playhouse (December 25, 1949)

"Lullaby of Christmas" starring Roddy McDowall and Ruth Hussey, from Family Theater (December 19, 1951)

"All is Bright" from CBS Radio Workshop (December 23, 1956)

Hear more collections of radio movie dramatizations, or listen to all of the individual programs by themselves!©2006 Radio Spirits, Inc. (P)2006 Radio Spirits, Inc.

Mixed Performances

What made the experience of listening to Classic Christmas Radio Plays the most enjoyable?

Of course listening to this at Christmas makes it special.

What other book might you compare Classic Christmas Radio Plays to and why?

Charles Dicken's Christmas Carol, which is the first Radio Drama. Interesting to see what they had to leave out to get the commercials in.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

They were a mixed bag. Lionel Barrymore was a superb performance.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Christmas stories at Christmas. Laugh, Cry and have my heart grow three size.

Great old shows!

Great old shows and actors! Most have the same actors as in the original movies!

Nostalgic but choppy

It's fun to hear the old voices of people like Roddy McDowall and Lionel Barrymore, and nostalgic to hear the old hyperbolic narrators and advertising, but the stories are painfully chopped up to meet time requirements. The fillers like "Christmas by Injuction" are painfully dated and rather a waste of time. Check it out once for the nostalgia factor during the holidays, then bury it at the bottom of your library.

Thoroughly Enjoyed!

It was so fun to listen to these wonderful stories the same way my parents and grandparents would have.

Introduced me to a lost art - radio stories

This was a wonderful collection of both humerous abd dramatic radio presentations from the 30s, 40s, and early 50s. Great introduction to a genre I'd never heard before!

Christmas 1940s style

If you enjoy old time radio shows, this is for you. I enjoyed imagining sitting around the radio listening to the stories.

Fun holiday listen.

The actors were so much fun to listen to as the stories were played out. I enjoyed most of them, but a few were kind of silly and dragged out. Just my personal preference. The classic A Christmas Carol and Miracle on Forty Second Street were excellent. I was surprised by the spin on The Night Before Christmas. Funny and very entertaining.