Product Details

• Actors: Florence Henderson, Sherrill Milnes, Earl Wrightson
• Format: Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Video Artists Int'l
• DVD Release Date: November 17, 2009
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002TZS59C
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #159,927 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HOLIDAY NOSTALGIA-BELL TELEPHONE CHRISTMAS SPECIALS, November 12, 2009

By 

Operaman! "dsoda" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: An Old-Fashioned Christmas (DVD)

The Bell Telephone Christmas specials are right up there with Geraldine Page in Capote's A Christmas Memory, the animated Rudolph, Charlie Brown and Mister Magoo's Scrooge and innumerable others - a big part of Holiday entertainment from my childhood that I watch every holiday season. VAI has excerpted the Bell Telephone specials in this new DVD. Much as I would have loved all the Christmas specials COMPLETE in a multi-disc DVD collection, time limitations, repeated selections, missing or deteriorated video elements and music and performer clearances probably make that impossible. Still, I am looking forward to seeing and hearing these again.

An Old-Fashioned Christmas
Bell Telephone Hour Telecasts, 1959-1966

Florence Henderson (host and performer), Gianna d'Angelo, Phyllis Curtin, Lisa Della Casa, Anita Gillette, Mildred Miller, Sherrill Milnes, Giorgio Tozzi, Earl Wrightson, Bruce Yarnell, The Buffalo Bills, Brunilda Ruiz & Richard Gain.
Bell Telephone Hour Orchestra & Chorus
Donald Voorhees, conductor

Part I: CHRISTMAS THROUGH THE AGES
Telecast of December 18, 1966

1. Introduction: Joy to the World
2. In Dulci Jubilo - Sherrill Milnes
3. Mary Walks Amid the Thorn - Gianna d'Angelo
4. Young and Old Must Raise the Lay - Bell Telephone Hour Chorus
5. The Coventry Carol ("Lully, Lullay, Thou Little Tiny Child") - Gianna d'Angelo
6. O Come, O Come, Emanuel - Sherrill Milnes, Bell Telephone Hour Chorus
7. O Tannenbaum - Florence Henderson, Bell Telephone Hour Chorus
8. March of the Kings ("Three Great Kings") - Bell Telephone Hour Chorus
9. The Cherry Tree Carol - Brunilda Ruiz and Richard Gain; Gianna d'Angelo and Sherrill Milnes
10. Born Is Jesus, the Infant King - Bell Telephone Hour Chorus
11. Lo, How a Rose e'er Blooming - Sherrill Milnes
12. Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella - Gianna d'Angelo
13. Medley: Shepherds, Shake off Your Drowsy Sleep;
To Us Is Born a Little Child; The Three Kings - Bell Telephone Hour Chorus
14. The First Noël - Florence Henderson
15. "Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light"
from Christmas Oratorio (Bach) - Bell Telephone Hour Chorus
16. Medley: Adeste Fideles; Deck the Halls - Bell Telephone Hour Chorus
17. God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen - Bruce Yarnell
18. O Little Town of Bethlehem - Anita Gillette
19. Hark, the Herald Angels Sing - Gianna d'Angelo, Sherrill Milnes
20. Here We Come A-Wassailing - Bruce Yarnell, Bell Telephone Hour Chorus
21. The Holly and the Ivy - Anita Gillette; Brunilda Ruiz and Richard Gain,
Bell Telephone Hour Dancers
22. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear - Yarnell, Gillette
23. Medley: Christmas is Coming; I Saw Three Ships;
Christmas Bells - Florence Henderson, Children's Chorus
24. Away in a Manger - Florence Henderson
25. Joy to the World - Entire Cast
26. The Christmas Story (Luke 2:8-16) - Florence Henderson, Bell Telephone Hour Chorus, Soloists
27. Silent Night - Entire Cast

Part II: AN OLD-FASHIONED CHRISTMAS
Telecast of December 23, 1962
28. Deck the Halls - Florence Henderson, Earl Wrightson, Bell Telephone Hour Chorus
29. The Christmas Song ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire")
by Robert Wells, Mel Tormé - Florence Henderson, Bell Telephone Hour Chorus
30. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - Bell Telephone Hour Chorus
31. God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen - Buffalo Bills
32. Let it Snow, Let it Snow
By Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn - Earl Wrightson
33. Let's Have an Old-Fashioned Christmas
by Larry Conley, Joe Solomon - Florence Henderson, Earl Wrightson,
Bell Telephone Hour Chorus
34. Joy to the World - Florence Henderson, Earl Wrightson,
Bell Telephone Hour Chorus
35. O Little Town of Bethlehem - Mildred Miller
36. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear - Earl Wrightson, Bell Telephone Hour Chorus
37. Christmas Waltz - Florence Henderson
38. Medley: Santa Claus is Coming to Town (Gillepsie & Coots)
by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie
Be a Santa
by Jule Styne, Betty Comden, Adolph Green
- Buffalo Bills, Florence Henderson, Earl Wrightson,
Bell Telephone Hour Chorus

Part III: A CLASSICAL CHRISTMAS
Telecast of December 18, 1959:
39. God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen - Giorgio Tozzi, Bell Telephone Hour Chorus
40. Deck the Halls - Bell Telephone Hour Chorus
41. I Saw Three Ships - Lisa Della Casa
42. What Child is This (Greensleeves) - Giorgio Tozzi
43. The Coventry Carol ("Lully, Lullay, Thou Little Tiny Child")
performed by Lisa Della Casa, Giorgio Tozzi,
Bell Telephone Hour Chorus

Telecast of December 23, 1962:
44. I Wonder as I Wander
By John Jacob Niles - Mildred Miller
45. O Leave Your Sheep - Mildred Miller

Telecast of December 24, 1963:
46. Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella - Phyllis Curtin
47. Lo, How a Rose e'er Blooming - Phyllis Curtin
48. O Come, O Come, Emanuel - Phyllis Curtin

Telecast of December 22, 1964:
49. The First Noël - Phyllis Curtin
50. "Alleluja" (Mozart)- Phyllis Curtin

Telecast of December 22, 1961:
51. Jesu Bambino - Lisa Della Casa
52. "Ave Maria" (Bach/Gounod) - Lisa Della Casa
53. "Come Unto Him" from Messiah (Handel) - Lisa Della Casa

Telecast of December 18, 1959:
54. Cantique de Noël ("O Holy Night") - Lisa Della Casa

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Old-Fashioned Christmas indeed - and a real treasure, December 19, 2009

By 

D. H Patterson "danpatter" (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: An Old-Fashioned Christmas (DVD)

This is the best Christmas entertainment I've seen in some years. It is truly "old fashioned" in that it consists of beautiful. well-trained voices singing gorgeous music. The production values are understated, if a trifle kitschy at times, but that doesn't matter. Above all, this celebrates the true meaning of Christmas through wonderful music. Gone are those days! Now, most network televised Christmas music shows avoid the religious side of Christmas; or those which do embrace it dumb down the musical side to the lowest common denominator. I am certain I will revisit this video during future Christmas seasons. I wish they'd bring out another volume or two, because they certainly don't put on shows like this anymore.

1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forgive "Earl Wrightson" , he was an actor the Shuberts USED to front "JOSEPH TONER, Broadway Legend" and it is visable here!, August 12, 2011

By 

Shewolff77 (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: An Old-Fashioned Christmas (DVD)

Eventually, they would have to put Wrightson in front of a camera. The name Wrightson, though has been around from the late 30's without a face. Not to be redundant, see:

A Night with Rudolf Friml/Shakespeare's Greatest Hits
Earl Wrightson | Format: Audio CD
A Night with Rudolf Friml/Shakespeare's Greatest Hits Sadly, Wrightson, is a terrible victim of the Shubert Corporation.

Joseph Toner did a year of the first Student Prince, then moved to Princess Flavia. That is where Joseph Toner met the common singing partner for "Earl Wrightson" Jimmy Carroll. (The IBDB has already responded, and one must look him up as Jim Carroll)He was the brother of Earl Carroll a major producer on Broadway who died in the late 40's, and with his death, so went his singing with Joseph Toner. Most if not all of the albums that mention Jimmy Carroll, sometimes changed to Jimmie Carroll, were pre-1940, and not even mentioned in the "Earl Wrightson" histories at all, but see the "Naughty Marietta" review for more on that. There are photo's here that were originally uploaded to go with Victor Herbert's The Music of Victor Herbert

We are confident that the Shubert Corp blackmailed Earl Wrightson in some way. This is because they did so to Joseph Toner. Joseph Toner was traveling with Ziegfeld in 1927. He was with his new wife, Francis, so there is no question as to when they were traveling. Joseph Toner was starring in Ziegfeld's Biggest Production. SHOW BOAT. Joseph Toner was the male operatic lead, The Gambler. On IMDb, it is not listed as Howard Marsh but as a pseudonym. It opened, not on Broadway, but in the National Theatre, and Joseph Toner came up as being in that production. So what do these photo's mean?

Joseph Toner started out as a child star, at age 6 and was given the name Fred Stone. As Fred Stone, he was in the original Wizard of Oz, and the original poster for that show has been obtained too. We are adding as much of the promotional poster for the Wizard of Oz as we can. It was at the turn of the century. The team was called Montgomery and Stone. Years later, they said Stone was born in 1873, which would make that child, the scarecrow in makeup, 30 years old! The stars were the Tin Man and Scarecrow. Dimitri Tiomkin, a great composer, knew Joseph Toner from the Follies of 1931, and did the music for the movie in 1939.

Exactly what happened to Joseph Toner after meeting Victor Herbert is not clear. He was in Babes in Toyland, Victor Herbert's response to the Wizard of Oz. Then he was in Sweethearts, The Red Mill (in 1906-and that is the photo attached. Fred Stone, I.E. Joseph Toner, is the boy second in from the left--supposedly now what? 33 years old?! Any pediatrician will tell you, uh, NO!I think it was about this time that Victor Herbert moved out of NY and went to Chicago. He created the Chicago Opera Company and the Bostonians. There he created Naughty Marietta, probably his most famous work, though he thought Natoma would be. Sweethearts came just prior to Naughty Marietta. Joseph Toner was in Sweethearts, and Naughty Marrietta, but I have no idea in what capacity. Joseph Toner had his true operatic training with Victor Herbert in Chicago as a young teen.

After Joseph Toner's return, he starred in the 1914 Ziegfeld Follies as Montgomery and Stone. That is not well known. It is in the newspapers of the times, and I will try and blow up a section and add it later. (not today. lol) The next photo is from the National Theatre itself. Joseph Toner became part of the National Theatre's own company and put on productions from time to time. The next photo is C. 1915, and as you can see, something had to change. He is not the same as the child in the first photo of the RED MILL 1906.

BUT there was a bigger problem. At the same time of the 1914 Ziegfeld Follies, a different Stone went into a show called CHIN CHIN. Montgomery knew his days with Joseph Toner were numbered, and needed a new partner. FOR THE FIRST TIME ANYWHERE, I PRESENT ON AMAZON THE SECOND FRED STONE. If you notice he has a cleft chin. This is evident from early childhood, so it would have shown up in the original picture of FRED STONE. It did not.

The family photo of 1927 is not when the THIRD Fred Stone was supposidly in Stepping Stones. NO. Stepping Stones was years earlier. This was published just as SHOW BOAT came to Broadway, and note that the cleft chin is missing! Show Boat would have made JOSEPH TONER famous for life, and the Shuberts knew it. Just listen to that voice all of you love so. I heard it all my life, and it is a miracle to have back. To pay for a star like that, in his PRIME, was not what the Shuberts wanted to do. So they Blackmailed Joseph Toner with this photo of Fred Stone.

Joseph Toner protected his new family from accusations of bigamy. Everyone in the industry knew who Joseph Toner was, just like they knew who Earl Wrightson really was. A voice like that gets to go onto anything they want, ANYTHING, unless something is wrong. I don't know what they had on "Earl" which is not his real name, it is George. The name Earl Wrightson was used for Joseph Toner long before George decided to "transform" himself. I feel terrible for the poor man. Joseph Toner once said something about a person who had a different lifestyle that was pressured to do this. I do not know if it was "Earl" AKA George (we found this through his former agent), but the real George had a good enough voice that he could have had a career of his own. "Earl"'s voice can be heard on Satins & Spurs

Much of the original Christmas album by Joseph Toner HAS been located, and his MOST POWERFUL songs never credited to Writghtson. No one would believe it. We are looking forward to the day that this DVD demonstrates the shadow of Joseph Toner's true vocal ability, even so late in life. (late 60's)

So what is wrong with how Wrightson fakes Joseph Toner's singing? First, it is not all of his singing that is faked. In this DVD, it is the real person who sings "Let it snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow. But when he sings operatically, it is simple, if one has watched an opera star sing. I believe this was on CBS, yes? First, his sound is blunted, which shows that it is canned. IF you expand the information on IMDb it says that when Wrightson sings as an operatic baritone, it is to recorded music! But you have to expand the information to see this, they changed the site.

Second, you can hear him breathing in, but there is no, not any, chest or abdominal movement.

This is better viewed on the other tape, though most do not have VCR's anymore, and I think that the images will not be shown as it is very obvious. That is the tape of "A trip to Christmas".A Trip To Christmas - The Bell Telephone Hour [VHS] When Hunt sings alone, THEN you see her abdominal muscles move as she is breathing in. Opera is sung from the abdomen, not the throat. Once, on the VHS tape, Wrightson actually picks up a child and pulls the child to his chest tightly, which NOBODY singing opera can do, or would do! Joseph Toner, when he would hear that he had to go on unexpectedly, would stop eating a meal! Even a full stomach would interfere with his vocal power! Nobody sang like Joseph Toner, and I can tell you, the daughter of Joseph Toner, laughed her head off watching this performance!

Yes, I know most people would never tell the difference. Most people have not seen an opera star doing breathing exercises either. There is absolutely NO WAY that the operatic community did not know "Earl Wrightson" was fronting someone. His lip sinking is very good. But he only did a few, VERY FEW, singing appearances that were taped. It was a HUGE mistake on the part of CBS to re-release these. They are new, flooding the market, and the VHS, edited out Wrightson's first appearance, suggesting that Wrightson did not do such a great job.

For the IMDb, they should be aware, that we traced the source of an obscene faked "so called" 1931 Ziegfeld Follies, which was the last Follies made by Ziegfeld. This is the same source that provided them with the history of EARL WRIGHTSON! Worse, it provides a virus that downloads pornography. We had to inform the FBI. Actually, Facebook did it for us. It attacked the site "Joseph Toner, Broadway Legend". Why would the same hacker create a pornographic image of the 1931 follies, which the IBDB USED to say Joseph Toner starred in, AND create the false history of "EARL WRIGHTSON"?

We are demanding great restitution, and plan to create a charitable foundation with it. We are also going to release all of the unheard and less distributed materials that many would love to know. Do not waste money on this product. We are finished with Joseph Toner's first Christmas album, and will distribute it soon. Everyone will hear so much more, and things you would not believe! Some albums were stolen from the WPA and belong to the government. That was before this "Earl Wrightson" was old enough to sing! We will give it all back and let the world decide what is worth having.

We thank everyone who has been so supportive. But please, don't waste your money on this product. And for Earl's fans, forgive him, as we have done. Do not condemn him. The Shuberts did this an awful lot. It would be nice to find out who he really was and what they had on him to make him do this terrible thing. A Trip To Christmas - The Bell Telephone Hour [VHS]


The reality is that he is not a bad actor, and has a marketable voice. Sadly, Wrightson, is a terribe victim of the Shubert Corporation.