Amahl and the Night Visitors

If you want a plot summary, go to my comment on the 1978 remake. I cannot understand why neither version of this teleplay opera has been summarized or commented on (I am not familiar with the one in the middle starring John Cullom).

This Christmas opera was written for this tv production and for years was a holiday favorite. There is a story that they had to lock Giancarlo Menotti in a room to get him to finish it on time, and another story that he withheld broadcast rights after the original contract had run out. He apparently didn't like his own work very much and wanted to devote himself to the avant-garde garbage that constitutes his later operas.

It's in black and white, it's very old, but it is superior to the 1978 taping. The Amahl is simply superb (I heard him many years later and he had developed into a marvelous baritone). It may be impossible to find, but if you happen to run across it, especially in the holiday season, treat yourself and both treat and educate your children.

I remember watching this movie when I was very little and my family has listened to the soundtrack every Christmas. I have looked for the video to give to my Mother and am still looking for it. We even purchased the album and wore it to a frazzle. I now listen to the soundtrack on tape and try to remember when we watched it on TV. My daughter is now 18 and has never seen this version. I hope to be able to show it to her someday.

01.2007 - GUESS WHAT! My sister found this on ebay and it's on DVD! Look it up under the DVD/Video category - search Amahl and you'll be able to purchase a copy. Purchaser's comments are positive about the quality. I can't wait to see this again :))

Not sure why anyone would rate this less than 10. Perhaps because I was very young at the time, (and later, my parents brought home the soundtrack on vinyl), I now realize how great the early days of TV were. Until FCC and religious right ruined over-the-air TV by the end of 1980's.

TV specials were not matched by anything in today's standards. I believe that among the milestones in TV broadcast Amahl..., Once upon a Mattress and Whistle Down the Wind were outstanding for their time. BTW Hayley Mills also starred in the Masterpiece Theater/BBC? production and series, 'The Flame Trees of Thika' (1984?). Again, a film that depicted the world events of its time, with no edits, no 'politically correct' abridgments and no FCC interference.

Regrettably the original tape of the '51 telecast was inadvertently erased and lost for all time. The audio is widely available on an RCA recording with the original cast. I never saw the '63 version but it was directed by Kirk Browning, who had directed the '51 original. Most of the stories concerning Menotti not finishing the work are pure nonsense. Menotti stayed in contact with Chet Allen (the original Amahl) and saw him just a year before Allen committed suicide at the age of 44 in Columbus, Ohio. After he (Allen) got older his life and career just didn't go anywhere and he became an angry, bitter man. He ended his life with an overdose of anti-depressant drugs. The original telecast was in color but almost no TV sets received in color in '51. The '63 version has not been released on either video or DVD. In 2007 a DVD was released of the 1955 telecast of Amahl. The cast is the same as the '51 telecast except for Amahl -- performed by Bill McIver who did it for four years running. The DVD is in black and white and appears to have been transfered from a kinescope. The performance is first rate, though. One of the extras is a long interview with Rosemary Kuhlman (the Mother) and is very interesting. I highly recommend this DVD to anyone who loves Amahl.