''The Nativity'' was a 58-minute United States television drama with music about the birth of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

, presented on the television anthology ''

Westinghouse Studio One ''Studio One'' is an American anthology drama television series that was adapted from a radio series. It was created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC. It premiered on November 7, 1948 and ended on Septem ...

''. Directed by

Franklin Schaffner Franklin James Schaffner (May 30, 1920July 2, 1989) was an American film, television, and stage director. He won an Academy Award for Best Director for ''Patton'' (1970), and is known for the films ''Planet of the Apes'' (1968), ''Nicholas and Al ...

, it is a rare modern network television production of an authentic

mystery play Mystery plays and miracle plays (they are distinguished as two different forms although the terms are often used interchangeably) are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the represen ...

, mostly culled from the York and Chester mystery plays of the 14th and 15th centuries in England. The adaptation was by Andrew Allan. The presentation, originally telecast live the evening of December 22, 1952 on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

, has been preserved on kinescope. It has been issued in several DVD public domain version

It can also be seen complete online on

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

. The play was performed in what is now known as Elizabethan English. Although it takes its text straight from fifteenth-century English, the words were not pronounced as

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

would be, but in a more modern manner. Musical selections were selected from Christmas carols and sung by the

Robert Shaw Chorale The Robert Shaw Chorale was a renowned professional choir founded in New York City in 1948 by Robert Shaw, a Californian who had been drafted out of college a decade earlier by Fred Waring to conduct his glee club in radio broadcasts. History ...

. The cast included

Thomas Chalmers Thomas Chalmers (17 March 178031 May 1847), was a Scottish minister, professor of theology, political economist, and a leader of both the Church of Scotland and of the Free Church of Scotland. He has been called "Scotland's greatest nine ...

Paul Tripp Paul Tripp (February 20, 1911 – August 29, 2002) was an American children's musician, author, songwriter, and television and film actor. He collaborated with a fellow composer, George Kleinsinger. Tripp was the creator of the 1945 " Tubby ...

, and Miriam Wolfe.

Hurd Hatfield William Rukard Hurd Hatfield (December 7, 1917 – December 26, 1998) was an American actor. He is best known for having played characters of handsome, narcissism, narcissistic young men, most notably Dorian Gray in the film ''The Picture of Dori ...

serves as narrato

References

''The Nativity''
Internet Archive page *Amazon.com page for ''The Nativity'

External links

IMDB page for ''The Nativity'

1952 television films 1952 films 1950s American drama television series Christmas plays Christmas television specials Medieval drama Nativity of Jesus on television Films about the Nativity of Jesus {{Christmas-tv-film-stub

See also

References

External links