Radio: Christmas Program Preview

For the week starting Friday, Dec. 19. Times are E.S.T., subject to change.

Boys’ Town Choir (Fri. 1:30 p.m., Mutual). Father Flanagan and a special musical program.

The Joyful Hour (Sat. 9 p.m., Mutual). Eighteen stars, headed by the stage & screen’s Ethel Barrymore, in a special salute to Christmas.

Babes in Toyland (Sat. 10 p.m., Mutual). A familiar Christmas package for the children, from Victor Herbert.

Christmas in Europe (Sun. 3 p.m., Mutual). Famed boys’ choirs of Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Rome and London.

The Family Hour (Sun. 5 p.m., CBS). Risë Stevens, a 100-voice choir, and some traditional carols.

The Greatest Story Ever Told (Sun. 6:30 p.m., ABC). Fourth in a cycle of five Christmas programs: No Room at the Inn, the story of the Nativity.

American Album of Familiar Music (Sun. 9:30 p.m., NBC). A generous wreath of carols.

Invitation to Music (Sun. 11:30 p.m., CBS) gets an extra half-hour to present Beethoven’s Mass in C, in full.

Lux Radio Theater (Mon. 9 p.m., CBS). A good newcomer among the Christmas fantasies: Miracle on 34th Street, with Edmund Gwenn.

Fred Waring (Mon. 10:30 p.m., NBC). Two Waring favorites: The Song of Christmas, and ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Studio One (Tues. 9:30 p.m., CBS). James Mason in Painted Veils, James Huneker’s story of an aging music critic on Christmas Eve.

President Truman (Wed. 5 p.m., all networks). Lighting the White House Christmas tree.

A Christmas Carol (Wed. 8 p.m., ABC). Retold on radio for the twelfth time by Lionel (“Scrooge”) Barrymore.

Bing Crosby (Wed. 10 p.m., ABC). A dramatization of Charles Tazwell’s The Small One, with appropriate music, including, naturally, White Christmas.

Midnight Services (Wed. 12 midnight, ABC) from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

Pope Pius XII (Thurs. 12:30 a.m., ABC). The Pontiff’s annual message, and a description of Christmas Eve ceremonies at the Vatican.

Two Hours of Stars (Thurs. 4 p.m., CBS). Lots of celebrities, supervised by Don Ameche.

The Family Theater (Thurs. 10 p.m., Mutual). Anatole France’s Our Lady’s Juggler, with John Charles Thomas.

Handel’s Messiah (Thurs. 11:30 p.m., CBS) performed by the Kansas City Philharmonic and a 250-voice choir.