Santa Claus ' Punch and Judy

(1948)

8:42 minutes

Family / Holiday

Santa Claus magically creates a Punch and Judy puppet show to the delight of children at a Christmas party.

Punch and Judy professor/historian Geoff Felix describes the film:

The value of this film is that it is a record of a performance by George Prentice whose Punch and Judy show achieved great popularity in Variety during the 1930's. The action is slick, fast and furious and incorporates several animal characters made by the performer.

This slapstick style is not everyone's cup of tea and the children appear to have been filmed at a different time, but the delicacy of manipulation, combined with its speed , make this a must for connoisseurs of Punch and Judy. 

Several Punch men have rated this show the best to have come from the States.

I believe he (Prentice) had help from the Larsons (also called Pinxy) but that he made the puppets himself. He appeared at the Palladium in London and also in Paris as well as having given a performance for the then Prince of Wales.