[3][4] The film was the only television program ever directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz,[1] and contained Peter Sellers' first performance after recovering from a near-fatal heart attack earlier in 1964.

As Fred leaves, he reminds his uncle that they have one thing in common: their love for Grudge's son Marley, who was killed in World War II on Christmas Eve 1944.

After Fred leaves, Grudge once again hears the record playing upstairs, and sees a short vision of the deceased Marley sitting at the dining room table.

A soldier on board introduces himself as the Ghost of Christmas Past (Lawrence) and explains that the ship is carrying the dead of all nations from World War I.

This new Ghost turns on a light and shows Grudge that next to the dining room is an internment camp full of displaced persons from different nations who are poor, hungry, and lacking adequate shelter.

The Ghost harangues Grudge with statistics and information about needy people in the world and finally in a fit of anger pulls the tablecloth, dumping huge amounts of leftover food on the floor.

A handful of survivors enter, led by a demagogue called "Imperial Me" (Sellers) who wears a Santa suit and a cowboy hat cut into a crown.

Grudge watches his butler, Charles (Rodriguez), try unsuccessfully to convince the crowd that acting collectively for the greater good of all is essential for humanity's survival.

Grudge apologizes to Fred for his statements of the previous evening and, without explaining the reason for his change of heart, indicates cautious support for the United Nations and international diplomacy as a way to prevent future wars.

Grudge further shows his new internationalism by enjoying a radio broadcast of the children of UN delegates singing Christmas carols in their native languages.

Carol for Another Christmas was the first in a series of television specials commissioned by the United Nations with the goal of educating viewers about the mission and work of the UN and thereby gaining more widespread support.

[8] However, Fonda's image remains in the film in the form of a large portrait of Marley hanging prominently in Grudge's study where several scenes take place.

[5] Although advance publicity articles listed Richard Harris, Godfrey Cambridge and Christopher Plummer among the cast, none of these actors appear in the finished film.

"[17] Jack Gould in The New York Times went even further, calling Carol "a pretentious and wearing exercise in garrulous ineptitude, one of the more dismaying TV disappointments in several seasons.

"[18] After receiving letters from viewers disagreeing with his review, Gould wrote a second opinion piece calling the film "condescending, pretentious and dull", "platitudinous propaganda", and "an exercise in heavy-handed sermonizing that the U.N. is good for you.

Gould acknowledged in The New York Times that based on letters received, "many disagreed" with his sharp criticism of the film, in some cases suggesting that the program was "entitled to generous appreciation, if only because its espousal of the United Nations was so much more worthwhile than the average escapist Hollywood fare.

[8] In addition, many right-wing viewers were fundamentally opposed not only to Carol but to the overall idea of television programs promoting the UN, and the John Birch Society had organized a letter-writing campaign against the film even before it was broadcast.