One of my favorite Christmas tales is the venerable Charles Dickens classic 'A Christmas Carol'. Every couple of years I re-read the story (and promise myself I'll finally buy the annotated version) followed by a viewing of at least one film adaptation. The version I like the most is a strange choice for me because I generally don't like musicals but the 1970 film SCROOGE with Albert Finney in the title role is quite easily one of the most amazing movies ever made. It hits every plot point perfectly and contains some of the best acting I have ever seen. Finney is brilliant as both the old, embittered Ebenezer Scrooge and his younger, less bleak self in flashbacks. The rest of the cast is superb with the most memorable supporting performer being Alec Guinness chewing every bit of scenery he can lay teeth to as the Ghost of Marley. If you've never seen it I cannot recommend highly enough seeing it as soon as possible. It makes me laugh and cry every single time. I love it!
Now, the version of A Christmas Carol that most film fans call the best is the 1951 film starring Alister Sim. I have never seen this one even though I've had many chances. I just couldn't get interested for some reason. Well, this year I plan to finally change that sad fact by sitting down with a good friend and watching it this week. He and I are both huge fans of the story and love to talk about which adaptation gets the most right and how we'd love to piece together a 'perfect' version that melds various good elements from many different sources. We're going to sit down and watch the wonderful 1938 film and then the 1951 movie to compare the multitude of alterations made for both good and ill. It'll be the last non-family night of Christmas cheer I'll have before the big day and I can hardly wait. I am such a movie geek!
What is your favorite version of A Christmas Carol? Is it a film or a television show episode? Let me know in the comments below- you might name a version I'm unaware of completely and send me into a hunting frenzy for my viewing for next December!
6 comments:
The Alastair Sim version is my favorite, closely followed by the version with George C. Scott.
I've never seen the Scott version either! I have a hard time accepting a non-British actor in the role. I really have to overcome that and eventually check it out.
Okay, time to weigh in. The 1970 Scrooge is also easily my favorite, but I would hardly call it a faithful adaptation of the source material. It takes several liberties with the story, including some brilliant twists which transform it into some great black comedy in the final third of the film. The 1984 Scott version definitely has its strong points (as we shall explore tomorrow night, Rod), but some impossible to ignore flaws as well. I don't want to give too much away early, but suffice it to say that I believe the fault lies in the writing and the direction. The actors are some of the strongest to ever handle the material. Rod, you should mention the animated A Christmas Carol (1971, directed by Richard Williams, produced by Chuck Jones). This version, while far from the entertaining experience other versions offer, features some truly striking imagery and manages to touch on parts of the story that many other versions leave out. And, I might add, this is the ONLY film version of the story that has ever won an Academy Award!
I agree that the 1970 SCROOGE is not a completely faithful adaptation but for that I am glad. Its a movie (musical!) and you have to do some work to get from page to screen without loosing the essence of the tale. The additions of things like making Scrooge's lost love Fezziwig's daughter and the Christmas Eve visits to some of his deeply in dept customers add depth and color to his nastiness. And yes- there is much that is wonderful about the animated 1971 version. If only it were longer!
Sim -- both the live action and the animated one, mentioned above, in which he voiced Scrooge, too. He really was the best.
Scrooge is also a lot of fun, and both the Scott and Stewart versions are worth watching. But if I had to watch one, only, for the rest of my life... Sim. Definitely.
Oh, and the Magoo one is a huge fave in our house, too. (Wish the rest of his theatrical classics were available on DVD.)
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