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SCROOGE aka A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Dir: Brian Desmond Hurst, 1951).
Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol is the second most famous Christmas story ever told. It must also rank as the most filmed piece of literature of all time, with countless movie and TV adaptations surfacing yearly. For many, me included, this 1951 adaptation is the best version.
Scrooge (it retained its published title A Christmas Carol in the US) is, of course, the tale of the embittered miser who loathes his fellow man and mistreats his overworked, underpaid employee Bob Cratchit. The old curmudgeon is offered the chance of redemption on Christmas Eve when he is visited by four spirits who take him on a journey through his past, present and future to show him the error of his ways.
Read the full review on my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME! Link below.
Wonderful overview from the writer above on the delights of this great work, and thank goodness for a shout to the under-appreciated Michael Hordern, absolute perfection in every scene, the nuances are glory to behold. (Both he and Sim, indeed the whole cast, including the astonishing Kathleen Harrison, I wonder at their working method to achieve such wonders.)
@thetoymakers replied to this post:
Something holiday-like would be nice. Everything is on its ear this year and we are all making do.
Allow me to recommend my all-time favorite Christmas film. It’s an adaptation of A Christmas Carol, and so is usually known by that title, though it’s “Scrooge” on the title cards. It is also much more tinged by genuine suffering than any other adaptation I have seen, which makes the joy of the final sequence that much sweeter.
It boasts absolutely gorgeous black-and-white cinematography, with deep chiaroscuro effects (think early David Lean.) The Irish director, Brian Desmond-Hurst, was a survivor of WWI, including the Gallipoli campaign, and was a noted exponent of both noir films and controversial social issue dramas, and he brings those sensibilities, I think, to this film. [Sidebar: I think Dickens adaptations should be generally much more edgy/challenging than they generally are, due to the lionizing popular devotion Dickens inspired in his later years, and the status he and his works have attained in the English canon.]
Anyway. The film is scripted by Noel Langley (who also wrote the screenplay for The Wizard of Oz.) It stars, gloriously, Alistair Sim as Scrooge. Here he is ascending the stairs after his encounter with the door-knocker:
But it really is an ensemble film, to my mind. I’ve long thought that the fact that it was made in a damaged London at the height of postwar austerity must have something to do with the way in which it handles resilience, hardship, and hope. In any case, it is wonderful. I love the Cratchits with my whole heart, and it’s a treat to see Michael Hordern (who would play Scrooge a quarter-century later) as the ghost of Jacob Marley, shrieking and wailing with spectral abandon. Though I haven’t checked running times exhaustively, I also have the sense that this film spends longer with Scrooge on Christmas Day than most adaptations do, and I love that, too. Happy viewing!