# The Annual 'A Christmas Carol' Thread (2024)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-annual-a-christmas-carol-thread-2024/1011496
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [December 11, 2024, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-annual-a-christmas-carol-thread-2024/1011496 "2024-12-11T15:13:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2024, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-annual-a-christmas-carol-thread-2024/1011496/41 "2024-12-14T21:43:56Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#):
>
> Are you sure that wasn’t the BD/SM Porn version?
No,no, that one had whips and women in it too. I remember that part quite well…
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2024, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-annual-a-christmas-carol-thread-2024/1011496/42 "2024-12-15T16:37:54Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#):
>
> Are you sure that wasn’t the BD/SM Porn version?
Does that version have a Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in it?
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2024, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-annual-a-christmas-carol-thread-2024/1011496/43 "2024-12-15T17:33:13Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#):
>
> I am only interested in watching one version, the 1951 version. Every year I watch this once, and that’s it for the story for that year. I have never, incidentally, read the book.
>
> I remember one year, when I was a child (probably 1956 or 1957), and I suspect that my parents found me and my sister too vested in the “how many presents will I get?” facet of the holiday spirit, they (parents) woke us (children) up at around 9:00 pm and sat us in front of the TV to watch this movie. This was unprecedented, and never happened again.
>
> I think the reason I like this version is that Sim was essentially a comic actor, and was therefore able to make the last part of the movie very believable. He did well with the early parts too, because “curmudgeon” was one of his other acting specialties. Aside from Sim’s acting, I thought the visits from the spirits were all very well done and effective, especially for the time. Overall, I like this version because it is not too grim or too hopeless, even in the beginning. The lessons are there to be learned, especially that Scrooge was hurting himself more than anyone else with his behavior, and those lessons are all the more effective (to me) for not bludgeoning me about the head and shoulders to be sure I got it.
I fully agree with you, and my affection for the 1951 version with Alistair Sims is probably for similar reasons to yours – my associations with childhood. I’m pretty sure this was a CBC Television standard on many a Christmas Eve. I currently have it in my digital archives and have watched it more times than I can remember.
Just as an aside, another Christmas film – this one quite modern but still with very fond memories from my adult Christmases – is _National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation_. Each and every year of my working life, I’ve always made a point of setting aside at least two weeks of time off during the holiday season, and the joyous sound of Mavis Staples belting out the opening theme song of _Christmas Vacation_ was the perfect way to kick it off!
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### Author:  [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2024, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-annual-a-christmas-carol-thread-2024/1011496/44 "2024-12-15T17:42:38Z")
Okay, folks, it’s Alistair SIM, one M, no S. Thin queue.
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### Author:  [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2024, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-annual-a-christmas-carol-thread-2024/1011496/45 "2024-12-15T22:28:12Z")
The 1951 version with Alastair Sim will always be the best.
For second place, its either Disney’s 2009 version or the 1999 version with Patrick Stewart
The 2019 version with Guy Pearce isn’t bad though.
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### Author:  [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2024, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-annual-a-christmas-carol-thread-2024/1011496/46 "2024-12-15T22:41:29Z")
No love for _The Muppet Christmas Carol_? It was an amazingly faithful rendition of the original story, allowing for the use of the Muppets, and Sir Michael Caine as Ebenezeer Scrooge is a delight. I have to admit that I never saw it until last year, but was immediately in love with it.
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### Author:  [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2024, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-annual-a-christmas-carol-thread-2024/1011496/47 "2024-12-15T23:29:41Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#):
>
> The 2019 version with Guy Pearce isn’t bad though.
That one is hard to watch. Three hours of grimdark. But I love the ending.
> I don’t want redemption. My fate is just, and I accept it.
>
> But I want Tiny Tim to live.
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### Author:  [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2024, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-annual-a-christmas-carol-thread-2024/1011496/48 "2024-12-16T01:55:38Z")
> [@LurkMeister](#):
>
> No love for _The Muppet Christmas Carol_?
One of my favorite gags in the movie is that The Ghost of Jacob Marley was split into two rolls and played by Stadtler and Waldorf. The second Marley was Robert. I wish they had included some other Bob Marley reference.
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### Author:  [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2024, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-annual-a-christmas-carol-thread-2024/1011496/49 "2024-12-16T18:01:45Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#):
>
> The Ghost of Jacob Marley was split into two rolls and played by Stadtler and Waldorf.
The two of them seem to be revelling in all their past bad deeds, like evicting the children from the orphanage. Presumably, they won’t have this chance again so they do make the best of it.
My first Marley was Alec Guinness’ visage projecting from the doorbell in Albert Finney’s 1971. I think they did something like that in some previous versions, but that and the Grim Reaper as the Ghost of Christmas yet to come both scared the hell out of my young self. And still do.
Got to check out the Chuck Jones version.
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### Author:  [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2024, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-annual-a-christmas-carol-thread-2024/1011496/50 "2024-12-19T16:07:55Z")
I just watched the Patrick Stewart (1999) version…it’s very good. I might move it ahead of the George C Scott version on my list of favorite versions (although Edward Woodward is the best Christmas Present).
Oddly, Nephew Fred was not listed in the credits. But he was played Dominic West, who 25 years later was Prince Charles in _The Crown._
A nice scene invented for this version: Scrooge goes to church, and realizes that he doesn’t know the lyrics to “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” so he sneaks a look into the hymnal of the guy standing next to him.
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