No, I ain’t talkin’ music, but if you want to sing anyway, I won’t stop you.
I am quite fond of Charles Dickens’ story, “A Christmas Carol”. I own 11 or 12 versions of this story on tape (VHS)* and I even have a copy of the book, illustrated by Greg Hildebrandt.
I love that story.
The question is, which cinema version do you like the best? Which one do you think is a real stinker? Be honest. I’ll go first:
Best straightforward version: 1951 version starring Alastair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge.
I like this one the most of any version. Scrooge is a more believable character throughout this production. He isn’t evil just because he likes being evil. He’s bad simply because he’s so deeply absorbed in his own business that he has forgotten the value of anything that does not directly impinge upon it.
Unlike many versions of this story, Scrooge doesn’t suddenly reform right at the end of the movie. Rather, almost from the very first visit of the Spirits he begins, bit by bit, to awaken to the richness of life he sacrificed on the altar of financial gain. What’s more, like any of us when made aware of our more odious habits, he initially resists, attempting to defend and rationialize what he’s become. He then gradually starts admitting he’d been wrong, but still drags his feet (“I’m too old to change”). The outcome (even if you know the story) is in doubt right until the last moment.
At the end of the movie, Scrooge does what he can to make amends, and shows true regret for all the opportunities he’s lost and the harm he’s done. Other versions simply have him hand cash to people he’s hurt, and they immediately smile and forgive him for being the unfeeling old s-o-b he was earlier in the movie.
This version of “A Christmas Carol” is not a simplistic movie about how being rich is bad in and of itself. It illustrates how one man’s pursuit of wealth has blinded him to, and cut him off from all the riches that money can’t buy. It’s less a parable of the evils of wealth than it is a story of redemtion. It’s not about changing a bad man into a good man, but how a man, lost and isolated from his fellow human beings, is brought back into the circle of human interaction.
A lot of people know this one as “The Original Version”, but there were many others produced before and after this one. While it doesn’t utilize every element of the book, it’s true to the spirit of the story.
Favorite scenes (two of many):[ul]When scrooge leaves his counting house to go home, a blind beggar’s dog sees him coming and almost yanks his master off his feet in his rush to get him out of scrooge’s path.
The morning of Scrooge’s redemtion, when his excitement at having changed before it’s too late, convinces his housekeeper, Mrs. Dilber that he’s gone mad.[/ul]I’m not the only one who thinks this is the best film version of this story. Check out the user comments at IMDB.
~~Baloo
*A Christmas Carol, (1951) (Alistair Sim)
A Flintstones Christmas Carol, (1994)
Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)
Bugs Bunny’s Christmas Carol (1979)
An American Christmas Carol (1979) (Henry Winkler – not a bad flick)
A Christmas Carol (1984) (George C. Scott)
Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol (1962) (Surprisingly true to the story for an animated adaption)
Muppet Christmas Carol, The (1992) (Michael Caine – superbly entertaining, respects the original without adhering on all points)
Scrooge (1970) (Albert Finney – excellent musical adaption)
Scrooge (1935)(Sir Seymour Hicks – only an hour long, but good despite this limitation)
A Christmas Carol, (1936) (Reginald Owen)
[sub]Okay, so it’s eleven. I still like the story.[/sub]
