# The Best Scrooge **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 9, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019 "2017-12-09T14:34:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/1 "2017-12-09T14:34:00Z")
Ebenezer Scrooge has been portrayed scores of times in film, radio, and television, either as Ebenezer Scrooge, the character from _A Christmas Carol_, or a ‘Scrooge-esque’ character in a retelling. To keep things simple for the poll, I’ve chosen six actors from the films most of us know. Which actor played Scrooge the best? ---
**Author:** ![PlumBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@PlumBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlumBob)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/2 "2017-12-09T15:00:04Z")
Bill Murray? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/3 "2017-12-09T15:02:20Z")
> [@PlumBob](#): > > Bill Murray? Not on the list of options. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/4 "2017-12-09T15:18:53Z")
I voted “fraud” in protest of a poll that doesn’t include Murray, Quincy Magoo, and Starlight Glimmer. However, I do have to give you props for not including Jim Carrey. The world would be a better place if nothing included Jim Carrey. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/5 "2017-12-09T15:25:28Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I voted “fraud” in protest of a poll that doesn’t include Murray, Quincy Magoo, and Starlight Glimmer. However, I do have to give you props for not including Jim Carrey. The world would be a better place if nothing included Jim Carrey. Bill Murray didn’t play Ebenezer Scrooge. As I said, there are about 80 versions of _A Christmas Carol_ in various media, most of which ‘nobody has heard of’. The films chosen are, well, _films_ (as opposed to plays, radio plays, Christmas episodes of TV shows, etc.), and are the better-known/best-known productions. Hey, at least I offered ‘Humbug’ as an option! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Das\_Glasperlenspiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/das_glasperlenspiel/32/2944_2.png) [@Das\_Glasperlenspiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Das_Glasperlenspiel)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/6 "2017-12-09T15:26:16Z")
Alastair Sim, without a doubt. Watched it again last night. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/7 "2017-12-09T15:26:31Z")
I voted Sim, but where is Michael Caine? He was nearly as good (and was probably influenced by Sim). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/8 "2017-12-09T15:27:05Z")
> [@Das\_Glasperlenspiel](#): > > Alastair Sim, without a doubt. I’d say he’s the second-best Scrooge. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/9 "2017-12-09T15:29:19Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I voted Sim, but where is Michael Caine? He was nearly as good (and was probably influenced by Sim). If he was _nearly_ as good as Sim, then you wouldn’t have voted for him anyway. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/10 "2017-12-09T16:05:19Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Bill Murray didn’t play Ebenezer Scrooge. > > … > > Hey, at least I offered ‘Humbug’ as an option! I’ll use the humbug option and vote Murray anyway. 😃 Names aside, he certainly played the character of Scrooge. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/11 "2017-12-09T16:11:23Z")
Reginald Owen, the best Scrooge. It is also the best movie version. The Alistair Sims version is highly overrated, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/12 "2017-12-09T16:12:26Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Bill Murray didn’t play Ebenezer Scrooge. But you also said “or a ‘Scrooge-esque’ character in a retelling.” You then didn’t go on to say that “Scrooge-esque characters” don’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/13 "2017-12-09T16:20:35Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > But you also said “or a ‘Scrooge-esque’ character in a retelling.” You then didn’t go on to say that “Scrooge-esque characters” don’t count. I thought that was implied. (And the thread title is ‘The Best Scrooge’. 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/14 "2017-12-09T16:25:14Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I voted Sim, but where is Michael Caine? He was nearly as good (and was probably influenced by Sim). Yes, he’s great. My kids are watching it right now. It also might be the best Christmas Carol movie. It both capture the story and has a lot of fun doing so. It may be very silly of me to think it, but I think Dickens would have loved this movie. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/15 "2017-12-09T16:35:45Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I thought that was implied. (And the thread title is ‘The Best Scrooge’. 😉 ) I love you, Johnny, but that’s weak. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/16 "2017-12-09T16:41:13Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Reginald Owen, the best Scrooge. It is also the best movie version. The Alistair Sims version is highly overrated, in my opinion. I agree with this post completely, except you misspelled George C. Scott in the first sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/17 "2017-12-09T16:56:36Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I agree with this post completely, except you misspelled George C. Scott in the first sentence. I voted for Scott. All of the other versions in the poll are portrayed as being mean for the sake of being mean. We watched the 1935 version last night, and they did show Belle, but for the most part the versions show Scrooge as a bitter old bastard without any real context. George C. Scott plays Scrooge with a certain glee that is missing from the others. The line about boiling people in their own pudding stands out especially. And unlike versions where Scrooge ‘sees the light’ almost immediately, we get to see Scott’s Scrooge evolve. In the 1984 version, Scrooge seems more like a real person. The 1984 version also has the best Ghost of Christmas Present. Edward Woodward delivers a couple of lines especially well. (‘It’s all Bob Cratchit can afford!’) Overall, I like the 1984 version the best. But some of the characters are even bigger ‘geese’ than the same characters in other versions. Incidentally, the worst Ghost of Christmas Present is in Hicks’s [1935 version](https://carensclassiccinema.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/scrooge-7.jpg?w=584&h=329). He doesn’t seem very merry. The creepiest Tiny Tim was in the [1938 version](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PXh4Z6GTx50/hqdefault.jpg), though the [1984 version](http://www.cedmagic.com/featured/christmas-carol/1984-xmas-tiny-tim.jpg) has a disturbing look as well. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/18 "2017-12-09T17:24:42Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > . . . Quincy Magoo . . . > [@RealityChuck](#): > > I voted Sim, but where is Michael Caine? . . . If Magoo had been on the list, he’d have gotten my vote. Caine was also darn good, and certainly better than Scott. Stewart does a good audio version, but not a very good video production. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/19 "2017-12-09T18:16:03Z")
I can’t vote as I have never seen any of the mentioned versions. I’m probably an anomaly. My first thought was Bill Murray, then Scrooge McDuck, then Rowan Atkinson. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019/20 "2017-12-09T18:23:54Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I voted for Scott. All of the other versions in the poll are portrayed as being mean for the sake of being mean. We watched the 1935 version last night, and they did show Belle, but for the most part the versions show Scrooge as a bitter old bastard without any real context. George C. Scott plays Scrooge with a certain glee that is missing from the others. The line about boiling people in their own pudding stands out especially. And unlike versions where Scrooge ‘sees the light’ almost immediately, we get to see Scott’s Scrooge evolve. In the 1984 version, Scrooge seems more like a real person. > > The 1984 version also has the best Ghost of Christmas Present. Edward Woodward delivers a couple of lines especially well. (‘It’s all Bob Cratchit can afford!’) Overall, I like the 1984 version the best. But some of the characters are even bigger ‘geese’ than the same characters in other versions. > > Incidentally, the worst Ghost of Christmas Present is in Hicks’s [1935 version](https://carensclassiccinema.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/scrooge-7.jpg?w=584&h=329). He doesn’t seem very merry. The creepiest Tiny Tim was in the [1938 version](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PXh4Z6GTx50/hqdefault.jpg), though the [1984 version](http://www.cedmagic.com/featured/christmas-carol/1984-xmas-tiny-tim.jpg) has a disturbing look as well. And the absolute best Marley. “MANKIND WAS MY BUSINESS!!” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-scrooge/804019.md?page=2)