The Alistair Sims version, hands down. It’s just so classic, so perfect in every way. I was so disappointed one Christmas when this version wasn’t on TV, the following year my family gave me the DVD for a present.
My husband enjoys it too, mostly, but especially the Christmas morning part. And the next day when he tells Cratchit to go buy more coal: “You **do **that, Bob Cratchit, before you dot another ‘i’…” If either of us announces the intention to do something – wash the dishes, get the mail, whatever – the other may very likely say, “You **do **that, Bob Cratchit…”
Can’t really choose a clear favorite. All the classics menti0ned have their strong point but I do separate out Scrooged for the different treatment of the story and Carol Kane in particular for the best Ghost Of Christmas Present ever.
Dickens writes that Scrooge said this “indignantly”, not “with humorous depravity.” I’ll go with Dickens.
Sim believes he’s right, too, until the spirits come to him.
Again, so does Sim. But Scott thinks he’s right almost completely. That’s why I don’t believe his redemption. He never comes to a full realization of how horrible a person he is. At the end he believes it’s purely his determination that redeems him. Sim knows it’s at least Mercy and his total humbling.
It may be an excellent portrayal, but not of Scrooge.
I hope you’re not including Roger Rees’s wooden performance.
The Scott version clearly based Scott’s look on Cornelius Vanderbilt. I remember thinking when it first premiered that it’d be interesting if they just went full on American robber baron with it.
For a straight filmed version I like the Scott version best.
For a “redone” version, it’s Bill Murray’s Scrooged.
As a kid I loved the Mr. Magoo version, but I haven’t seen it since then. I should find out if it’s on DVD. I can still recall the line “All I got was his sheets” and the song that goes with it.
Does anybody remember a late 70s or early 80s rendition starring Henry Winkler as an american Scrooge? Very good adaptation, but seems to have been forgotten about.
Also, I’ll plug the Doctor Who “Christmas Carol.” It’s the only one with flying sharks!
I really do love the flying shark Dr Who version, and the 1930s version. I think Ill see if netflix has both and give them a watch, it is 93 out, no idea what the heat index is but the poor 5000 btu ac is struggling to cool a 9x12 room
I have to chime in with Muppets - I own it and watch it every year, at least a couple of times. I always sing along.
For the live-action human versions, I’ve only seen the Reginald Owen version, the George C. Scott version, and the Patrick Stewart version. I liked the Patrick Stewart one very much, but I think I like the Owen one better simply because that’s the one I remember seeing growing up.
I’ve never seen the Sim version, or the Finney one, or some of the others on the Wiki list, and now have a list of versions to watch during the holidays.
Has anyone else seen Karroll’s Christmas? It was a made for TV version, I think it was A&E who aired it.
It’s classic… Verne Troyer as one of the ghosts and Wallace Shawn (“Inconceivable!”) as the Scrooge-figure? Great stuff. I haven’t seen it on TV for several years, and I don’t know if it’s on DVD. All I have is a crappy VHS recording where the power went out in the middle… sigh.
I am not a xmas-in-July fan. I don’t even want to think about it. That’s why I never opened this thread.
But if it were to appear very late in November–after Thanksgiving–or in the early part of December, “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” is definitely what I’d say.
I haven’t seen it on TV for several years, and I don’t know if it’s on DVD. All I have is a crappy VHS recording where the power went out in the middle… sigh.
