Just a quick tribute to one of my most treasured Christmas memories. The story of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I grew up watching so many different versions of this movie. It's one of those movies that every production company has had a hand in making a version of over the years and they still do it over and over to this day. At one point I could've said that I'd seen nearly all of them. Of course I haven't. There are still silent era versions I haven't seen. I also have never watched the "Lifetime" versions that gender swap the characters. I'm sure they're fine... after all it's the same story, but a lot of them weren't made until I was in the transitional phase of adulthood and wasn't really interested in anything new and different. And it's hard to compete with the classics. However, there are some modern incarnations that make my list of favorites too. I'm just going to list the ones that shaped my childhood and that I discovered later on that have become favorites as well.
This is a clip from the movie Scrooge made in 1935. It's been colorized, obviously. The Scrooge in this movie was Seymour Hicks. I didn't read the book until I was an adult because I hated reading as a kid and even though I don't care for most Dickens stuff, I wanted to read this one for reference. This early version of A Christmas Carol with Seymour Hicks was very short, as the story is a short one, and seems to hold truer to the story, making Scrooge more penitent with each spirit instead of contentious to the end. This is my least favorite of the movies... it was very dark in the black and white version and hard to watch.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find a video clip from this clip that featured the Scrooge character played by Reginald Owen. This is A Christmas Carol from 1938. This was my favorite as a kid. Looking back on it, it probably shouldn't have been with a fat, jolly Bob Crachit and a grandfatherly looking Scrooge, but it had the best flow of the old time movies. It took some license with the book. Most of them do, and I gotta say I'm okay with it because the book was very short and concise. What always interested me the most was the Ghost of Christmas past. It changed from man to woman frequently because its gender was never defined in the book.
1951, Alastair Sim, A Christmas Carol. I admit I didn't like him because of his looks. In fact, all of the actors were terribly ugly. But looking back on it, it seems appropriate to the story. And this is the one that is playing on the television in the movie Lethal Weapon, so you have to give it credit for staying power over the years.
There were several animated versions of this story, but the only one I remember catching growing up is this one from 1982. I loved it dearly, though I don't know any of the voices. Obviously, as a small child I preferred this to the movies most of the time and it's probably the first version I ever saw.
Another one often seen growing up was the 1984 A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott. I didn't like this one growing up because of his cold demeanor, although looking back on it, I can say the acting was much better than the melodrama so common with the old versions. I also wasn't interested in the license they took with this one. It focused heavily on his shady business dealings and as a young girl, it bored me. Now, of course, I can appreciate it, but back then I usually started drawing when mother would get this one out.
Lastly in the list of the "serious versions" of A Christmas Carol is the one from 1999 which I didn't see until a couple of years ago. Of course, you know I couldn't miss the one with Patrick Stewart as Scrooge, and I loved it very much. Very much in the old school with superb acting and it's one of the few versions that leaves in the part about Scrooge's possessions being sold after his death which is one of my favorite parts of the story, though it wasn't often portrayed. It's hard to buy Picard as a bad guy of any kind (he'll always be Picard!), but Stewart does a pretty good job. I'll have to watch this one again this year.
Now I get into the deviations and comedies that I love. An American Christmas Carol from 1979 is a "serious" version of the story that is set in Depression era America. I didn't like this one growing up because I quite frankly didn't get it. I wasn't a lover of history back then, and I didn't understand the creativity of what I was seeing at the time. I watched it again for the first time in many years a while back and I have to say I really like this one now. I recommending for anyone who is interested in alternate versions of A Christmas Carol.
This is Scrooge with Albert Finney from 1970. This one has become my all time favorite version. I shamelessly love musicals and although there aren't too many catchy songs in this one, I still love the direction they took the story. License had to be taken for the big production numbers and they are wonderful and moving and comical and none of the others compare to this one. It has my heart.
Finally, the comedies. This is where I break ranks with my family growing up. Most of them never had the same sense of humor as me and I may never have seen this one except my mother did like it too. I loved this one as a kid and I still love it now even though I haven't seen it in many, many years. Rich Little's Christmas Carol. He did all the parts as caricatures of different celebrities.... a W.C. Fields Scrooge...a Paul Lynde Crachit. This always had me rolling in the floor even before I understood all of the jokes and the impressions. One of my very favorites from my childhood.
Scrooged, 1988. I didn't see this one till I was out of the house due to my differing sense of humor, lol. This is also a great comedy version of A Christmas Carol. It takes place in modern times America with different names like American Christmas Carol. I loved Bill Murray before his movies started getting weird (which was around the time of Steve Zissou) He's a tremendous actor, vastly underrated, and this is actually one of the most powerfully moving versions ever which perfectly blended outrageous comedy with a lot of heart.
A couple of obscure ones now... first - Beavis and Butthead Do Christmas, 1995... Yes, I watched them! If you never watched the show it won't even make sense much less be funny, but I always loved it. In the Christmas show, Butthead is taken through the plot of It's A Wonderful Life and Beavis through A Christmas Carol. Neither of them learn anything and return to being total losers.
Blackadder's Christmas Special, 1988. I love Blackadder so much more than Mr. Bean! The concept is turned backwards as the Victorian era Blackadder is a nice guy. When the ghosts show him his evil past lives it inspires him to become a jerk like all the previous Blackadders. Funny, funny stuff! Again, you'd need to be familiar with the series to really enjoy it though.
So, that's my Christmas Carol experience. I can't think of any I've missed offhand. I may have seen others that just haven't stood out to me like these have. Merry Christmas! God bless us, every one!
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