Scrooge (1951)

Everybody has their own favorite film adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol, and this just happens to be mine. Titled simply Scrooge, it starred the great Scottish character actor Alastair Sim as the vile Ebeneezer Scrooge. In fact, Alastair Sim is the very reason that I love this version of the story. While all of the other actors who have played Scrooge are very capable of portraying the hard, wrenching, grasping, covetous, old sinner, no one has ever managed to capture the happy, joyful, reformed Ebeneezer anywhere near as well as Sim did. So while the likes of Michael Cain, George C. Scott and Patrick Stewart can play mean Scrooge with ease, they simply are not believable as the happy Scrooge. In fact, George C. Scott looks like he's in pain every time he attempts to force a genuine smile across his face, and the outcome is rather scary. But when Alastair Sim smiles, his entire face lights up, and he beams joy and youthful exuberance as he tries to stand on his head, or sends the little boy to buy the goose for the Cratchets, or promises to raise Bob Cratchet's salary. His laughter bubbles out of him like a little child's. And it's infectious laughter. You can't help but smile and laugh yourself.

I'm not going to summarize the plot for you. There's really no need for that. Unless you've been living under a rock your entire life, you probably already know the story, how four ghosts haunt the miserly Scrooge on Christmas Eve, showing him his life as it was, as it is, and as it soon will be, how he devolved from a decent person to the wretch that he now is, and what effect he's had on those around him. Oh yes, we all know the story well enough. What makes one version better than another is not the story itself. You can't go wrong when you're starting with something so well written (although Bill Murray's updated version came close to murdering the original story). No, what makes one version good and another not so good lies in how the story is told, and director Brian Desmond Hurst sets the bar pretty high in his Scrooge. First of all, screen writer Noel Langley pared down the story so that it flows more quickly. Then Hurst films it in black-and-white, which is not only cheaper to use, but it also lends the movie a certain dreariness that is perfect for telling a ghost story. All of the sets are exquisitely done, and are true to mid-19th century England. Scrooge's quarters are heavily paneled and sparsely furnished, and the tiny fire on the grate does little to cheer or warm them. Watching him move about his rooms, you can almost feel the cold that the pitiful flames cannot drive out. In fact, the one sensation that pervades the entire movie is one of cold. The only times we really see or feel any warmth are when Scrooge is in the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Present, played wonderfully by Francis De Wolff.

In fact, all of the actors in Scrooge put in very fine performances. Mervyn Johns makes an excellent Bob Cratchet, and Hermione Baddeley is wonderful as his hot-tempered wife. Michael Horden portrays one of the best Jacob Marley's that I've ever seen, and a very young Patrick McNee is pretty good as the young Marley. But it's Alastair Sim's movie all the way through. Not that the other actors don't carry their own weight, but Sim simply steals the scene every moment that he's on camera, something that he was guilty of all through his career. It wasn't something that he set out to do, either; he just did it without even trying. With his great bald head, his bulging eyes, and his deep, ghoulish voice, Sim was forever out-shining more seasoned actors, sometimes stealing entire movies from them. His presence could make a bad movie good and a good movie better. Scrooge is an outstanding movie, and Sims is largely to credit for that. The only weak spots in the entire film are the fact that Tiny Tim is simply too big (almost as tall as his father) and the fact that they cut some of the greatest lines from the story. For instance, when Marley shrieks at Scrooge, "Mankind was my business! The common welfare was my business!" he leaves it right there. The entire line reads, "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business." As you can see, the entire line carries much more weight and would have improved the film substantially.

But these are minor critiques. Over all, Scrooge is an outstanding movie, and one that I'm sure you will enjoy. Scrooge is rated G and has a runtime of 86 minutes.