Scrooge
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Donald Calthrop, Garry Marsh, Mary Glynne, Robert Cochran, Seymour HicksBrand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 78 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-10-29
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Image Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Scrooge
Movie Review: The ORIGINAL Scrooge
Summary: 5 Stars
Having read nearly every review of every tape or film version of A Christmas Carol, I feel that it is about time someone stands up for the REAL Scrooge. The 1935 Seymour Hicks performance of Ebenezer is the very best one you will ever see. All the critical comment and conventional wisdom misses the seminal point that Sir Charles intended by his story; that the misery of Scrooge is at the very heart of inequality in society. And, by that standard, Seymour Hicks gave his character the most organic quality I have ever seen, to include a few stage performances.
However, while I firmly believe the Hicks version to be the best overall Scrooge, my sentimental favorite will forever be that with Reginald Owen playing the part of ole Ebenezer. Owens's job is the first one I saw as a child, and was the preferred version during all those years of my early youth, aired each year by a local Television station. From the infatuation with Alistair Sim's production far too many of us, including all the reviewers, forget that the Reginald Owen A Christmas Carol was the standard for us Boomers. Additionally, Owens's Scrooge had the happiest tone of them all - visually and emotionally. His version was simply breathtaking.
Being quite bored with hearing how Alistair Sim does the best job of bringing to life the miserable old coot, I say, "BAH, HUMBUG!" Sim was a skillful journeyman actor, and created a memorable version of Scrooge, but his portrayal is a far less substantial creation than that of the crusty, haggard, scoundrel of Hicks' handiwork. Seymour Hicks nails it, as those of us in Theatre would say. Hicks makes you believe he is Ebenezer Scrooge, which no other performance does so completely. Reginald Owen and Patrick Stewart both deliver close second place performances, but that said Hicks remains head and shoulders above either of these more modern classic versions.
So, if you are truly fond of A Christmas Carol, the restored 1935 Seymour Hicks version should be the one you watch every year, followed by Reginald Owens's. And, of course, no one should ever miss Bill Murray's Scrooged; but, that's another story.
Summary of Scrooge
Restored at last to its full length, this striking adaptation of Charles Dickens' holiday classic is notable not only for its beautiful story but also for superb performances, a vigorous script, excellent pacing, persuasive settings, costumes which utterly capture 1843 London, and impressive moving-camera photography with atmospheric lighting reminiscent of German expressionist cinema. Sir Seymour Hicks, an age-appropriate Scrooge, first played the role on screen in 1913 and delivers a first-class performance; he also co-authored the screenplay and inhabits Scrooge thoroughly, subtly and radiantly. The other characters are secondary but all impeccable, including Donald Calthrop (familiar from his roles in several of Alfred Hitchcock's British films), Maurice Evans, and rotund Oscar Asche as the unforgettably fruity Ghost of Christmas Present. Director Henry Edwards was honored for his work with a prize at the 1935 Venice Film Festival; also note the gifted hand of production supervisor John Brahm, a veteran of German theater and cinema and later director of other fine films including the similarly atmospheric "The Lodger." A wonderful film that would have made Charles Dickens proud!This British production of Dickens's Christmas Carol has been eclipsed by subsequent versions, but it stands on its own as a darkly atmospheric (if sometimes regrettably brisk) telling of the beloved tale. Even with the rough quality of existing prints, this Scrooge has a visual intensity that approaches the bold compositions of German expressionism. And in its central role it has a mostly forgotten star: Sir Seymour Hicks, one of the era's celebrated English stage actors. With his gnarled face and flyaway hair, Hicks looks every inch the mean old misanthrope, and his cruelty has a realistic quality missing in some of the more stylized interpreters of the role. Hicks had played Scrooge many times on stage (and before in silent film), and he gets the tenor of every "Humbug!" just right. As a bandy-legged Bob Cratchit, Donald Calthorp is a perfect Victorian illustration come to grinning life. --Robert Horton
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