Scrooge
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Movie Reviews of Scrooge
Movie Review: Scrooge
Summary: 5 Stars
I think we own all Scrooge and I never saw one I did not like including this DVD.Movie Review: An unusual but rewarding 1935 adaptation of the classic tale
Summary: 4 Stars
We true fans of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and the various film adaptations it has inspired tend to have pretty strong feelings when it comes to which version is best. The film starring Alistair Simms wins the vote of many, despite its sometimes rash departures from Dickens' original story, while the newer version starring George C. Scott has many of its own stalwart defenders - including me. I doubt that many fans would nominate 1935's Scrooge, starring Sir Seymour Hicks, as their all-time favorite, but it is definitely a respectable and immensely rewarding theatrical recreation of the story of Ebenezer Scrooge. Some of this film's obvious shortcomings are necessarily accounted for by the time of its creation,
Sir Seymour Hicks makes for a surly and unattractive incarnation of Mr. Scrooge, leading me to wonder just how convincing his eventual change of heart would be on the screen, but those final scenes play out wonderfully and erased any prior doubts I had up until that point as to the emotional power of the film. Heart-strings that have been pulled many times in the past were pulled yet again for this fan, making this a truly memorable version of Dickens' intimately familiar Christmas story.
You'll notice some definite peculiarities with this film. It's rather dark, for one thing - and not just in terms of the print; a few scenes seem to have soft touches of German expressionism woven into them. All of this is not surprising, given the date of production. I will admit that one scene, in which an unimportant character's head becomes momentarily transparent, borders on the weird, though. Don't expect a whole lot from Jacob Marley - upon his arrival, he announces that only Scrooge can see him. He isn't lying, as Marley's ghost is completely invisible here. The Ghost of Christmas Past is equally unimpressive, existing as sort of a hazy area of light. (The Ghost of Christmas Present appears in all his glory, however - albeit without a certain pair of disturbing children underneath his flowing robes.)
The film is basically pretty faithful to Dickens' story up until the appearance of the Ghost of Christmas Past. Many adaptations spend an inordinate amount of time in the past, but here the first haunting is over before you can say "Bah! Humbug!" There's almost no attempt to explore the path by which Scrooge became such an insufferable miser. The Ghost of Christmas Present takes a few odd detours in his journey with Scrooge, but the story of the Cratchits is told quite well. (I was a little bothered to see Scrooge's nephew belittling him unmercifully at his own Christmas celebration, though.) The look at Christmas Future plays out very well indeed, and then of course we have the aforementioned change of heart that transforms Scrooge into the merriest of men. That change of heart begins far too early, however - right after the very much abbreviated look at Christmas Past, in fact.
The film is a little uneven in its middle portions, and it adds a few needless scenes to the original story, but Seymour Hicks evidences a grand rebirth on Christmas morning, and a film that moved me very little early on proved itself more than capable of delivering a powerful and heart-touching ending. I feel safe in saying there are better adaptations of A Christmas Carol out there, but this early film is more than worth your time should you happen across it.
Movie Review: Creaky
Summary: 4 Stars
One of the older, but not the best, versions of Dickens's Christmas Carol on film. (Believe it or not, there are at least 18 versions of this Dickens work on film.) The atmosphere is right (bleak, dark, and shadowy), though some of that is due to the poor British film stock.
Sir Seymour Hicks is pretty good as the main character - he is most expressive with his eyes and hands, thanks to years spent on the stage and in silent movies. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast is rather dreary. For some odd reason the scene in the book where the three charity men visit Scrooge in his establishment to ask for money for the poor (and where Dickens gives Scrooge some of his wickedest lines) is omitted, replaced by a totally made-up scene involving a fancy ball with the Queen in attendance. A strange decision, whoever came up with that idea. This picture can't hold a candle to the 1951 version starring Alastair Sim, still the best Scrooge out there.
Movie Review: Best print you will probably ever see
Summary: 4 Stars
I own both the edited version Marengo DVD and complete 78 minute version Front Row DVD of this classic and I can say that this new release by Image Entertainment (from the Blackhawk Collection) is by far the best print available. Strangely, the Front Row DVD (while good) says that it is from the Blackhawk Films collection (not on the box but on an opening screen prior to the beginning of the film). However, this new Image Entertainment edition states on the box that the print is from the Blackhawk collection and it is clearly in much better shape than the Front Row release (as well as the Marengo release). So if you want the complete 78 minute version in the best quality to date, you need the Image Entertainment DVD. If you're more concerned about price you can usually find the (still complete but now out of print) Front Row DVD on eBay for only a few dollars.Movie Review: IMAGE VERSION ONLY-NO TO LEGEND!!!!!
Summary: 4 Stars
The Image version of "Scrooge" is the only decent release of the full-length version available. The only issue with the Image version seems to be with the transfer, as the dark scenes have a somewhat annoying picture quality. Regardless, there is not a better release out there. Stay away from Legend. Their so-called restorations are a joke, if not outright fraud. Why would anyone watch their edited version when a complete one is available(not to mention the despicable practice of colorizing films).