Tag: A Christmas Carol

I Am Very Sorry, Sir, Said Bob.  I Am Behind My Time

photog Life in Dunwich, photog's Corner ,

“But he was early at the office next morning. Oh, he was early there. If he could only be there first, and catch Bob Cratchit coming late! That was the thing he had set his heart upon.  And he did it; yes, he did! The clock struck nine. No Bob. A quarter past. No Bob. He was full eighteen minutes and a half behind his time. Scrooge sat with his door wide open, that he might see him come into the Tank.  His hat was off, before he opened the door; his comforter too. He was on his stool in a jiffy; driving away with his pen, as if he were trying to overtake nine o’clock.

“Hallo!” growled Scrooge, in his accustomed voice, as near as he could feign it. “What do you mean by coming here at this time of day?”  “I am very sorry, sir,” said Bob. “I am behind my time.”  “You are?” repeated Scrooge. “Yes. I think you are.  Step this way, sir, if you please.”  “It’s only once a year, sir,” pleaded Bob, appearing from the Tank. “It shall not be repeated. I was making rather merry yesterday, sir.”  “Now, I’ll tell you what, my friend,” said Scrooge, “I am not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. And therefore,” he continued, leaping from his stool, and giving Bob such a dig in the waistcoat that he staggered back into the Tank again; “and therefore I am about to raise your salary!”

Bob trembled, and got a little nearer to the ruler. He had a momentary idea of knocking Scrooge down with it,

holding him, and calling to the people in the court for help and a strait-waistcoat.  “A merry Christmas, Bob!” said Scrooge, with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. “A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you, for many a year! I’ll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob! Make up the fires, and buy another coal-scuttle before you dot another i, Bob Cratchit!””

Like poor Mr. Cratchit I was making rather merry last night at Christmas and just didn’t have the time or the mental clarity to write my post in time for the 5 a.m. deadline.  So with Bob as my exemplar I’ll plead, “I am very sorry.  I am behind my time.  It’s only once a year.  It shall not be repeated. I was making rather merry yesterday.”

And I was.  Camera Girl outdid herself in providing enormous quantities of delicious food and ridiculously rich desserts.  I probably gained five pounds in a single day and will have to fast for a week to return my system to equilibrium.  But it was a gathering of my descendants and it was merry.  And in imitation of Dickens I’ll say,

“God bless Us, Every One!”

You Were Always a Good Friend to Me

photog Literature, Movie Reviews, Reviews, Science Fiction / Fantasy, SF&F Movie Reviews , , , , , ,

As all who have followed my website know I’m a connoisseur of the various film versions of Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol.”  And I’ve opined before that the premiere version of the Ghost of Jacob Marley is Frank Finlay’s portrayal in the 1984 version with George C Scott as Scrooge.

Here is the whole scene:

Now, why do I say it’s best?  Technical presentation?  Acting ability?  Faithfulness to the book?  Emotional impact?  Actually, all of the above.  In all aspects of the scene this version is head and shoulders above all the rest.

The makeup on the ghost is wonderful as are his costume and the pattern and details of his fetters.  Even his eyes appear to be those of a dead man.  Finlay’s reading of the lines is masterful and the emotions he provides are wonderfully potent.  And the lines selected are the best selection from any of the versions out there.  And the climax of his performance is his outrage when Scrooge tells him, “But you were always a good man of business, Jacob.”

Marley howls, “Business!” 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!”

This one speech is easily seen as the reason for the whole story.  We see the partners face to face and we see what Scrooge cannot.  Marley was what Scrooge is; a terrible human being who cared not at all for his fellow creatures, their pain and suffering.  But death and judgement have taught him the error of his ways and in his shame and penitence he wants to save his old partner from himself.

And because he was as Scrooge is, he selects the instruments that have the best chance of reaching into Scrooge’s heart and mind and shaking him out of his evil habits and awaken in him the knowledge that the most precious treasure on this Earth is the chance to use our time to comfort those around us and recognize the kinship we all should have.

So those are the main points.  But even small bits contribute to this “Marley.”  When the ghost appears Scrooge demands to know what it wants of him.  Untying the funeral kerchief from around his head, his bottom jaw drops wide open with a loud clicking noise to indicate that he is a corpse.  Only once his mouth is unbound can he answer. “Much!”

So, yes.  This is the best Marley.  And George C Scott provides a fitting foil for Marley’s mission.  He is suitably impenitent and uninterested in Marley’s gift of potential reclamation.  When told of the three separate spiritual visits he asks Marley if they could all come at once and save time.  All in all, he is completely undeserving of Marley’s gift.  But as we shall see the scope of the gift that Marley procured manages to finally break through Scrooge’s shell of callousness.

Well done Jacob Marley.

Every One

photog Movie Reviews, Reviews , , , ,

This is a great time of the year.  I allow myself to watch the various holiday movies whenever the mood strikes me.  I’ve already watched four versions of, “A Christmas Carol” this week and I’m bound to add materially to that number very soon.

Now, in my opinion, the top three versions are the 1938 MGM version with Reginald Owen as Scrooge; the 1951 English production with Alastair Sim as the miser and finally the 1984 version starring George C. Scott as the awful old man.  Each one has its strengths and weaknesses.  But each one manages to provide the catharsis that is the reason for the story.  We get to see Scrooge start out as the victim of a father who blames his son for his wife’s death in childbirth and then the son becomes this misanthrope who punishes everyone around him for revenge.

And along the way we get to see the beauty and joy that Scrooge’s friends and relatives create during their Christmas celebrations; Bob Cratchit and his poor family gather around the tiny Christmas dinner that Scrooge’s pathetic wages afford and rejoice at their day of celebration and family warmth.  Scrooge’s nephew; Fred entertains his friends and even manages to toast Scrooge’s health despite his knowledge that the old man despises him for his generosity and kindness.

As ever I find the 1984 version has the best Jacob Marley scenes.  The 1951 film does the best job chronicling Scrooge’s career with Fezziwig and his subsequent turn toward miserly misanthropy.  And in this presentation, it strays into territory not covered in Dickens’ story.  A subplot emerges where Scrooge’s beloved sister Fan dies after giving birth to her son Fred.  This is given as the origin of Scrooge’s hatred for Fred.  But in the film the Ghost of Christmas Past allows Scrooge to hear his sister’s dying words.  She begs Scrooge to take care of her boy (Fred).  Hearing these words that he’d missed in real-life, Scrooge is wracked with guilt and remorse.

The 1938 version, I believe, has the best portrayal of the Cratchit family.  And in point of fact the actor who plays Bob Cratchit, Gene Lockhart has his real-life wife playing Mrs. Cratchit and his real-life daughter; June Lockhart as one of the younger Cratchit children.  Now, when I say best portrayal, I’m not implying that the acting is better than in the other two versions.  In fact, I think the other two versions have fine actors and stay much closer to Dickens’ text.  But the longer screen time given to the Cratchit family in this version provides a warmer feeling and gladdens the heart of the viewer to watch it.

So then, who is the best Scrooge?  Well, I can’t answer that.  The best I can do is to bring it down to a choice between Alistair Sim and George C. Scott.  And choosing between them is only a matter of what mood I find myself in that day.  I will add that of late I think the George C. Scott mood finds me more often but I have to say at this time of the rolling year I want to have all three DVDs available for whatever mood I find myself in.

And as Tiny Tim observed, “God bless us, everyone.”

Christmas Movie Time

photog Current Events, Movie Reviews, OCF Classic Movie Reviews, Reviews , , , , ,

Here it is two days before Christmas and I’ve already eaten so many cookies that I feel like a drunk in the middle of a four-day bender.  Well, there’s no avoiding the excesses.  Camera Girl is fiendish in her strategies to kill me with food.  She should hide these evil foods somewhere far away.  Instead, she lays them out all over the kitchen where even a man with a will of iron must succumb.  I’ve kept up my exercise regimen as best I can but exercise deals in hundreds of calories while pastries are measured in the thousands.  The pain, the pain.

Yesterday I watched, “It’s a Wonderful Life” in its entirety.  That’s something I haven’t done in at least fifteen years.  Many years ago, I overdosed on it.  I watched it too many times and it became played out.  But yesterday I found it fresh and enjoyable.  Of course, every scene in the movie was extremely familiar down to the slightest word and even gesture of the actors.  But I was able to appreciate just how fine the acting and directing was.  And as highly emotional as the ending of the movie obviously is I wasn’t put off at all by it.  Maybe this American Christmas Carol is fitting for the time and place we live in.  Maybe people are ready to hope for miracles again.  It’s certainly true that we need a few of them.  I’m not going to claim that heaven interceded and put Donald Trump in the White House instead of Kamala Harris.  At best maybe a divine force kept him from intersecting with that bullet that grazed his ear.  I’m afraid that heaven is not going to let us off the hook for the situation we find ourselves in.  But maybe we are being given a chance to straighten things out on our own.  The headaches that will entail are already beginning to emerge.  Well, we’ll leave the future to next year for now.

Today it was time to begin my annual “Christmas Carol” viewing experience.  I chose the George C Scott version.  And it did not disappoint.  Marley’s ghost, the Cratchit Christmas dinner and the final scene in Scrooge’s office provide all the correct notes to ensure my approval.  And as always Tiny Tim is pathetically frail and impossibly uncomplaining.  I noted to Camera Girl at the appropriate moment that Mrs. Cratchit’s railing against Scrooge during the toast moment was pitch perfect.  I could imagine and probably have heard equivalent protest from Camera Girl when some acquaintance of ours overstepped the bounds of propriety according to Camera Girl’s standards.  She does have a highly developed sense of outrage, especially when she decides that I will have to be the one to enforce it.  Women have that propensity.  Bless them.

Well, time is running out.  I’ll have to fit in the Alistair Sim and Reginald Owen versions in tomorrow.  That should be doable but I don’t think I’ll be able to get through “The Holly and Ivy” tomorrow.  Well, that can wait till Christmas Eve morning.  Christmas Eve and Christmas will be full days and I am not sure what my posting will be like.  The quotes and the photos are all pre-scheduled but my patented rants are a daily chore so I’ll have to do the best I can to put together something fitting.  We’ll have to see how that goes.  But Christmas week is here and away we go.

A Biden Carol (Part 4)

photog Biden Humor, Current Events, Humor , ,

Scene 1 – White House Residence / 3 a.m.

Biden – What a horrible dream.  All those filthy murderous bums kicking me and spitting on me and other things.  And after all I’ve done for them.  Making it easy for them to get fentanyl.  They should be thanking me!  Well, this is the last ghost.  This should be easy.  I’ll just tell him I’ve seen the light and I’ll get another chance.  I’ll use the old shmooze.

Ghost of Biden Yet to Come – Hello Joe.

Biden – Why aren’t you dressed up as Death?  Where’s your hooded cloak?

Ghost of Biden Yet to Come – We’ve moved ahead with the times.  The “Yet to Come” function is now handled by a clinical team.  If you’ll step this way, we’ll begin your appointment with a scan.  Lay down on the table and we’ll crank up the power.

Biden – Will it hurt?

Ghost of Biden Yet to Come – Well let’s say you’ll notice a tingling.

Biden – Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Tingling?

Ghost of Biden Yet to Come – Well, maybe a strong tingling.  But it’s done.

Biden – What did you find out?

Ghost of Biden Yet to Come – We were able to see your future.  You serve out a second term and after your death you are buried in a grand mausoleum close to the Jefferson Memorial.

Biden – Hey that sounds pretty good.

Ghost of Biden Yet to Come – But two years later all of the green energy infrastructure begins to fail and millions of people freeze to death during an extremely cold winter.  A million-man march descends on Washington and tears your monument down and drags your body down to the Capitol and uses it like a pinata until there isn’t much left.

Biden – Well, that’s not so good.  Are you sure about that?

Ghost of Biden Yet to Come – Yeah, the video was very clear.  Would you like to review it?

Biden – No.  I’ll take your word.  Look, this sounds really bad.  Maybe I can mend my ways.  Can’t I try to fix things?

Ghost of Biden Yet to Come – Normally we’d try to come up with a remediation plan.  And help you to stick by it.  But we did a search for your soul.  And it’s the darnedest thing, but it’s not there.  Over the course of decades, it’s completely evaporated.  So really there’s no point.

Biden – But how can I have no soul?  I’m human.  I’m alive.  I must have a soul.

Ghost of Biden Yet to Come – As best we can figure, you’re working strictly by reflexes.  It’s pretty remarkable.  For instance, your ability to make up lies is unprecedented for someone who’s not even really there anymore.  But in terms of redemption, without a soul the concept has no meaning.

Biden – But what’s going to happen to me after death.

Ghost of Biden Yet to Come – There have been cases like this in the past.  After your body dies, your soul will recondense and quickly end up in its appropriate home.

Biden – Do you know where that will be?

Ghost of Biden Yet to Come – You’re kidding right?

Biden – Well, you never know.  Accidents happen right?

Ghost of Biden Yet to Come – I’d pack for warm weather if I were you.  Bye Joe.

Exit

A Biden Carol (Part 3)

photog Biden Humor, Current Events, Humor, Trump , , ,

Scene 1 – White House Residence / 2 a.m.

Biden – Holy Crap!  I think this thing is for real.  They know everything I’ve done and why I did it.  My only hope is to win the 2024 election and win over the American people.  I know.  I’ll say all that MAGA stuff.  The rubes eat that up.  All I’ve got to do is freshen up my “Scranton Joe” act and I’ll be back on easy street.

Ghost of Biden Present – That’s what you think.

Biden – Donald Trump?  What are you doing here?  I thought I was going to meet the Ghost of Biden Present.

Ghost of Biden Present – I’m here because I’m going to be the Ghost of Biden Present.

Biden – Oh come on man!  That’s not fair!

Ghost of Biden Present – Why would a crooked rat like you get treated fair?  I got the job because I told them I’d twist the knife every chance I got.  Believe me when I say no one is looking to help you, Joe.  The only friends you’ve got are paid and that doesn’t exactly guarantee loyalty.

Biden – Look Donald.  None of that stuff we’ve been doing to you is personal.  Garland is just following the law.  It’s completely by the books.

Ghost of Biden Present – Don’t waste your time.  I’m here to show you what people really think of you.

Biden – Well, that’s all just a partisan exercise.  Your voters are against me and mine are for me.

Ghost of Biden Present – You haven’t been paying attention to the polls or the social media sites.  You’re about as popular a herpes.

Biden – Which kind?

Ghost of Biden Present – Both.  Even the 25% of people who say they’ll vote for you are holding their noses to do it.

Biden – I don’t believe you.  There are millions of Americans who love and trust “good old uncle Joe.”

Ghost of Biden Present – Well, we’re going to go out tonight and let you talk to the people.

Biden – Should I hold onto your sleeve and we’ll be whisked along through the air?

Ghost of Biden Present – No we’re taking the front door and walking down Pennsylvania Avenue.

(Exit)

 

Scene 2 – Washington D.C.

 

Biden – What are all these homeless encampments doing in the capitol of the greatest country on Earth?

Ghost of Biden Present – You put them there, numb nuts.  These are all the people who’ve been displaced since you opened up the border and let illegal immigrants and fentanyl flood the country.

Biden – My border policy is smart, humane and very popular with the American people.

Ghost of Biden Present – Really?  Let’s test out your theory.

(Trump whistles loudly on his fingers and addresses the crowd.)

Hey folks, here’s “President” Biden.  He wants to get your opinions on his border policy.

Random Homeless Man – It’s really him.  Let’s get him!

Biden – (As he’s being dragged away by his heels  and kicked in the head and ribs by the murderous crowd)

Donald, Donald don’t leave me here.  Get me out of here before they murder me.  How can I learn my lesson if I’m dead.

Ghost of Biden Present – Don’t worry Joe.  You can’t be killed in this little demonstration.

Biden – What do you mean?  Those kicks hurt!

Ghost of Biden Present – No the beating will hurt like a bastard for sure.  But you won’t die.  That way it can go on for a very long time.  I’ll see you later Joey, much later.

Biden – Help Trump, help!  Don’t leave me here!

Folks, ouch, we’ll build back better together, ow, Bidenomics is making this the most robust economy in the world, ah, the green economy is lifting all boats, Ahhhhhhhhhh!

(Exit)

A Biden Carol (Part 2)

photog Biden Humor, Current Events, Humor, Trump , , ,

Scene 1 – White House Residence / 1 a.m.

Biden – I really must be cracking up.  What a horrible nightmare that was.  And I’m not even in bed.  C’mon Joe.  Snap out of it.  It must have been the Adderall wearing off.  Get a grip.  What’s that light I see glowing before my eyes?

Ghost of Biden Past – I am the Ghost of Biden Past.

Biden – Is that really a thing?

Ghost of Biden Past – No, I’m just the guy who got stuck with this gig.  But work with me here.  We’re trying to line this thing up with Dickens.

Biden – Sure, sure.  Are you going to show me all the things in my past that I should feel gratitude about and help me to be a better man?

Ghost of Biden Past – No, that ship has sailed, hit an iceberg and sunk to the bottom of the ocean.  I’m here to remind you of all the horrible stuff you’ve done so that it’s crystal clear why the perpetual gruesome agony you are slated for will be completely justified.

Biden – Wow!  No partial credit for that time I saved that amphibious lander when I shot down the Japanese Zero back in dubya, dubya two?

Ghost of Biden Past – Joe, you were born in 1942.

Biden – Oh, right.  I must be thinking of my service in Viet Nam.

Ghost of Biden Past – No you dodged the draft for Viet Nam.

Biden – So you’re not gonna work with me here.

Ghost of Biden Past – Work with you?  I’m rooting for you to get the perpetual wood chipper option.  In fact, I’ve got fifty bucks on it in the office pool.

Biden – Surely all that good work I did while in the Senate must buy me some good will up there.

Ghost of Biden Past – Up there?  Even Lucifer doesn’t want to work on your case.  He was thinking of farming you out to the Great Old Ones.  But Cthulhu said, nothing doing.  So, we’re stuck with you.

Biden – Surely someone from my past will speak in my defense.

Ghost of Biden Past – Yes, there was one character witness who was able to remove a very small charge from your list of sins.  We found Corn Pop and he said you never threatened him with a chain.  Apparently, you just ran off and never came back to the lifeguard gig you had.

Biden – That’s a lie.  He was a very bad dude and I stood up to him.

Ghost of Biden Past – Well, we checked out that story.  Corn Pop back then was an asthmatic camp counselor at the local YMCA with coke bottle glasses and a limp.  Now he’s a retired postal worker.

Biden – Yeah well, that’s not how I remember it.  So, what’s next?

Ghost of Biden Past – We’re going to walk you through the highlights of your various activities.  We’ve got Juanita Broaddrick and that summer with you “showering” with your underaged daughter.  We’ll go through the work you did getting Hunter to where he is now.  Then we’ll go over your work as the “Big Guy” and all of the stuff you did “for the country” while working for Obama.  For fun we’ll go over the blooper reel with your hair plugs and aviator shades.  It’ll be a busy time.

Biden – So this doesn’t look so good.  Should I get a lawyer or a character witness?  How about my old friend Barack.  Everybody loves him.

Ghost of Biden Past – Yeahhhh, about that.  Old Bathhouse Barry has his own ‘splainin’ to do.  I don’t think that would be wise.

Biden – Alright let’s start the tour.  Will there be lunch?

Ghost of Biden Past – Don’t worry there will be some roasted meat sooner than you think.

(Exit)

A Biden Carol (Part 1)

photog Biden Humor, Current Events, Humor , ,

Scene 1 – The Oval Office

GLAAD – Have I the honor of addressing Mr. Biden or Mr. Epstein?

Biden – Mr. Epstein has been dead these seven years.  In fact, he hanged himself in prison exactly seven years ago this very night.

GLAAD – That’s not how I heard it happened.  Anyway, I’m sure his generosity is well represented by his surviving partner.

Biden – What do you want; you dog faced pony soldiers?!

GLAAD – At this festive time of the year it is more than usually desirable that we make some slight provision for the drag queens and other weirdos that have fallen on hard times.  Thousands are in need of necessities like eye-liner and mascara.  Hundreds of thousands are in want of holiday cheer like amyl nitrate and ketamine.

Biden – Are there no libraries, are there no grammar schools?

GLAAD – Plenty of libraries and schools, but those gigs have become difficult to book because of Moms for Liberty.

Biden – Look I haven’t got time to waste on you losers.  Romney, you cretin!  Get out of your hole Mitt and throw these losers out.  I have business to attend to and if I see these deadbeats in here again, I’ll know that I no longer need your services and you’ll be shipped back to Utah.  Now I’m headed home so don’t close up until you’ve foreclosed on the homes of all the widows on that list, I gave you.

Mitt Romney – Yes, Mr. Biden.  Come this way gentlemen.  Mr. Biden is very busy.

(Exit)

Scene 2 – White House Residence

Biden – All right, have you loaded up my Beta Max with all those vintage 1980s porn classics?  Dr. Jill is out of town this week and I want to do some research.

Secret Service Agent – Yes, Mr. President.  Your whole disgusting list for the weekend has been filled and we’ve cordoned off your residence to prevent “problems.”

Biden – Good, all of you can get lost.  I’ll use my life alert if I need you.  Now scram.

(Exit)

Biden – Now that’s more like it!  Let me get a big bowl of ice cream and let the party begin!

Suddenly a fissure opens up in the floor and flames shoot up and a bloody mess slowly stumbles into the room.  He’s festooned with what looks like smoking coils of some kind of hose.  He is shrieking and moaning pathetically and approaches Biden.

Biden – Holy smoke, who the hell are you?

Jeffrey Epstein – Ask me who I was.

Biden – Okay, okay, you awful mess.  Who were you.

Jeffrey Epstein – In life I was your partner, Jeffrey Epstein.

Biden – Epsy, what the hell happened to you?

Jeffrey Epstein – Two guesses.

Biden – Why are you wrapped up in that burning hose?

Jeffrey Epstein – Those are my prolapsed intestines.  They’re filled with boiling oil.  When it starts to cool, they drain it off and refill it again.

Biden – Wow!  That’s not good.

Jeffrey Epstein – Yeah, but wait’ll you hear what they have cooked up for you.

Biden – Me?  But I haven’t done anything.  I’m the President of the United States.  I help people all day long.  I’m not going there!

Jeffrey Epstein – Yeah, yeah, Joey.  It’s me you’re talking to.  They know about everything down there.  The showers with your daughter, the trips to the island.  Don’t kid yourself.  You’re gonna get the deluxe treatment.

Biden – But Epsy, don’t you have any good news?  Are you here to tell me about a way out?  You know like the three ghosts?

Jeffrey Epstein – The only ghost here is the ghost of a chance that you ain’t got.  The boss sent me to rub it in a little.  And I came because I will miss the hot sulfuric acid shower hour.  You’ve gotta take what you can get.

Biden – But what will I do?

Jeffrey Epstein – My advice is to try to make whatever amends you can and lighten the sentence however you can.  Confession would help quite a bit.

Biden – Confess?  But there’s an election coming up.

Jeffrey Epstein – Oh forget it.  Just do what you’re doing.  At least it’ll take some of the heat off of me.  Goodbye Joey you dope.  See you in the showers.

Exit into the flaming crevasse followed by the fissure closing up.

Search for Intelligent Life on Cable TV

photog Current Events, Movie Reviews, OCF, Reviews , , , , , , ,

Tonight, I watched for the first time Charlton Heston’s 1988, made for television version of “A Man for All Seasons.”  So, of course, when I watch it, I’m comparing it to the 1966 film starring Paul Scofield.  And that was a great movie.  Great acting, all around.  If I’m being honest the Scofield picture is better.  But the later film is still a pleasure to watch.  And that is because it is essentially the same story.  Both movies are based on the same stage play and for that reason both provide the same story and characters.  Even large chunks of the dialog are the same.

Both plays include an argument between Thomas More and his future son-in-law about the value of man’s law in God’s world.  It’s one of my favorite parts of the play.  He tried to make his daughter’s very idealistic and self-righteous fiancé understand that man’s law was made to deal with imperfect humans not angels.  And without it we would all be at the mercy of the powerful.

‘William Roper: “So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!”

Sir Thomas More: “Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?”

William Roper: “Yes, I’d cut down every law in England to do that!”

Sir Thomas More: “Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned ’round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man’s laws, not God’s! And if you cut them down, and you’re just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake!’

The image of the law as a windbreak that protects us from the winds of merciless powers that rule the Earth.  Wonderful image.  The author is a poet, I’d say and a good one.

So even though the later film is not as great as the earlier one it is true to the play and this trueness to the story, even if in the hands of less able actors still manages to provide the same general experience.  There’s a satisfaction in watching a play that provides that successful theatrical effect.  It draws the audience in and immerses them in the scene, in the words, in the interaction of characters that you care about and believe in for the short time that you sit there and watch and listen.

And that’s a theatrical experience.  Most movies do not possess this.  Because the rule of movies is, “Don’t tell them, show them.”  And even a play is showing us something.  But to pull together a scene where the characters are in a space together and they collide and we get to see who they are by what they say is still a very powerful experience.  No special effects needed.  No need for fancy camera angles.  Think of how many great courtroom scenes you can think of.  Or a death scene between lovers.  The dramatic scene is charged with meaning and all that is needed is a poet’s soul to breathe life into it.  Even mediocre actors can take a wonderful scene and give the audience the catharsis that the writer created.

But the truth is this is a relatively rare event.  Out of the thousands or tens of thousands of movies that have been made in the last century or so what percentage have this quality?  I’d guess it’s much less than one percent.  I don’t have any figures to back this up but I doubt it’s a tenth of a percent.  Most of the “entertainment” produced is awful.  It has no soul.  And I’m not even talking about its morality.  I can imagine that art can be made that’s immoral or even amoral.  But what it can’t lack is an honesty about what it’s trying to say.  You can claim that the world is a meaningless maelstrom of death and destruction and out of that you can make art that could touch the human heart.  Or you can show us sublime love and the selfless sacrifice of a mother for her child.  And that could be art too.  But mostly what we get is dreck.  We might as well be watching a surveillance camera of traffic moving on a street.

I have three good movie versions of “A Christmas Carol.”  And I like to watch all three of them.  All three provide a close approximation of the story and therefore a similar feeling of catharsis.  And likewise, there are some other classic movies that tell a story that was so good that they’ve been redone.  One of Shakespeare’s plays or some other talented author’s work.  So, I’ll own several versions of the same work.  And seeing how different actors and directors bring the classic scenes to life is interesting to compare.  But the underlying experience is based on the skill with which the story was crafted and given human meaning.

All that was a lot of words.  Maybe it made sense to you.  I guess it can be boiled down to the fact that there are such things as timeless classics and they exist because they resonate with something inside our brains or minds or souls.  Look for these and own them so that when the crap that you can “stream” on some particular night is just too soul-deadening for you to stand you can reach for this DVD or Blu-ray or whatever technological incarnation exists and feed your soul with something that has meaning and maybe joy.  Or at worst find the book.

Scrooge Makes Amends to Bob Cratchit

photog Current Events , , , , ,

This scene shows us the day after Christmas and Scrooge putting his new found understanding of life into practice.  But he demonstrates that he hasn’t become a humorless convert and has a little fun with Bob Cratchit before remaking their relationship immeasurably for the better.  Happening as it does at the epicenter of Scrooge’s former evil life, his “money changing hole,” it convinces us that he is indeed a new man.

“But he was early at the office next morning. Oh, he was early there. If he could only be there first, and catch Bob Cratchit coming late! That was the thing he had set his heart upon.

And he did it; yes, he did! The clock struck nine. No Bob. A quarter past. No Bob. He was full eighteen minutes and a half behind his time. Scrooge sat with his door wide open, that he might see him come into the Tank.

His hat was off, before he opened the door; his comforter too. He was on his stool in a jiffy; driving away with his pen, as if he were trying to overtake nine o’clock.

“Hallo!” growled Scrooge, in his accustomed voice, as near as he could feign it. “What do you mean by coming here at this time of day?”

“I am very sorry, sir,” said Bob. “I am behind my time.”

“You are?” repeated Scrooge. “Yes. I think you are. Step this way, sir, if you please.”

“It’s only once a year, sir,” pleaded Bob, appearing from the Tank. “It shall not be repeated. I was making rather merry yesterday, sir.”

“Now, I’ll tell you what, my friend,” said Scrooge, “I am not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. And therefore,” he continued, leaping from his stool, and giving Bob such a dig in the waistcoat that he staggered back into the Tank again; “and therefore I am about to raise your salary!”

Bob trembled, and got a little nearer to the ruler. He had a momentary idea of knocking Scrooge down with it, holding him, and calling to the people in the court for help and a strait-waistcoat.

“A merry Christmas, Bob!” said Scrooge, with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. “A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you, for many a year! I’ll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob! Make up the fires, and buy another coal-scuttle before you dot another i, Bob Cratchit!”

Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.

He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!”