This is a great time of the year.\u00a0 I allow myself to watch the various holiday movies whenever the mood strikes me.\u00a0 I\u2019ve already watched four versions of, \u201cA Christmas Carol\u201d this week and I\u2019m bound to add materially to that number very soon.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0 Each one has its strengths and weaknesses.\u00a0 But each one manages to provide the catharsis that is the reason for the story.\u00a0 We get to see Scrooge start out as the victim of a father who blames his son for his wife\u2019s death in childbirth and then the son becomes this misanthrope who punishes everyone around him for revenge.<\/p>\n
And along the way we get to see the beauty and joy that Scrooge\u2019s friends and relatives create during their Christmas celebrations; Bob Cratchit and his poor family gather around the tiny Christmas dinner that Scrooge\u2019s pathetic wages afford and rejoice at their day of celebration and family warmth.\u00a0 Scrooge\u2019s nephew; Fred entertains his friends and even manages to toast Scrooge\u2019s health despite his knowledge that the old man despises him for his generosity and kindness.<\/p>\n
As ever I find the 1984 version has the best Jacob Marley scenes.\u00a0 The 1951 film does the best job chronicling Scrooge\u2019s career with Fezziwig and his subsequent turn toward miserly misanthropy.\u00a0 And in this presentation, it strays into territory not covered in Dickens\u2019 story.\u00a0 A subplot emerges where Scrooge\u2019s beloved sister Fan dies after giving birth to her son Fred.\u00a0 This is given as the origin of Scrooge\u2019s hatred for Fred.\u00a0 But in the film the Ghost of Christmas Past allows Scrooge to hear his sister\u2019s dying words.\u00a0 She begs Scrooge to take care of her boy (Fred).\u00a0 Hearing these words that he\u2019d missed in real-life, Scrooge is wracked with guilt and remorse.<\/p>\n
The 1938 version, I believe, has the best portrayal of the Cratchit family.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Now, when I say best portrayal, I\u2019m not implying that the acting is better than in the other two versions.\u00a0 In fact, I think the other two versions have fine actors and stay much closer to Dickens\u2019 text.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
So then, who is the best Scrooge?\u00a0 Well, I can\u2019t answer that.\u00a0 The best I can do is to bring it down to a choice between Alistair Sim and George C. Scott.\u00a0 And choosing between them is only a matter of what mood I find myself in that day.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
And as Tiny Tim observed, \u201cGod bless us, everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is a great time of the year.\u00a0 I allow myself to watch the various holiday movies whenever the mood strikes me.\u00a0 I\u2019ve already watched<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[239,237],"tags":[1011,3825,5058,2245,5086],"class_list":["post-35275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","category-reviews","tag-a-christmas-carol","tag-alistair-sim","tag-gene-lockhart","tag-george-c-scott","tag-reginald-owen"],"yoast_head":"\n