| Scrooge | |
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Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Brian Desmond Hurst |
| Produced by | Brian Desmond Hurst |
| Written by | Noel Langley |
| Starring | Alastair Sim Mervyn Johns Hermione Baddeley Michael Dolan |
| Music by | Richard Addinsell |
| Cinematography | C.M. Pennington-Richards |
| Editing by | Clive Donner |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | 31 October 1951 |
| Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
Scrooge, released as A Christmas Carol in the United States, is a 1951 film adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. It starred Alastair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge and was directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, with a screenplay by Noel Langley.
The film also features Kathleen Harrison in an acclaimed turn as Mrs. Dilber, Scrooge's charwoman. George Cole stars as the younger version of Scrooge, Hermione Baddeley as Mrs. Cratchit, Mervyn Johns as Bob Cratchit, Clifford Mollison as Samuel Wilkins, a debtor, Jack Warner as Mr. Jorkin, a role created for the film, Ernest Thesiger as Marley's undertaker and Patrick Macnee as a young Jacob Marley. Michael Hordern plays Marley's ghost, as well as old Marley. Peter Bull serves as narrator, by reading portions of Dickens' words at the beginning and end of the film; he also appears on-screen as one of the businessmen cynically discussing Scrooge's funeral.
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In the film, Mrs. Dilber is the name of the charwoman, whereas in the book the woman was unnamed and the laundress was named Mrs. Dilber. The charwoman's role is greatly expanded in the film, to the point that she receives second billing in the list of characters. The film also expands on the story by detailing Scrooge's rise as a prominent businessman who was corrupted by a greedy new mentor, Mr. Jorkin (played by Jack Warner) who had lured him away from the benevolent Mr. Fezziwig. When Jorkin, who does not appear at all in Dickens's original story, is discovered to be an embezzler, the opportunistic Scrooge and Marley offer to compensate the company's losses on the condition that they receive control of the company for which they work - and so, Scrooge and Marley is born. During the Ghost of Christmas Present sequence, the film also reveals that Scrooge's former fiancee from his younger days, Alice, works with the homeless and sick. (The young woman Scrooge falls in love with and to whom he is engaged until she breaks off their engagement as a reaction to his increasing avarice, is named Belle in the book, but is called Alice in the film.)
In this adaptation, a flashback during the Ghost of Christmas Past sequence shows that Ebenezer's sister died while giving birth to his nephew, Fred. We are also told that Ebenezer's mother died while giving birth to him, causing his father to resent him just as Ebenezer resents his nephew.
The film retains the scene where Ebenezer comes to his nephew's home on Christmas Day with some trepidation that he would be rejected because of his previous behavior. However, Fred and his wife immediately give him a warm welcome, delighted to have his company at last.
The film was released in Great Britain under its original title, Scrooge. United Artists handled the US release under the title A Christmas Carol and the film was originally slated to be shown at New York City's Radio City Music Hall as part of their Christmas attraction. However, the theatre management thought the film was too grim and somber and did not possess enough family entertainment value to warrant an engagement at the Music Hall. Instead, the film premiered at The Guild Theatre (near the Music Hall) on Halloween night, 1951. The U.S. reviews were mixed and the film was a box office disappointment.
The film made its television debut in 1954 (on local New York station WOR-TV).[1] In later years, Channel 2 (WCBS) aired both the 1951 and the 1938 film versions alternately. In 1975, the film returned to WOR-TV where it ran every Christmas until the 1980s. It did not attain its current popularity in the USA until the 1970s, when local NET (later PBS) stations began to show it. Until then, the most widely seen film version in the U.S. was MGM's 1938 adaptation starring Reginald Owen. The Alastair Sim version had received a favourable notice from The New York Times when it opened in 1951,[2] and a mixed review in Time magazine[3] criticizing the direction while praising the performances, but otherwise had not caused much of a stir. In the years since, it has attained classic status in the U.S. and become a favourite of the viewing public. Sim's characterisation of Scrooge receives particular praise.
A colourised version of the film was released in 1989, and many of the DVD issues include it as an extra.
Alastair Sim and Michael Hordern reprised their roles two decades later, lending their voices to Richard Williams's 1971 animated version of the tale.
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