Film Snail

Scrooge
Scrooge

7.4

Scrooge

PG·1951·86m

Summary

Ebenezer Scrooge malcontentedly shuffles through life as a cruel, miserly businessman; until he is visited by three spirits on Christmas Eve who show him how his unhappy childhood and adult behavior has left him a selfish, lonely old man.

Crew

Director

Brian Desmond Hurst

Adaptation, Screenplay

Noel Langley

Novel

Charles Dickens

Reviews

r96sk

r96sk

December 20, 2020

8

My first time watching this adaptation of Charles Dickens' work - thoroughly enjoyed it!

I've previously only watched the Disney animated film and the 2019 television miniseries with Guy Pearce. I also like both of those, they each have things that are inferior and superior to this 1951 film.

Alastair Sim is the best Ebenezer Scrooge of the three, I loved watching him from start-to-finish. Sim's facial expressions are terrific throughout, while his happiness later on is infectious. A top performance!

None of the others massively standout, unlike the aforementioned productions, but George Cole (young Scrooge) is pleasant, as are those who play the ghosts. Other positives include the score, the tension building and the arc of the lead character - given the fact that they make him horrid at the beginning.

The special effects haven't aged well, but that's to be very much expected almost seventy years on - in fairness, they look pretty good for '51. Elsewhere, I found that some of the camera shots are held for too long, while I also wanted more reactions of Sim when he was seeing the past/present/future - sometimes they chose to stick on the 'event', rather than showing Sim.

Those aren't major criticisms at all, just small ones. All in all, <em>'Scrooge'</em> is a very good film - one well worth a view!

Media

Status:

Released

Original Language:

English

Budget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Keywords

london, england
based on novel or book
businessman
holiday
greed
supernatural
redemption
business ethics
victorian england
money
black and white
miser
ghost
christmas
xmas eve