A Christmas Carol (1984)
This is a live-action version starring George C. Scott as Scrooge. Scott is probably most famous for his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the 1970 biographical film, Patton, for which he was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actor, but he became the first person to refuse to accept it. This film was actually made for TV, it aired as a CBS special in 1984, but was played theatrically in the UK. It’s a little bit of a pain to watch this version right now. Starz currently has the rights, so you can view it for free with a Starz subscription through Hulu or Amazon and the Bluray/DVD are out of stock on Amazon, so I ended up renting it through Google Play.
This was a second time viewing for me, as I had watched this version with my mother when I was younger, as it was her favorite version of a Christmas Carol. At the time, I viewed this as the “boring” version, because I was much more interested in watching the Muppets then what I saw as a stuffy and unfunny movie, so I was definitely interested in revisiting this one.
We start the film with some very ominous-sounding bells and a haunting-like choir. It’s already set itself apart, as almost every other version I’ve watched starts with a caroling choir. We also get some brief narration (provided by the actor who portrays Fred) where he begins with “Marley was dead to begin with”, which is a good start, and that is the exact first sentence of the novella.
We are introduced to Scrooge in his business, as he argues with Bob over hte placement of more coal on the fire. The first noticeable thing is that there is a lot of extraneous dialogue that is not in the book. Whereas most of the filmed version jump from one character interaction to another, almost all of the ones in this film are a little peppered with some newly written bits, but they all actually add a good bit of character and emotion to the cast. Here, Scrooge points out to Bob that garments were invented by the human race to keep one warm, while coal is only momentary. This sets a trend throughout the movie, as this version of Scrooge is pretty sharp-witted and a bit of a smart aleck comparative to previous portrayals.
Fred arrives and they have their spout. What impresses me with Scott here is the way he laughs when talking about the pointlessness of Christmas. It’s a very mean-spirited arrogant kind of laughter and realistic enough that you know you’ve heard someone who is full of themselves laughing the same way. Fred offers him his invite to dinner, but Scrooge outright says that he’d see himself in hell first, which is a detail from the book I had not yet seen in a movie, but the book writes the exchange in a way that keeps his words subtle because apparently writing that blatantly would be a little improper at the time.
Scrooge reveals that Fred’s annoyance has made him late, and he leaves Bob alone while he heads to the exchange. As he walks outside Tiny Tim wishes Scrooge a merry Christmas, and Scrooge tells him not to beg on the corner. Tim says he’s not begging, but waiting for his father. Scrooge cruelly says “Well, you’ll have a long wait, hmm?” and heads off.
At the exchange, a couple of of businessmen want to purchase a warehouse full of corn from Scrooge. He demands 5% more than his offer yesterday, which they decry as unfair. The poor will suffer from the lack of goods, they point out. He plays hardball and they eventually relent and pay him.
The charity guys show up here instead of his business, and for the first time, they are given names, Mr. Hack and Mr. Poole. Scrooge gives them the typical dismissal.
Bob closes up the shop and picks up Tim, who asks to go watch the children play in the snow, where they are sliding on ice. Bob says he’ll play with them one day, and Tim says he feels stronger every day.
Scrooge’s walk home has eerie music and a hearse drives by him on the street which disappears (which sets the tone a little better than the awkward filmed version of one going up his stairs, I think). A ghostly voice calls out his name. A translucent Marley face appears over the door knocker, which continues to call him, which disturbs Scrooge.
Marley appears in his fireplace, over a drawing of the last supper (the book mentions Scrooge’s fireplace having etched tiles showing Biblical scenes like Moses parting the sea, so it’s a nice detail, but we only see the Last Supper here)
The Marley fully appears to him and pulls off the bandage and drops his mouth. When Scrooge tells him that he doesn’t believe he is real and that he is just a stomach disorder, Marley gives a pretty nice shriek.
After Marley’s warning and the promise of the spirits, Scrooge checks his locks then calmly and comically chalks it up to “Something I ate…”.
The Ghost of Christmas Past appears as an ordinary woman in a robe, who kinda has this androgynous “David Bowie in the Labyrinth” look going on. She does have a holly branch, and a cap for the “light of truth”.
We see young Scrooge at school, where Scrooge mentions that his father holds a grudge because his mother died in childbirth, Scrooge’s birth. (This detail is not in the book, but has come up here and there in different adaptations) He mentions book characters like Ali Baba and Robinson Crusoe being his company. He ages a little and Fan shows up (who looks around the same age, so I guess she’s an older sister?)
We actually meet Scrooge’s father at the carriage. He arranged an apprenticeship with Fezziwig, he’ll only be home for three days. His dad says that’s quite long enough. This is the first version that ever shows his father, and it works as pretty good foreshadowing to how Scrooge turns out.
We then see Fezziwig’s, who demands Scrooge enjoy himself, that there’s more to life than ledgers. His party begins and Scrooge asks Belle to dance. The Spirit asks him how long it has been since he danced? Scrooge says it’s a waste of time, as he had a reason to dance then. The Spirit goads Scrooge into defending Fezziwig by calling him silly.
After the party Dick Wilkins calls Belle too good for Scrooge. Scrooge says one day he’ll be successful enough to deserve her. We jump forward to the scene where Belle breaks it off with Scrooge. “I almost went after her.”, Scrooge sadly recalls.
The Spirit tells him “You have told me what you gained, but I’ll show you what you lost. “We see Belle with a number of children. “They might have been mine.” Her husband talks about seeing Scrooge by himself when he was in town and talks about how alone he seemed. I believe this is the first time that scene is shown in live action.
“Spare me your pity!” Scrooge growls. And he uses the cap to extinguish the spirit. Convinced it was a nightmare, he falls asleep, but is awakened by the clock striking two.
The Ghost of Christmas Present shows up. He is mirthful and cheery and looks like a tall man in green robes, holly crown, and a torch. He walks Scrooge through the streets and we see the grocers.
“There’s a lot of buying.”, Scrooge points out. “Is that all you can see?”, the Spirit retorts. He takes Scrooge to the Cratchits. Tiny Tim is supported by his siblings, which Scrooge takes notice of. Bob tells Peter he ran into Fred and that Fred has a position opening up for Peter to bring some money home. Scrooge criticizes the salary, saying that it’s foolish for Fred to pay a wage that high.
When the Cratchits say a before dinner prayer, Scrooge adds an “Amen” along with them and the Spirit asks if he said something. Scrooge says the goose is rather small, the Spirit snarkily says that it’s all Bob can afford.
“Perhaps in the future you will hold your tongue and discover what the surplus population is, and where it is. It may well be that in the sight of heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man’s child.” Bob and Mrs. Cratchit kiss under the mistletoe and Bob proposes a toast to Scrooge. Scrooge says Bob made a point, without him there would be no goose or food. The Spirit chastises him asking if that’s all he has learned.
He takes Scrooge to Fred’s place, where they talk about Scrooge and his demeanor. Fred says that his mother loved his uncle very much. The game they play is “Similes”. Fred gives clues “Proud as…”, “A Peacock” a partygoer answers, and so on. Scrooge begins to get into the game. “Tight as…” “Your Uncle Scrooge’s pursestrings!” she answers. Scrooge is a little dismayed.
The Spirit takes him to one last place. A tunnel where a number of homeless live. A family huddles over a fire, and the father brings some scraps to eat. Scrooge asks why they are here when there are institutions to take care of them. The Spirit asks if he ever visited one.
The father talks to his wife about his frustrations with not being able to find work. He tells her to take herself and the kids to a poorhouse while he tries to find work, but she refuses to be separated. Why do you show me this? What has it to do with me? The Spirit reveals Ignorance and Want beneath his robe. (With some dramatic blasting trumpet music) They look like pale, gray, and disheveled.
The Spirit leaves Scrooge there, against his wishes. Scrooge thinks he is abandoned, but the final Spirit arrives. A floating black cloak creepily standing in the distance. When it nods to Scrooge’s questions, we get a creepy string chord played on the soundtrack that really enhances the spookiness.
The Spirit takes him to the Exchange, where there are some businessmen discussing the funeral. He’s then taken to his body laying on his bed. He won’t look under the covers, but says someone in the city must feel some emotion at this man’s death.
He’s taken to Old Joe’s, where only one woman is pawning some items. This time, Scrooge recognizes that they are his things, and says he’ll have the woman prosecuted. But then Scrooge is in denial about them being his.
The Spirit moves him forward to the Cratchits, where they mourn Tiny Tim. Scrooge says he saw the tenderness he asked for and asks to go home, but instead is taken to a cemetery. Scrooge sees his tombstone and makes a plea to sponge away the writing, and awakens in his room. It cuts to dawn with Scrooge asleep kneeling at his bed.
He yells out the window to a boy on the street and asks him to purchase the turkey. The grocer shows up and he says to deliver it to Bob, but to only say it came from a friend. He stops to donate to some carolers, then runs into the charity fellows, to whom he apologizes and makes a donation. We see the turkey delivered, Bob thinks it’s a mistake and the driver tells him the purchaser wishes to be anonymous.
Scrooge arrives at Fred’s (where he actually introduces Mrs. Fred as Janet, she finally gets a name!) He apologizes for what he said about Christmas and asks to dine with them. He playfully tells Janet that if she played “similes”, the answer to “Tight as…” would be “a drum”.
The next morning, Scrooge notices Cratchit is late and laughs to himself. Bob arrives and seems worried about the time. Scrooge growls his name and accosts him for being late, before laughing and doubling his salary. He says he will endeavor to help his family, that Tiny Tim will walk again, and says Bob needs to put more coal on the fire before he dots another “I”. Fred’s actor narrates the last few lines of the story, including “God Bless us, everyone.”
I’ve got to admit, my mom was right! This version is hands-down the best so far. While there are a couple of scenes that are added and a few small ones that are missing, this version hits all the major notes and the additional dialogue is so well written it feels like it should have been part of the story from the start. The acting is also top notch. Scott’s Scrooge growls and grumbles so well that he truly would be someone you want to avoid and the scenes where he needs to be emotional, particularly where he pleas with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, he really gives it his all. The supporting cast is great as well, with a great kindly, but strong-speaking Fred portrayed by Roger Rees, who many would know as Robin, Rebecca’s British boyfriend on the sitcom “Cheers”, but I remember fondly as the scene-stealing Sheriff of Nottingham in “Robin Hood: Men in Tights”. Bob Cratchit is played by David Warner, who played Spicer the valet in “Titanic” and who I remember most for being the voice of the villainous “Lobe” on the animated series Freakazoid.
With such a great cast, sets, and writing I was honestly surprised that this version was made-for-TV. While it may not be a perfectly exact retelling of the book, I think it captures the quality and spirit of the novel better than any other version so far and I give it the highest recommendation I can.
Scrooged (1988)
Let me start by saying, how have I slept on this movie for so long?! Scrooged is modern comedy retelling of a Christmas Carol starring Bill Murray in the role of Frank Cross, the Scrooge character of the story. Even if the movie he is in isn’t great, Bill Murray is usually an enjoyable part of an otherwise mediocre movie. As someone who is a fan of Murray, through his popular comedies like Ghostbusters and Caddyshack, to his quirky stuff with Wes Anderson, to his cameos in things like Space Jam or Zombieland, I had somehow never seen Scrooged. I suppose the Christmas season has always been clogged with me revisiting old favorites and classic movies that I’ve watched before, I’ve never really taken the time to watch a new Christmas film that no one in my family was familiar with. Scrooged seems to have found a new life on cable, as I was able to stream this through AMC, who appears to be playing it frequently this month as well.
Scrooged is a completely modern comedic take on a Christmas Carol (well, modern for the 1980s anyway). I’m not going to go scene by scene since this obviously isn’t a straight adaptation of the novel. Some elements of the main character’s life parallel the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge and he is visited by a very different group of Spirits. Scrooged has a fair amount of meta humor involved as well, as the main character, Frank Cross, is a television executive who is producing a live television version of a Christmas Carol (which is so ridiculous that I wish a full version of it existed!)
The “in-movie” version of a Christmas Carol that Frank is producing has Buddy Hackett as Scrooge and gymnast Merry Lou Retton playing Tiny Tim, to give you an idea of the absurdity of it all, which does a great job of playing into the 80s idea of creating excessive spectacles in order to draw in viewers.
Frank is a quick-witted jerk, something Murray excels at playing, since he’s done the same in things like Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day. Everything is about ratings and success to him and he belittles and steps on the people around him to get his way. He’s visited by the ghost his old business partner (with some neat gross zombie-like effects) and this sparks off a fast-paced run through the typical 3 Spirit scenario with a healthy amount of spin to it.
Highlights for me are the Ghost of Christmas Past, who appears as a rude cab driver who manages to “out jerk” Frank’s character and Karen Allen as Frank’s love interest, (Marion from the Raiders of the Lost Ark) who is in a criminally low number of movies and is really charming in this.
I will admit, there often seems to be an even better movie inside this one trying to get out, as there are a number of scenes that are a little too loud and fast with what’s on screen when it should be playing to Murray’s strength in the witty dialogue, particularly with the Ghost of Christmas Present, who appears as a fairy-like ballerina who, for some reason, constantly physically hits Frank with things. After reading a bit about its production, Murray even said the director (Oddly enough, it’s directed by Richard Donner, famous for directing the Christopher Reeves Superman and The Goonies) just seemed to think that shouting was funny and pushed him towards that style of comedy, which I think kept this movie from being an absolute classic, but I still really enjoyed it as a whole.
The highlight for me is the ending with Frank’s redemption. Without spoiling too much, he gives an impassioned speech about what Christmas should mean to others and it comes off as incredibly heartfelt, driven, and genuine that it’s like it’s from another movie entirely, but that’s why I think it works so well. When I read up on this movie, it turns out that Murray ad-libbed most of the speech on the spot instead of reading what was written and in the context of the situation that he is going through in the film, that makes it seem so much more real and for me it takes the whole movie up a notch.
This may be the first write up where I wholeheartedly recommend both of these movies if you have not already seen them, and if you haven’t seen them in awhile, I’d recommend watching them again to get in the Christmas spirit!
Next time I’m looking at the creme de la creme, The Muppet Christmas Carol.
Thanks for reading and have a merry Christmas!
