Scrooge (1951 film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scrooge (1951 film)

Directed by	Brian Desmond Hurst
Produced by	Brian Desmond Hurst
Written by	Noel Langley
Starring	Alastair Sim Mervyn Johns Hermione Baddeley Michael Dolan Francis De Wolff Brian Worth Kathleen Harrison Michael Hordern Patrick Macnee Peter Bull
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	1951
Running time	86 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Scrooge (1951) is one of the best-known and most acclaimed film adaptations of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.

This version was directed by Brian Desmond Hurst; the screenplay was by Noel Langley. It was released as A Christmas Carol in the U.S. in the same year.

Scrooge starred Alastair Sim (in arguably his best-known role) as the title character, and featured Kathleen Harrison in an acclaimed turn as Mrs. Dilber, Scrooge's charwoman, a role found in the book, but built up for this film. Fans of British cinema will recognize 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 a young Patrick Macnee as a young Jacob Marley. Fans of WW II films will recognize Michael Hordern, who was frequently typecast as a British military officer, as Marley's Ghost, as well as old Marley.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Sim's performance as Scrooge is generally regarded as the definitive portrayal of the role. In addition, the film expands on the story by detailing Scrooge's rise as a prominence businessman who was corrupted by a greedy new mentor that had lured him away from the benevolent Mr. Fezziwig. When that new mentor, who does not appear at all in Dickens's original story, is caught as an embezzler, the opportunistic Scrooge and Marley offer to compensate the company's losses on the condition that they receive control of the company that they work for - and so, Scrooge and Marley is born.

This film also explains what happened to Scrooge's old girlfriend from his younger days. Something that was not in the original novel. In this film it is revealed that she became a helper to homeless people, and in a completely different city far away, ensuring that Scrooge and her can never rekindle there love, ever.

The film did not attain its current popularity until about 1970, when it began to be shown on television. Until then, the most frequently seen film version was MGM's 1938 adaptation, starring Reginald Owen. The Alastair Sim version had received a favorable notice from the New York Times when it opened in 1951, but otherwise had not caused much of a stir, perhaps because it is more frightening than the MGM version. However, in the years since its first TV showings on local PBS stations, it has attained classic status.

[edit] Featured cast

Alastair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge
Kathleen Harrison as Mrs. Dilber
Mervyn Johns as Bob Cratchit
Hermione Baddeley as Mrs. Cratchit
Michael Hordern as Jacob Marley/Marley's Ghost
Michael Dolan as Ghost of Christmas Past
Francis de Wolff as Ghost of Christmas Present
C. Konarski as Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
George Cole as Young Ebenezer Scrooge
John Charlesworth as Peter Cratchit
Rona Anderson as Alice
Glyn Dearman as Tiny Tim
Louise Hampton as Laundress
Carol Marsh as Fan
Jack Warner (actor) (not to be confused with Jack L. Warner) as Mr. Jorkin
Roddy Hughes as Fezziwig

[edit] Mistakes To Watch For

Toward the end of the movie as Scrooge is celebrating that he hasn't missed Christmas, one can see a stagehand over Scrooge's shoulder in the mirror. The same stagehand is still visible when Scrooge goes back to the mirror.

* When they first introduce Scrooge's nephew in the film, he refers to him as "Nick" and near the end, his wife refers to him as "Fred". Also, on the color version DVD "Chapter Stops", the Ghost of Christmas Present is labled; "Ghost of Christmas Past". Brandon Leffew-MI