Scrooged
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| Scrooged | |
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 Scrooged movie poster |
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| Directed by | Richard Donner |
| Produced by | Richard Donner Art Linson Ray Hartwick Jennie Lew Tugend Peter Frankfurt Stephen J. Roth |
| Written by | Mitch Glazer Michael O'Donoghue Charles Dickens (original story) |
| Starring | Bill Murray Karen Allen Bobcat Goldthwait John Forsythe Carol Kane David Johansen |
| Music by | Danny Elfman |
| Cinematography | Michael Chapman |
| Editing by | Fredric Steinkamp William Steinkamp |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 23, 1988 |
| Running time | 100 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | N/A |
| IMDb profile | |
Scrooged is a hit 1988 comedy film based on Charles Dickens' classic story, A Christmas Carol. The movie is faithful to the broad outline of the Dickens story, but sets it in the present. The cast includes: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, Bob "Bobcat" Goldthwait, John Forsythe, Carol Kane, David Johansen, John Houseman, John Glover, and Robert Mitchum. It also features cameo appearances by Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton, musicians Larry Carlton, Miles Davis, David Sanborn, and Paul Shaffer, actor/singer Robert Goulet, and actors Jamie Farr, Buddy Hackett, Lee Majors, and Pat McCormick.
Bill Murray's real-life brothers, Brian, John, and Joel appear in the film.
While a commercial success, the film was reviewed negatively by many critics, notably Roger Ebert and Vincent Canby.
Tagline: Bill Murray is back in black among the ghosts. Only this time, it's three against one.
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[edit] Plot summary
Francis "Frank" Xavier Cross is a selfish, cynical television programming executive whose concentration on his lucrative, fast climbing career cost him his true love, Claire Phillips (Karen Allen), alienated him from his family and obliterated any chance of having a happy and fulfilling life. Essentially, Frank has become nothing but an expensive black suit who barks orders and overworks his assistant Grace Cooley (Alfre Woodard), forcing her to constantly break plans with her family.
When he is given the task of heading up a live broadcast of A Christmas Carol, his life inexplicably begins to mirror the story he's producing. First, the ghost of his mentor, Lew Hayward, visits him to show him the error of his ways. The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future then appear, and Frank repents. The reformed Frank reunites with Claire, who now runs a shelter for the homeless, and he finds in the end that there are more important things than winning the ratings war.
[edit] Cast
- Bill Murray as Francis Xavier Cross
- Karen Allen as Claire Philips
- John Forsythe as Lew Hayward
- John Glover as Bryce Cummings
- Bobcat Goldthwait as Eliot Loudermilk
- David Johansen as Ghost of Christmas Past
- Carol Kane as Ghost of Christmas Present
- Robert Mitchum as Preston Rhinelander
- Michael J. Pollard as Herman
- Anne Ramsey as Eva
- Alfre Woodard as Grace Cooley
- Jamie Farr as Himself
- Robert Goulet as Himself
- Brian Doyle-Murray as Earl Cross
- John Murray as James Cross
- Joel Murray as Party Guest
[edit] Miscellanea
- Writer Michael O'Donoghue was not happy with the final cut of Scrooged, insisting that the original script was far removed in sensibility from the popular mainstream film that was produced.[citation needed]
- The film's closing theme song, Put A Little Love In Your Heart, written in 1968 by Jackie DeShannon, was performed by Al Green with Annie Lennox.
- Naturally, most of the characters are based on characters in A Christmas Carol: Frank Cross is Ebenezer Scrooge; his brother James is the Dickensian Scrooge's nephew Fred; both Eliot Loudermilk and Grace could be said to share the role of Bob Cratchit; Grace's son is Tiny Tim; Lew Hayward is Jacob Marley; Hermann and his fellow indigents are the "portly gentlemen" who are refused financial help; and Claire is Scrooge's former fiancée, Belle. The ghosts, while under the same names, are altered for an urban setting. The Ghost of Christmas Past is a cab driver with a Brooklyn accent and the ghost of Christmas Future appears as Death but with a tv screen for a face. The Ghost of Christmas Present is more or less a campier female version of the ghost in the original story.
- This film features the final mass media appearance of the Solid Gold Dancers, as their show had already been cancelled for a few months when the film premiered.
- Composer Danny Elfman's score was extensively edited and dialed down in the final release, and left off the resulting soundtrack album entirely. An eight-minute suite from the film is available as part of his Music for a Darkened Theatre compilation.
- In Brazil, the movie was named "Os Fantasmas Contra-Atacam" (The Ghosts Strike Back). A somewhat silly reference to Bill Murray's Ghostbusters role as Peter Venkman.
[edit] External links
| Films Directed by Richard Donner |
|---|
| X-15 • Salt and Pepper • Twinky • The Omen • Superman • Inside Moves • The Toy • The Goonies • Ladyhawke • Lethal Weapon • Scrooged • Lethal Weapon 2 • Radio Flyer • Lethal Weapon 3 • Maverick • Assassins • Conspiracy Theory • Lethal Weapon 4 • Timeline • 16 Blocks • Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut |
