Earlier this year I uncovered a box of videotapes I had recorded over a period spanning from 1985 through the late 90s. The eclectic collection included such TV shows as Magnum P.I., The A-Team, Columbo, NYPD Blue, and Seinfeld. There were also many movies in the mix, and most of them are in great condition for viewing. When I found A Christmas Carol (1951) starring Alastair Sim as the miserly Scrooge, I put it aside as a Christmas present to be watched closer to the holiday.
Having just viewed the movie, I understand why Sim is called the “definitive” Scrooge by many critics. The film – released as Scrooge in the U.K. – realizes the essence of the characters and London of that time period, but more importantly Sim rises above the rest of those who have portrayed Scrooge due to a multi-layered performance that captures the wicked brutality of the man but also his underlying good heart.
Even in the first portion of the film before he is visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley (Michael Hordem), Scrooge spouts “Humbug” but Sim allows us to see underneath the veneer. We realize this is a man who once celebrated Christmas as well as anyone but was changed somehow. He fights against that former self when his nephew Fred (Brian Worth) visits his office and invites him for Christmas dinner. So ingrained is the greedy nature that has subsumed him, he scoffs at the offer and complains about Fred’s marriage to a poor girl. Later, as he leaves Bob Cratchit (an excellent Mervyn Johns) and makes a snide remark about “retiring to Bedlam” (since Cratchit is so poor and yet says “Merry Christmas”), we can see that he is a lost soul heading out into a dark night to mark Christmas all alone.
Sim begins Scrooge’s remarkable transformation slowly, but on film it takes a deft actor to achieve the nuances so well. As Marley shakes his chains and Scrooge cowers on the floor, we already see the ice that encases his heart start thawing. Then, as each spirit takes Scrooge on a journey of “reclamation,” his layers are peeled back, his cold heart warmed, and he starts thinking of his fellow human beings again.
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Article comments
1 - Costello
Love this version of the film.
On a side note, I'd bet the bank those websites credited don't hold the copyright to those images