Christmas Day

Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without the film classic, Scrooge, starring legendary British stage star Sir Seymour Hicks as the famous penny-pincher who cares for nothing except money until he is visited by spirits who teach him the true meaning of the season. Don’t be a humbug. Pop in this must-have DVD and let the Christmas spirit take hold.

This British production of Dickens’s Christmas Carol has been eclipsed by subsequent versions, but it stands on its own as a darkly atmospheric (if sometimes regrettably brisk) telling of the beloved tale. Even with the rough quality of existing prints, this Scrooge has a visual intensity that approaches the bold compositions of German expressionism. And in its central role it has a mostly forgotten star: Sir Seymour Hicks, one of the era’s celebrated English stage actors. With his gnarled face and flyaway hair, Hicks looks every inch the mean old misanthrope, and his cruelty has a realistic quality missing in some of the more stylized interpreters of the role. Hicks had played Scrooge many times on stage (and before in silent film), and he gets the tenor of every “Humbug!” just right. As a bandy-legged Bob Cratchit, Donald Calthorp is a perfect Victorian illustration come to grinning life. –Robert Horton

• March of the Wooden Soldiers (Colorized / Black & White)
• A Christmas Carol
• Charles Dickens’ The Christmas Carol
• A Christmas Carol
• A Christmas Carol/Old Scrooge

My five-star rating is strictly for movie content. As to this gray market dealer, look up other DVDs they sell by copying their name into Ammy’s search engine (which should be set to: MOVIES & TV). In this way you’ll be able to see what others think of AZZCDS product quality.

Each screen version of the Charles Dickens Christmas story has something to recommend it. Each follows Dickens’ text but also diverges from it or omits things. This movie is no exception, yet it remains by far my favorite of all.

Before committing Ebenezer Scrooge to film, Sir Seymour Hicks portrayed him on the British stage for over 30 years. A lifetime’s experience as the sad old miser shows. Hicks lives and breathes Scrooge; his surliness at story’s beginning is genuine and that miraculous transformation at the end is always a joy to behold. Watch Sir Seymour’s face closely as he reacts to comments from other characters. It’s as if he’s hearing their thoughts for the first time.

We learn from this 1935 classic that Ebenezer and longtime business partner Jacob Marley shared not only the same office, but a miserable home as well. In the famous doorknocker scene, we get our only glimpse of dead Marley’s ghostly face. Below it is a placard with his name crossed off and one of similar style and vintage that reads EBENEZER SCROOGE, ESQ.

The spirit of Marley appears to his old friend but not the audience; we can only hear him. This is logical, as is the indistinct glow that represents past Christmases. The future’s ghost is but a shadow on the wall or ground while Christmas Present has physical being, again quite appropriate, for the Christmas of this moment is the only tangible one, thus its herald has actual substance.

The London night depicted here is shadowy, fog-enshrouded and forbidding. Three robbers and a stolen goods buyer are ominous characters. Such details give this movie an edginess like no other.

Missing is much of Scrooge’s past: his unhappy boyhood, apprenticeship to Fezziwig and romance of Belle have been excised. Christmas Past picks up with Belle observing Ebenezer being heartless to desperate borrowers and she dumps him. Next we see Belle’s happy marriage and enormous family.

No explanation is given for Scrooge’s resentment of nephew Fred. His beloved sister, who died birthing Fred is also absent. The two starving children under Christmas Present’s voluminous gown aren’t there either.

With so many holes in the story, why do I prefer THIS Scrooge movie to all others? Atmosphere, the cast’s depth of feeling, a capturing of mid-19th Century England and most of all, Esq. Hicks, who inhabits Ebenezer like no other before or since make this story so very satisfying. Seeing the newborn Scrooge toddle off to the butcher shop, his humble appearance at nephew’s home and finally, his reverant attendance at Christmas Day services all ring true. This film has more recognition of Christianity than the others, and after all, who’s birthday are we celebrating every 25th of December?

Where to buy cheap prices? -Scrooge $4.56



*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Mar 11, 2010 12:00:24