Christmas is my favourite time of year, not only is it the time to spend with my family but also to revisit the timeless Christmas classics that is like a tradition in our household. While I adore Christmas films like the first two Home Alone movies, Miracle on 34th Street, Muppet Christmas Carol, It's A Wonderful Life and White Christmas, it is Scrooge(1951) that enchants me the most. While not the most faithful adaptation of the book, since Bella's name is changed to Alice and there isn't a reference to Scrooge's mother's death, it is sheer mastery in terms of acting, music, cinematography and capturing the spirit of the book.
I also want to say I adore Charles Dickens's book. It is a Christmas literary classic, along with The Nutcracker and The Polar Express. It just has an amazing story, totally original characters and is just a delight to read full stop. Scrooge(1951), is not the most true to the book, but I do think it does do a masterly job at capturing the book's spirit, and for that reason is the definitive adaptation. The basic ingredients are all there and are expertly refined. Scrooge is just a great Christmas classic, simply put, and it is for me the quintessential Christmas movie.
The cinematography is faultless. Shot in stunning black and white, it is smooth, crisp, efficient and never jerky. The black and white looks simply amazing after all these years, and the production values are perfect. The music is outstanding; beautiful arrangements of well known tunes throughout to remind us of the festive season and the additional music is memorable and extremely touching, though the music when Scrooge realises it's him who's dead is really chilling. The story about a Christmas miser who is haunted by his partner and three spirits into changing his ways is one of the best loved Christmas stories ever, and it is not hard to see why. As a story, it is impeccably crafted, and the storytelling of Dickens is masterly. All the elements of the book are there in this film, apart from some aforementioned changes.
The acting is spot on. Alistair Sim was a fine actor, who to this day is undervalued. Here he gives quite possibly the best performance of his entire career, and for me he is the definitive Ebeneezer Scrooge. Don't get me wrong I loved Albert Finney, George C.Scott, Kelsey Grammar, Michael Caine and Patrick Stewart, but Sim was the embodiment of the character and dominated the entire movie on his own. No scene with him in rang false, and his change from miserly to kind at the end was heartbreakingly believable. There were some fine supporting performances too, with Michael Horden splendid as Jacob Marley, Mervyn Johns humble as Bob Cratchitt and George Cole earnest as Young Scrooge. At the end of the day though, it is Sim's movie. A movie that is so good it should be on the top 250. 10/10 Bethany Cox
