Stubbornly refusing to believe in Christmas or to be separated from his inexhaustible wealth, money lender and parsimonious recluse Ebenezer Scrooge (Alastair Sim) can’t be bothered with the poor and destitute in Victorian London at the most festive time of the year.
Intent on spending Christmas Eve alone, the sceptical curmudgeon is unexpectedly visited by the truly terrifying ghost of his ex-partner, Jacob Marley (Michael Hordern) – his arrival announced by a cacophony of clanging bells, the reverberant sound of his dragging chains eerily like animal sounds.
This paves the way for a visitation of the otherworldly spirits of Christmas Past (Michael Dolan) – who gets the lion’s share of the film but strangely makes the least impact visually – then Christmas Present (Francis De Wolff), and finally, Christmas Yet to Come (Czeslaw Konarski), a silent, finger-pointing phantom.
Sim’s marvellous range of facial expressions, his expressive voice and his pure joy at having survived his night of hell with the ghosts ultimately evoke a genuine sympathy for the old miser.
The black-and-white Scrooge (the title was changed to A Christmas Carol for its American release to match the name of the original Charles Dickens novel) has aspects of film noir and even tumbles into horror-movie territory, with superb cinematography (by C.M. Pennington-Richards), sets and costuming.
The FX are certainly crude by today’s standards, but somehow, you wouldn’t trade them for digital perfection.
Avoid at all costs the hateful colourised version, which entirely misses the point of some of director Brian Desmond Hurst’s creative decisions, and the fake widescreen version, which crops the film.
Ebenezer Scrooge
Alastair Sim Mrs Dilber
Kathleen Harrison Bob Cratchit
Mervyn Johns Mrs Cratchit
Hermione Baddeley Jacob Marley
Michael Hordern Young Ebenezer Scrooge
George Cole Peter Cratchit
John Charlesworth Spirit of Christmas Present
Francis De Wolff Alice
Rona Anderson Fan Scrooge
Carol Marsh Fred
Brian Worth Fred’s Wife
Olga Edwardes Old Joe
Miles Malleson Undertaker
Ernest Thesiger Tiny Tim
Glyn Dearman Spirit of Christmas Past
Michael Dolan Fezziwig
Roddy Hughes Mrs Fezziwig
Hattie Jacques Miss Flora
Eleanor Summerfield Laundress
Louise Hampton Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come
Czeslaw Konarski Mr Snedrig
Eliot Makeham Narrator
Peter Bull Mr Rosehed
Henry Hewitt Mr Groper
Hugh Dempster Mr Tupper
Richard Pearson Young Jacob Marley
Patrick Macnee Samuel Wilkins
Clifford Mollison Mr Jorkin
Jack Warner Martha Cratchit
Moiya Kelly Mary Cratchit
Lualle Kemp Belinda Cratchit
Catherine Leach
Director
Brian Desmond Hurst
Video
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Intent on spending Christmas Eve alone, the sceptical curmudgeon is unexpectedly visited by the truly terrifying ghost of his ex-partner, Jacob Marley (Michael Hordern) – his arrival announced by a cacophony of clanging bells, the reverberant sound of his dragging chains eerily like animal sounds.
