Scrooge (1951)

Director:

Brian Desmond Hurst

Writers:

Charles Dickens (story)
Noel Langley (adaptation)

Release Date:

31 October 1951 (UK)

Genre:

Fantasy | Drama

Tagline:

Now! The story that has brought joy to millions! A new screen triumph!

Plot:

An old bitter miser is given a chance for redemption when he is haunted by ghosts on Christmas Eve.

Plot Keywords:

Christmas | Ghost | Scrooge | Miser | Redemption

Cast

Alastair Sim	...	Ebenezer Scrooge
Kathleen Harrison	...	Mrs. Dilber
Mervyn Johns	...	Bob Cratchit
Hermione Baddeley	...	Mrs. Cratchit
Michael Hordern	...	Jacob Marley / Marley's Ghost
George Cole	...	Young Ebenezer Scrooge
John Charlesworth	...	Peter Cratchit
Francis De Wolff	...	Spirit of Christmas Present (as Francis de Wolff)
Rona Anderson	...	Alice
Carol Marsh	...	Fan Scrooge
Brian Worth	...	Fred
Miles Malleson	...	Old Joe
Ernest Thesiger	...	The Undertaker
Glyn Dearman	...	Tiny Tim
Michael Dolan	...	Spirit of Christmas Past

Also Known As:

A Christmas Carol (USA)

Runtime:

86 min | Germany:74 min (video version)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #15238) | Finland:K-8 | UK:U | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Nettlefold Studios, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

George Minter Productions

Trivia:

Although this film is widely regarded as the best film version of the story, it is the only one which omits Scrooge's famous line: "If I had my way, every fool who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips should be boiled in his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart".

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Scrooge and the Spirit of Christmas Future are looking through Bob Cratchit's window, the face of the actor playing the spirit can almost visibly be seen through the hood.

Quotes:

Ebenezer: Waiter! More bread.
Waiter: Ha'penny extra, sir.
Ebenezer: [pauses] No more bread.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Charles Dickens & the Invention of Christmas (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Oranges and Lemons

the perfect Christmas carol

Many adaptations of Dickens' Christmas book have been and gone, but this is generally thought to be one of the definitive films of the story.

Brian Desmond Hurst directs a fine cast, headed by the incomparable Alastair Sim (a man who can play both malevolent and humorous) as the about-to-be-redeemed Ebenezer Scrooge. Sim's reactions are priceless and he settles down well in the role. Michael Hordern is a less successful Marley, certainly when he visits as a ghost, but the three Ghosts of Christmas are just as you imagine - Christmas Past is a wise old sage, Christmas Present is a jovial party-giver ...

Strengths of this production include the opening out of events of the past into a linear narrative (George Cole plays young Scrooge for the early segments), and the playing of Mervyn Johns and Hermoine Baddeley as the Cratchits. It is a film which has holly, plum pudding, and carol singers written all over it, from the use of Christmas tunes in the music track, to the roaring fires and snow-strewn streets in which everyone makes merry for the festive day.