Movie Review: Scrooge (1951)

Scrooge (1951) produced and directed by Brian Desmond Hurst

Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol has been adapted far more times than any one viewer could comfortably watch in a Christmas season, even if one were to live as the redeemed Scrooge who vowed to "honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all year." This 1951 British production is widely regarded as the finest adaptation. I don't know who had the stomach to watch every movie and television adaptation, including the numerous sit-coms that would paste the story onto their own characters to make a Christmas episode. Putting hyperbole aside, this production does a splendid job.

Alistair Sim plays Scrooge with an incredible amount of energy and pathos. He's believable as the misery old man at the beginning and as the giddy philanthropist at the end. It's hard to get both right and have the connection between the two be credible--Sim does the job. Part of the credit is due to the script (and naturally to Dickens' brilliant writing). Even so, Sim achieves something special. He runs a full range of emotions and shows so much humanity as Scrooge.

The script follows the story faithfully while adding in some small nuances or changes that work well. Scrooge's fiancee has a slightly larger role than in the book. She winds up serving the poor at a debtors' prison during the Ghost of Christmas Present sequence to great effect both on the viewer and on Scrooge. Scrooge's sister Fan also has a bit more than usual that deepens the story.

Visually, the movie is creative though some of the special effects have not aged well. Those moments are fairly short and easy to overlook since the story is focused so much on the characters.

Overall, this is a great adaptation of the story with a top-tier performance from Sim.

Highly Recommended.