Scrooge

In the Victorian England, the stingy and cranky Ebenezer Scrooge (Sir Seymour Hicks) does not care to Christmas and runs his business exploiting his employee Bob Cratchit (Donald Calthrop) and clients. In the Christmas Eve, he is visited by the doomed ghost of his former partner Jacob Marley that tells him that three spirits would visit him that night. The first one, the spirit of past Christmas, recalls his miserable youth when he lost his only love due to his greed; the spirit of the present Christmas shows him the poor situation of Bob's family and tiny Tim and how joyful life may be; and the spirit of future Christmas shows his fate. Scrooge finds that life is good and time is too short and suddenly you are not there anymore, changing his behavior toward Christmas, Bob, his nephew Fred (Robert Cochran) and people in general.

"Scrooge" is another great version of "A Christmas Carol", by Charles Dickens. I do not recall how many versions of this magnificent tale of redemption I have watched, but this 1935 is one of the best, with a fantastic performance of Sir Seymour Hicks. This film has been recently released by Brazilian distributor Flashstar in black and white and colorized versions in the same DVD but edited to 60 minutes only. I found the complete version in Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=_Sr2ow_ZH9w). "Scrooge" (in any version) and "It's a Wonderful Life" are mandatory for viewer that enjoy Christmas. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Fantasma de Scrooge" ("The Ghost of Scrooge")

There's absolutely no way around the fact that every version of "A Chrismas Carol" that you will ever watch is going to be viewed through the lens of the 1951 Alastair Sim classic, even more than it will be looked at through the lens of the Dickens story itself. This very early version (the earliest "talkie" version as far as I can see) stands up pretty well in that respect. Seymour Hicks was a very convincing Ebenezer Scrooge with a different take on the character than Sim presented. Sim's Scrooge was - while mean and crotchety - a somewhat comic character, whereas Hicks seems to emphasize Scrooge's essential nastiness, making his ultimate transformation even more jarring in some ways. The story has all the basic elements, and so there are no real surprises in that sense, but there are some differences worth noting. Aside from the early shot of Marley's face in the door knocker, I found it interesting that Marley's ghost was invisible to the viewer (although seen apparently by Scrooge.) Marley's spirit also came across as stronger than in the '51 version, where he was a more pathetic creature, although afflicted in the same way. I also found the visits of the three Christmas spirits somewhat truncated - especially the visit of the Spirit of Christmas Past, who offered Scrooge only a couple of scenes revolving around his love Belle with no mention of Fezziwig and no mention of Fan. There was however some interesting additional material. The scene of the Lord Mayor's banquet seemed to put Scrooge's essential isolation into stronger focus. With no compassion for the poor, Scrooge is also completely alienated from the wealthy, and while the poor celebrate as best they can and the wealthy enjoy a huge banquet, Scrooge dines alone and then goes home to a lonely house. The end of the movie also puts Scrooge's transformation in a different context. Whereas the end of the '51 version emphasizes the relationship Scrooge develops with Tiny Tim, the end of this version has Scrooge joining Cratchet in church to sing "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. What I took from that was that in this version Scrooge's transformation was a spiritual transformation as well as a personal one. This is a very interesting version of the story. 7/10

To many or most people, the 1951 version is so familiar that it is a bit of a shock to see a different, but equally valid, version. The Sim version is still the definitive one I feel, but ...

The Sim Scrooge is utterly plausible much of the time, but then he will be as giddy as a schoolboy, for example, giving an interpretation that an incorrigible naysayer could choose to quibble about. My reaction to Seymour Hicks was similar but, strangely, in alternation with Sim -- oh, he's better than Sim here, worse than Sim here, more realistic here, less realistic here. Any given scene with Hicks could be better, worse, or just plain different from the corresponding scene with Sim. This is partly what made seeing this version so enjoyable; you really couldn't second-guess the next scene.

There are significant differences in the portrayal of the ghosts. I think we are all familiar with Michael Hordern's eerie and frightening ghost of Jacob Marley, shrouded in chains, from 1951. In this version, Marley's ghost is invisible!! You hear the chains but you see nothing whatsoever. The Ghosts of Christmas Past and Future are also quite non-corporeal. Only the Ghost of Christmas Present is someone we recognize from Sim.

Tiny Tim is quite different. We expect Tiny Tim to be an eternal optimist, irrepressibly cheerful. But the Sim Tim (boy, I loved typing that) seems to overdo it a little. He appears to be "on something", to use the vernacular. In this version, Tim is toned down. In some ways, it's an improvement. In the Sim version, to its credit, there is a special balance however, namely, the repentant Scrooge has an exuberance which matches Tim's precisely, and they appear together in the final shot, as we all know. A perfect ending. Back to that later. A key difference in Hicks: at the tragic moment, we do not see the lonely crutch we're used to; oh no, we see Tiny Tim lying dead!!

This version has some scenes which are not in Sim. This version in general has more singing, and one of the extra scenes involves the Lord Mayor of London giving his Christmas toast to Victoria followed by the singing of God Save The Queen.

In Sim, Scrooge comes to his senses on Christmas Day and there is a warm and funny scene with Mrs. Dilber, the housekeeper. Not here. Here there is an extended scene of Scrooge and the prize turkey! Scrooge goes to the butcher shop which is closed, snow falls on Scrooge, Scrooge throws snow, snow hits butcher. Butcher opens up, Scrooge orders turkey, Scrooge goes home. Scrooge gets dressed, boy brings butcher, Scrooge still dressing, butcher tries to leave with huge turkey, Scrooge answers door. Scrooge then pays the butcher, pays the boy, and gives the boy extra money so the boy can take the turkey to Bob Cratchit's house in a cab! Scrooge then leaves the house whereupon he meets the two gentlemen who were soliciting for the poor earlier in the film and volunteers to give them 100 pounds!

So, how does the film end? There's nothing about rushing right out to buy a new coal scuttle. No mention of scuttles in this film. It's Boxing Day and Scrooge gives Bob the day off. Then Scrooge joins Cratchit in church (!) for the singing of Hark the Herald Angels Sing. The End, with Tiny Tim not to be seen anywhere. So perhaps it's the warm emphasis on Tim that really clinches the 1951 version.

There are many moments of surprise and enjoyment here if the opportunity should ever present itself.

Most people are familiar with the 1951 classic version of A Christmas Carol (AKA Scrooge) with Alastair Sim. This British version was made three years before the MGM American film, and is actually better than that one, but of course not as great as the 1951 version. It is very short and to the point, in many ways different than other versions, since it is faithful to the Dickens story, and Hicks gives a brutally realistic portrayal of Scrooge. The Depression Era London setting is depicted quite realistically as well. 3 out of 4 stars.

Though overshadowed by later versions, this 1935 Seymour Hicks version of "Scrooge" is pretty good, with the main strength being Hicks's effective portrayal of Scrooge. Aside from Hicks, most of the other characters do not have that much of a presence, and it does not have the kind of lavish detail that enriches, for example, the great Alastair Sim version. But the atmosphere works, and the story is faithfully told and moves fairly quickly. Every actor who portrays the famous miser has his own interpretation of the role, and Hicks himself is above average, lending appropriate nuances to his character's personality change while remaining believable.

The story has been filmed so many times that it's hardly possible to avoid making comparisons among the various versions. This is not going to be anyone's favorite version, but it's not a bad one, either.