Le Noël de Ms. Scrooge

Original title: Ms. Scrooge

TV Movie
1997
G
1h 27m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Katherine Helmond and Cicely Tyson in Le Noël de Ms. Scrooge (1997)

A retelling of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol."A retelling of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol."A retelling of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol."

Director
- John Korty
Writers
- Charles Dickens
- John McGreevey
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.5/10

485

YOUR RATING

Director
- John Korty
Writers
- Charles Dickens
- John McGreevey
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination total

Featured reviews

1dramadr

Honestly, I can't believe this movie received money from backers to even be made.

The acting was abysmal. The editing was atrocious! The directing was lacking.

The story was ridiculous. The fact that they modernized this story wasn't an issue, others have done that very successfully. But why did they feel the need to turn Scrooge into a black woman? What purpose did that serve. I don't have an issue with that, but they didn't pull it off well at all. It was a poorly made statement that served no purpose to the story.

What a complete laugh. Absolutely horrible, not that I expected anything of higher quality from the Hallmark channel.

Don't waste your time.

1mathorn

sorry to be an old humbug...

...but this has to be the worst A Christmas Carol adaptation of all time. And that takes some doing, what with the likes of various Lifetime efforts. Don't get me wrong--I have nothing against Cicely Tyson. I've enjoyed her tremendously in other roles (look at Sipsey in Fried Green Tomatoes, for example). But the script gives her no option but to chew the scenery. And chew it she does, with all the enthusiasm of Tiny Tim tying into a Christmas goose.

Give me the classics anytime: Alastair Sim, 1951. With the exception maybe of Scrooged, all the others are just over-the-top efforts to grasp the past, present, or future Spirit of Christmas.

10Ainsley_Jo_Phillips

Heart-Warming

Too many tragedies and disappointments made Ms. Scrooge start to build walls. She wasn't born that way. In fact, at the start of the show, she was very open and giving. As the spirits review her life, you share both the joys and sadness that have come her way--and feel sad at the way things will turn out if she doesn't change. The final scene will be sure to get to you even if nothing else gets to you first--and I can assure you that you'll, more likely than not, be "gotten to" and will be reaching for the tissues long before then!

8R1ch

wonderful adaption of _A_Christmas_Carol_

_Ms._Scrooge_ is a remake of Charles Dickens' _A_Christmas_Carol_. If you are tired of Scrooge as a crotchety old English guy, you can now see the same story modernized with an elderly black woman playing Scrooge. The adaption is well done, and the contrast with the original story is part of the fun.

Cicely Tyson plays Scrooge. I first noticed her years ago in the movie _Autobiograpy_of_Miss_Jane_Pittman_. That award-winning movie and _Ms._Scrooge_ together make an interesting set. In both, Cicely is shown at different times of her life to develop a personal history of how she became who she is now. While the _Autobiography_ is a better movie, _Ms._Scrooge_ is still very good.

The supporting cast does an excellent job. Perhaps Katherine Helmund goes over the top as Maude Marley, and she appears to be enjoying her state more than one would think a lost soul should. Still, she effectively sets the stage for what Scrooge is yet to experience. Julian Richings is totally eery as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Roles where actors don't speak have got to be hard to play, but Julian finds the way.

4highwaytourist

Preachy and heavy-handed version doesn't work

The premise of an African-American female Scrooge in the modern, struggling city was inspired, but nothing else in this film is. Here, Ms. Scrooge is a miserly banker who takes advantage of the employees and customers in the largely poor and black neighborhood it inhabits. There is no doubt about the good intentions of the people involved. Part of the problem is that story's roots don't translate well into the urban setting of this film, and the script fails to make the update work. Also, the constant message about sharing and giving is repeated so endlessly, the audience becomes tired of it well before the movie reaches its familiar end. This is a message film that doesn't know when to quit. In the title role, the talented Cicely Tyson gives an overly uptight performance, and at times lines are difficult to understand. The Charles Dickens novel has been adapted so many times, it's a struggle to adapt it in a way that makes it fresh and relevant, in spite of its very relevant message.

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Storyline

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Quotes
Maude Marley: I always did like a big entrance, didn't I? How's tricks, Ebenita?
Ms. Ebenita Scrooge: Maude?
Maude Marley: You haven't said a word about my outfit.
Ms. Ebenita Scrooge: Oh, it can't be Maude. She's dead. I buried her.
Maude Marley: And rather hastily, I might add. Afraid I might come back to life? Reclaim my possessions? Now I can't.
[Ebenita reaches for the phone]
Maude Marley: No! That line is dead, darling. Save us both time, Ebenita. I'm dead, I'm here, and I'm talking to you. Now, I'll cut to the chase. I actually need your help to rest in peace. That's all anybody ever talks about in the afterlife, how they do things differently. The grass is forever greener, but when I was alive, I lived by one question only: What's in it for me? I'll admit I was a little self-centered then, cared not a whit for the little people. That's why every year, on the anniversary of my death, I have to roam the world and see the happiness I can never share unless...
Ms. Ebenita Scrooge: Yes?
Maude Marley: Unless you listen to me and turn your little life around.
Ms. Ebenita Scrooge: What's so little about my life? Business has never been better. I own three buildings and a house with ten rooms.
Maude Marley: And how many rooms in your heart and how long will your chain of grief be when you join our miserable band?
Ms. Ebenita Scrooge: I don't have to do anything.
Maude Marley: No, you don't. Not if you change. My fellow ghosts will show you how.
Ms. Ebenita Scrooge: More ghosts?
Maude Marley: Yes, but tightly organized on the other side. Actually, you'd probably love it for a while. Tight schedules, time clocks, the works. However, the only problem is it never ends. It goes around, and around and around!
Ms. Ebenita Scrooge: Get away!
Maude Marley: Anyway, expect your first visitor when the clock strikes midnight, your second visitor at one, and your third at the stroke of two. Regular as clockwork.
Ms. Ebenita Scrooge: What is the point of all of this?
Maude Marley: Change, Ebenita, for your sake as well as mine. Either get me out of this or join the crowd forever!
Ms. Ebenita Scrooge: Ghosts, you can have this place. I'm going to be someplace else!