Christmas Carol

This show has a clever, sideways premise: a comedian does impressions of various celebrities "performing" in a production of A Christmas Carol. I've seen very little of Rich Little (no, pun not intended), but this program of his sounded fun so I looked it up. I suppose that the more impressions you recognize, the more you will like the show; fortunately many of the targets are figures like John Wayne, Groucho Marx and Richard Nixon, whose personas are well-known even to folks who haven't seen much of them in films or TV.

The small-scale period sets are nicely done for a comedy special on TV, but the TV sitcom laugh track is unwelcome, especially since it pops up for everything including the lamer jokes (like the twice-used "and those were his good/bad points" bit); I eventually stopped noticing though. But the central gag makes everything worthwhile. Little certainly has a talent and versatile voice for impressions. Some I was prepared for because of what I read before watching, and I was able to guess a couple other obscure ones. The only two I had no clue about were the kid that Scrooge hires to buy the goose (long-ago comedian Jack Benny) and Tiny Tim (writer Truman Capote; I could only guess it was some sort of Elton John or Robert Evans with a Droopy the Dog voice). On-screen text at the end or beginning identifying each celebrity would've helped. Though I had no knowledge of W.C. Fields performances, Little's depiction of Fields performing as Scrooge was amusing enough to hold the main role. (Little even sneaks in a sly, cleaned-up version of Fields's vulgar joke about fish.)

Standouts include "Paul Lynde" as Bob Cratchit. I only remember Paul Lynde as the voice of Templeton the rat from "Charlotte's Web", but just based on that it is eerie how well Little evokes Lynde. "James Stewart's" appearance was good too, but note that he was not Scrooge's boss as the IMDb credit says, but rather his co-worker Dick Wilkins. And "Richard Nixon" as the ghost of Marley comes with a great visual gag: instead of chains and strongboxes, he's weighed down by footage from his White House audio tapes.

"Johnny Carson" as Fred, the nephew of Scrooge, is an entertaining parody that even includes a reference to Carson's turbaned psychic gimmick. But the impression is also a striking jab at the big-time talk show host, who was still an NBC star at the time. As Fred hosts his holiday party, he does a stand-up routine that bombs; the guests sit in silence as Fred drags out his failed jokes and slow delivery.

Some of the impressions show up too briefly, including John Wayne as a businessman talking about the dead Scrooge. Speaking of this scene, I believe the first businessman with the walking stick and cultured voice is supposed to be James Mason. Likewise I wanted to see more of him. (Oddly, "Mason" doesn't show up in the final montage.)

This adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" is fantastic. Rich Little's impersonations of W.C. Fields, Richard Nixon, Johnny Carson, Edith Bunker, Truman Capote, Jack Benny etc. are typically excellent... and the replacement of the more typical mannerisms of characters in Dickens' classic with these impersonations is extremely well done.

The only conclusion I can draw from the outrageously low score this movie currently has on IMDb is that some of the people who've rated this movie are not familiar with a significant number of the actors and comedians who are parodied and impersonated in the movie.

Well, that, or IMDb's "weighted average" system is garbage.

This movie is a classic.

1978 was a rough year for me. I had a terrible romantic breakup and my father had to have very risky heart surgery at Christmas. This show came on and my dark mood was immediately changed to laughter and appreciation. Thank you Rich. I've watched it every Christmas holiday for 42 years and hopefully many, many more!

This one of the funniest movies you will ever see. This movie is very funny. It has a great story line. It also has great acting. It also has great special effects. I need more things to say. And I am running out of things to say. 7.6 is a good ratting. But this is such a great movie 7.6 is underrating it. I give 10 out of 10. This is one of the best comedy movies ever. This is one movie that you should see. It is a great movie. Great movie great movie great movie great movie great movie great movie great movie. This a great movie. A Christmas Carol (1951) is better. Scrooge (1970) is better. A Christmas carol (1984) is better. But still this a great movie. See it. You will laugh. I have never seen anything this funny it my life.

Rich Little plays everyone in this hour long Canadian-produced show, and he's perfect in every role. The story has been changed only in Scrooge's profession: He's the owner of the Boat and Bottle Works, where Scrooge empties the liquor bottles and Cratchit stuffs the boats in them. Rich does all his best impressions: Scrooge (W.C. Fields), Bob Cratchit (Paul Lynde), Nephew Fred (Johnny Carson), Mrs. Cratchit (Edith Bunker), Tiny Tim (Truman Capote, in one of the funniest impressions), Jacob Marley (Richard Nixon, whose "chains" are a mass of reel-to-reel tapes, representing the erased 18 1/2 minutes), the men of business who discuss Scrooge after he's dead (John Wayne (perfection itself), James Mason, and George Burns), the boy Scrooge greets from his window Christmas morning (Jack Benny, playing his violin), and of course the three ghosts - Past (Humphrey Bogart, who shows up seated at his bar table with empty bottles strewn around), Present (Columbo) and Future (Inspector Clouseau, who sets fire to the bed curtains with his candle). At the end, Scrooge reforms and pledges to go on the wagon. He's hired someone else to empty the bottles who shows real promise: Dean Martin!

This is an inventive, extremely funny show. Rich is still the best impressionist around, and his John Wayne is just adorable; no one does Wayne better. The sets are also outstanding; this is one of the best Carol adaptations I've seen for atmosphere, and it's superlative comedy enhances the story.

The show was released years ago on laserdisc but is unavailable anywhere else, as far as I know, and this is a shame because it's a classic. If you can scare it up anywhere, don't hesitate to buy it. It will become a Christmas tradition with you, as it is with our family.