There must be about 485232048 movie and TV versions of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". I am frankly not a fan of most of these versions because they often feel the same and there isn't much to distinguish them. There are a few exceptions, such as the 1984 made for TV version with George C. Scott (it's probably the best version you can find...and closest to Dickens' vision) and "A Muppet Christmas Carol"...but most of the rest just seem, well, lazy. Despite my misgivings, I decided to watch this 1954 made for TV version starring Frederic March...mostly because I really like March as an actor.
The first thing I noticed as I watched was how rushed the production felt. At only 49 minutes, it cannot help but feel rushed. This is especially odd since the music takes up a lot of time...such as several LONG musical number that seems to do nothing to further the story. The second thing I noticed is that the film looks amazingly good for TV at that time. The costumes are nice and the sets are terrific...far better than you'd expect for a TV production in 1954. Apart from these two things, the show is essentially a sped up version--giving us many of the famous and familiar lines from the story.
So is it worth seeing? Perhaps...if you are the type person who isn't a bit tired of the many, many versions of the story. It also is great if you want to see "A Christmas Carol" but have a limited attention span. Or, if like me, you love Frederic March and don't mind seeing an okay version simply because he stars in it.
I would give this one a 7, which is respectable. However, after thinking about it, I reduced it to 6 simply because it was rushed and the singing was really distracting.
