Scrooge (1951)

An old bitter miser is given a chance for redemption when he is haunted by ghosts on Christmas Eve.

Director:

Brian Desmond Hurst

Writers:

Charles Dickens (adapted from "A Christmas Carol"), Noel Langley (adaptation)

Stars:

Alastair Sim, Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn Johns

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alastair Sim	...	Ebenezer Scrooge
Kathleen Harrison	...	Mrs. Dilber
Mervyn Johns	...	Bob Cratchit
Hermione Baddeley	...	Mrs. Cratchit
Michael Hordern	...	Jacob Marley
George Cole	...	Young Ebenezer Scrooge
John Charlesworth	...	Peter Cratchit
Francis De Wolff	...	Spirit of Christmas Present (as Francis de Wolff)
Rona Anderson	...	Alice
Carol Marsh	...	Fan Scrooge
Brian Worth	...	Fred
Miles Malleson	...	Old Joe
Ernest Thesiger	...	The Undertaker
Glyn Dearman	...	Tiny Tim
Michael Dolan	...	Spirit of Christmas Past

Storyline

Miserly Ebenezer Scrooge learns the error of his ways through the intervention of the ghost of his former partner and of three spirits in this faithful adaptation of the Dickens classic.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas | ghost | scrooge | miser | redemption | 

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Taglines:

One of the world's most loved character actors, Alastair Sim, in a masterful portrayal of one of the world's best loved characters, Scrooge!

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 December 1951 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Christmas Carol

Filming Locations:

Nettlefold Studios, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

George Minter Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min 74 min (video)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The word "humbug" is misunderstood by many people, which is a pity since the word provides a key insight into Scrooge's hatred of Christmas. The word "humbug" describes deceitful efforts to fool people by pretending to a fake loftiness or false sincerity. So when Scrooge calls Christmas a humbug, he is claiming that people only pretend to charity and kindness in an scoundrel effort to delude him, each other, and themselves. In Scrooge's eyes, he is the one man honest enough to admit that no one really cares about anyone else, so for him, every wish for a Merry Christmas is one more deceitful effort to fool him and take advantage of him. This is a man who has turned to profit because he honestly believes everyone else will someday betray him or abandon him the moment he trusts them.

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Goofs

When Peter Cratchit is reading from the Bible, after the camera pans away from him, the voice clearly changes to someone else's. Shortly before the camera pans back to him, the voice changes back to the actor's.

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Quotes

Spirit of Christmas Past: And as your business prospered, Ebenezer Scrooge, a golden idol took possession of your heart, as Alice said it would.

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Connections

Version of Scrooge; or Marley's Ghost (1901)

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Soundtracks

"Silent Night, Holy Night"
(1818) (uncredited)
Music by Franz Gruber
English lyrics by John Freeman Young
Excerpt sung by a trio of boys
Sung by an offscreen chorus at end of film
Often in the score as background music

User Reviews

The definitive Scrooge: a few more points

I hesitate to add to the avalanche of praise bestowed, on this site,

on this perfect picture, the definitive Scrooge of all time, which I

have watched, spellbound, every Christmas since I was three

years old and will continue to watch as long as I am breathing. I

endorse the review already placed here by "jackboot"; and I have

also been particularly touched by that small scene between

Scrooge and the maid, with not a word spoken, that "Seashell 1"

mentions. Two points I would like to underline here which I have

not seen mentioned by others: First, this is about the only

"Christmas Carol" movie that remembers to be a GHOST story as

well as a Christmas story. The superb camera work by Pennington-Richards and the powerful score by Richard Addinsell

help to make this movie rather scary in places, as it should be.

Nowhere else have I seen the grim bleakness of the grimier side

of Victorian London so immediately conveyed. The scene where

Marley's ghost is caught out in the snowstorm with a multitude of

other wailing spirits is truly horrifying; and there are many such

moments, such as the one where the Spirit of Christmas Present

suddenly reveals to us the personifications of Ignorance and

Want; they really scared me as a kid, and they should scare us all

as adults now. Secondly, and above all, I think that the reason why

Alastair Sim succeeds so brilliantly here in a role which has

defeated so many is that he was chiefly a COMIC actor. Ebenezer

Scrooge has from the beginning an underlying humor which

makes him human; by allowing it to come out he makes the

transformation plausible, by making you understand that this

humor was dormant in him all along, just waiting to be awakened.

It just isn't Christmas without Sim.