Scrooged (1988)

A selfish, cynical television executive is haunted by three spirits bearing lessons on Christmas Eve.

Director:

Richard Donner

Writers:

Mitch Glazer, Michael O'Donoghue

Stars:

Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bill Murray	...	Frank Cross
Karen Allen	...	Claire Phillips
John Forsythe	...	Lew Hayward
John Glover	...	Brice Cummings
Bobcat Goldthwait	...	Eliot Loudermilk
David Johansen	...	Ghost of Christmas Past
Carol Kane	...	Ghost of Christmas Present
Robert Mitchum	...	Preston Rhinelander
Nicholas Phillips	...	Calvin Cooley
Michael J. Pollard	...	Herman
Alfre Woodard	...	Grace Cooley
Mabel King	...	Gramma
John Murray	...	James Cross
Jamie Farr	...	Jacob Marley
Robert Goulet	...	Robert Goulet

Storyline

Francis Xavier Cross is a cynical, mean spirited television executive, he treats his loyal assistant with contempt. He just sacked a member of staff on Christmas Eve for simply disagreeing with him, and he's alienated himself from his brother who still insists on inviting Frank to Christmas dinner despite him refusing to go every year. However, Frank is forced to learn the true meaning of Christmas when he's visited by three ghosts.

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Plot Keywords:

compassion | ghost | redemption | greed | tv show | 

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Taglines:

Bill Murray is back among the ghosts. Only this time, it's three against one.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 November 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Scrooge: A Christmas Carol

Filming Locations:

Woodside, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$32,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,027,842, 27 November 1988

Gross USA:

$60,328,558

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$60,328,558

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Mirage Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

On the "Frisbee" show (when Frank is in the dog suit), there is a tree on the set with a heart engraving and "Dick Loves Lauren", referring to Director Richard Donner and his wife, Producer Lauren Shuler Donner.

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Goofs

Upon entering the office Christmas party in 1968, the Ghost and Frank walk into the room. Despite being invisible to the guests, a woman in a brown dress clearly looks right at them as they move toward her.

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Quotes

[Frank has taken his gun out of his desk and fired it at Lew which caused some bullets to go through him and hit a bottle of Bacardi]
Lew Hayward: I don't mind you hitting me Frank but take it easy on the Bacardi.

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Crazy Credits

About a third of the way through the closing credits, Bill Murray appears with the word "Scrooged" across the screen in front of him. He looks down and brushes the front of his jacket a few times, with each brush a couple of the letters in the title chase off the screen as if he's brushing them off his jacket.

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Alternate Versions

In the UK and Ireland, in November 2016, the E4 television channel showed a slightly revised version of the movie, with Frank's Scrooge Promo intact as originally intended, with the exploding plane shot, and only some alternate language replacement on certain dialogue throughout the movie to remove certain profanity, changes obvious in certain points of the story with out of sync lip movements and out of place room acoustics.

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Connections

Version of Brer Rabbit's Christmas Carol (1992)

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Soundtracks

Wooly Bully
Written by Domingo Samudio
Performed by Sam the Sham and The Pharaohs
Courtesy of Dominion Entertainment, Inc.

User Reviews

They make this version of a Christmas Carol different enough to be entertaining.

Yes, this particular story has been pretty much done to death being right up there with such fare as Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet as far as having way to many movies made with the same storyline. There is even another one coming out done in the same way as that "Polar Express" movie with Jim Carrey lending his voice and likeness as Scrooge. This one though surpasses all those other versions as I do not really care much for the story as it is. Why do I like this one then? It is funnier than all the others to me and Bill Murray does an excellent job in the lead role. A guy who is going to make people work on the holiday and suggests stapling little antlers on live mice. The story progresses a lot like all the others with the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future paying our guy a visit. Still, a lot different and there are some touching moments as well. There are also some parts of the movie that are overdone and let us face it, if you do not like Christmas that really is your business. I do not really care for how all these movies make it out to be a crime to not like Christmas. Still, for the most part the movie does not get all that heavy handed and there are a lot of laughs to be had as well. Not a super classic by an means, but it is a good Bill Murray movie.