Is it even possible that there could be a bad production of "A Christmas Carol?" The beloved tale of greed and meanness converting to kindness and charity is the most famous of all modern Christmas holiday stories. And the Charles Dickens classic has been performed thousands of times on stage and over the air, and many times on film. That answers the question I posed above. With such a great story and any effort to produce it well, a bad "Christmas Carol" production isn't likely to occur. But, surely, some must be better than others. For purposes of comparing film versions, what remains for us to be able to judge them is the differences in the script, in the technical production, in the cast and in the performances of the individual actors.
This "Scrooge" is the first production of the Dickens classic on sound film. Its emphasis is heavily on the main character. And, for that reason, it is a good film to keep in a library, along with two other later versions. That's because of who plays Scrooge. Seymour Hicks was Ebenezer Scrooge before movies were made. That is to say, he was the actor known and renowned for his many performances of Scrooge on stage. He first played Scrooge in 1901. He specialized in the role, and as a young actor bore the criticism of not looking old enough. Hicks was an accomplished actor of comedy and drama. He is credited with having done thousands of performances of "A Christmas Carol" over the years. He made the first silent film, "Old Scrooge" in 1913.
Hicks was the 13th English actor to be knighted. He was a prolific writer for the stage, with 64 plays and productions to his credit. He wrote comedy musicals for him and his wife to perform. His plays were so successful that he was able to build two theaters. The first, in 1905, was the Aldwych Theatre. In 1906, he built the Seymour Hicks Theatre – now called the Gielgud Theatre. Jerome Kern wrote the musical score for his first successful musical comedy – "The Beauty of Bath," in 1906. Hicks helped discover Alfred Hitchcock. During both world wars, Hicks entertained Allied troops in France and elsewhere. He twice received the French Croix de Guerre.
In this production of the Dickens Classic, Hicks was 64 years old, and he naturally looked for the part. He surely is the darkest of all the Scrooge roles on film. He seems to be a sinister character who relishes his tyrannical nature. This film has the dark trappings of early films all around him. They add to the heaviness of the scene. But they also haze over the fringes of scenes and people. This film is 78 minutes in length. While Scrooge is the main character of the Dickens tale, his conversion comes about by what the spirits show him of other people. And this film doesn't develop those enough to give the story its full impact. Without that, and with the Hicks' Scrooge so hardened in his ways, it's not as convincing when his heart changes.
The production values of the old print I have on DVD are not very good. Still, it is a worthy part of a Dickens movie collection for this early rendition of Ebenezer Scrooge by one of the early English actors to be known for the role.
This "Scrooge" is the first production of the Dickens classic on sound film. Its emphasis is heavily on the main character. And, for that reason, it is a good film to keep in a library, along with two other later versions. That's because of who plays Scrooge. Seymour Hicks was Ebenezer Scrooge before movies were made. That is to say, he was the actor known and renowned for his many performances of Scrooge on stage. He first played Scrooge in 1901. He specialized in the role, and as a young actor bore the criticism of not looking old enough. Hicks was an accomplished actor of comedy and drama. He is credited with having done thousands of performances of "A Christmas Carol" over the years. He made the first silent film, "Old Scrooge" in 1913.
Hicks was the 13th English actor to be knighted. He was a prolific writer for the stage, with 64 plays and productions to his credit. He wrote comedy musicals for him and his wife to perform. His plays were so successful that he was able to build two theaters. The first, in 1905, was the Aldwych Theatre. In 1906, he built the Seymour Hicks Theatre – now called the Gielgud Theatre. Jerome Kern wrote the musical score for his first successful musical comedy – "The Beauty of Bath," in 1906. Hicks helped discover Alfred Hitchcock. During both world wars, Hicks entertained Allied troops in France and elsewhere. He twice received the French Croix de Guerre.
In this production of the Dickens Classic, Hicks was 64 years old, and he naturally looked for the part. He surely is the darkest of all the Scrooge roles on film. He seems to be a sinister character who relishes his tyrannical nature. This film has the dark trappings of early films all around him. They add to the heaviness of the scene. But they also haze over the fringes of scenes and people. This film is 78 minutes in length. While Scrooge is the main character of the Dickens tale, his conversion comes about by what the spirits show him of other people. And this film doesn't develop those enough to give the story its full impact. Without that, and with the Hicks' Scrooge so hardened in his ways, it's not as convincing when his heart changes.
The production values of the old print I have on DVD are not very good. Still, it is a worthy part of a Dickens movie collection for this early rendition of Ebenezer Scrooge by one of the early English actors to be known for the role.