Scrooge (1951) - What's What

So, we've established that "Scrooge"from 1951 has a great cast, as led by "the incomparable Alastair Sim" (the poster is correct!).

The cinematography, set design, music score, special effects, script, direction, all good!

Except for changing the title to "A Christmas Carol" for U.S. release, there's nothing Americanized about it and the very British feel of the whole thing adds to the authenticity. And as we move further away from 1951, the movie seems to get closer to actual Dickensian times, making it a wonderful time capsule.

The movie feels authentic, but is it actually faithful to the source material? Well, yes and no.

Now, I wouldn't say that there are actual spoilers ahead, as if you're reading this, you must know how the whole thing turns out. But if you have not seen this version yet, by all means do so, then come back!

The idea of the whole thing hasn't changed much, but a lot has been added to the Christmas Past sequence in order to flesh out Scrooge's character. With these added things, we get more on idea of how Scrooge came to be such a miserable wretch!

Many of these new angles have been appropriated (to be polite) by subsequent versions, because they came up with some really good ideas!

The biggest change of all is to make Fan the older sister of Ebenezer. Dickens clearly states in the book that Fan is much younger. Making her older allows for their mother to have died giving birth to Ebenezer. That wouldn't work if Fan were younger. But this causes the father to be kind to Fan and resent Ebenezer. In the original text, we have no idea what happened to their mother or why Daddy Scrooge scorns Ebenezer but favors the younger Fan. This all makes sense now, though.

Now, throw in Fan dying while giving birth to Fred and we have a reason why Scrooge resents his nephew.

The added scene of Fan's death is very powerful. Scrooge and the Ghost linger after the young Scrooge storms out. Turns out Fan hadn't passed away yet and the last thing she asked is for Ebenezer to take care of her boy. That hits the old Scrooge like a ton of bricks and you know right there he will never again have a cross word with Fred.

Another scene from the past that goes on after young Scrooge leaves is the breakup with Alice. She puts on a brave face while young Scrooge is there, but after he storms out, she breaks down. Another thing that hits old Scrooge hard. Alastair Sim's reactions in these scenes really help sell them.

Besides being named Alice rather than Belle, another big change is that she did not get married to someone else after splitting with Ebenezer. She went the opposite route from him and works as a nurse or social worker or something. I always hope that in the new, improved future, Scrooge looks her up and they finally get together! Some Dickensian shipping!

The expansion of Scrooge's back story also includes his progression from happy young apprentice with Fezziwig to miserable old partner with Jacob Marley. The newly added character of Mr. Jorkin sets this in motion by introducing young Scrooge to young Marley and he inadvertently allows them to take over the company, eventually driving Fezziwig out of business.

It's very interesting to see the gradual hardening of Scrooge as it happens, rather than just hearing Alice/Belle say that it happened.

While they're throwing extra scenes into the past, we get to see Jacob Marley on his deathbed. He tries to warn Scrooge to change his ways, but Scrooge isn't buying it.

We also get see Bob Cratchit in this scene and since it was on Christmas Eve, he tries to get the next day off as usual. Scrooge has a comical reaction to Cratchit's "if it's quite convenient line," saying that Cratchit says the same thing every year. It's funny, but kind of backwards, as Scrooge should have had that reaction in the present rather than in the past if he had already heard it so many times before with an additional seven times added on!

In any event, it's really in the past that most of the changes and/or additions take place. They all make sense and blend in so well that they could have been part of the original novella.

Back in the present, quite a bit of screen time is given to the charwoman, Mrs. Dilber. She also had popped up in the Marley's death scene and gets her own catchphrase; "in keeping with the situation!"

 Not too much is omitted, but the whole thing clocks in at a snappy 86 minutes, so you can definitely fit in a screening at least once every holiday season!