Scrooge (1970)
Director: Ronald Neame
Scrooge: Albert Finney
OK, now we're moving on to something that deserves more virtual ink than those last couple of things: the big budget musical "Scrooge" from 1970 starring Albert Finney.
Here's a trailer, which I think is more dated than the movie itself:
Full disclosure: This was the first adaptation I remember seeing way back in the day. I thought it was great and even had the soundtrack album, which I played all the time!
Nostalgia aside, does it hold up? Of course I'm going to say yes!
The first thing you need for a successful adaptation is a Scrooge who can really carry the show. I think Albert Finney does a great job in the role. He seems to really throw himself into the role and has an awesome "look" as Scrooge.
With a musical that's more of a drama than a comedy, you want songs that fit in naturally, rather than having the story come to a stop, have a big number, the more story, etc. I think they succeed here.
The first thing I think to compare this adaptation to is "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol," and the songs here probably don't reach that high standard, but they work as part of the whole.
A little context shows why this got green-lighted back in 1970 or so. "Oliver!" (1968) had just won a bunch of Oscars, including Best Picture. When would the time be better for another musical adaptation of a Dickens work, and his most popular at that? Throw in the breakout star of another Oscar winning British period piece, "Tom Jones" (1963), and you're onto something!
The songs and screenplay are by Leslie Bricusse, who was on an interesting run of musical adaptations. He had recently worked on "Doctor Doolittle" (1967) and "Lost Horizon" (1969) and had "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" (1971) the next year.
So, with these elements in place, what did we wind up with?
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