Scrooge (1951)

[jaycad]

i watched it today like i do every year along with the patrick stewart,michael hordern and basil rathbone versions-the sim version is the best by far!

[darrenburnfan]

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is such a wonderfully written story that it really would take an awfully incompetant director, crew and cast to make a mess of it. I've seen many versions of it and they've all been very good. The colorised version of Scrooge with Alistair Sim...probably colorised thirty years ago when the technology was not as far advanced as it is now...is absolutely dreadful and should be avoided at all costs. Having no idea what the original colours may have been, the colorisers make it look as garish as possible, giving Scrooge a green coat and, if I remember correctly, a yellow scarf. And it's no use turning the colour down on your set while you're watching it, as it just looks a blurry, floury mess. However, there is a beautifully restored DVD of the black and white version available.

[jaycad]

i think the colourised version resembles the hand painted first edition books but i'm certain that the effect is accidental!

[Arfur Teacake]

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is such a wonderfully written story that it really would take an awfully incompetant director, crew and cast to make a mess of it. I've seen many versions of it and they've all been very good. The colorised version of Scrooge with Alistair Sim...probably colorised thirty years ago when the technology was not as far advanced as it is now...is absolutely dreadful and should be avoided at all costs. Having no idea what the original colours may have been, the colorisers make it look as garish as possible, giving Scrooge a green coat and, if I remember correctly, a yellow scarf. And it's no use turning the colour down on your set while you're watching it, as it just looks a blurry, floury mess. However, there is a beautifully restored DVD of the black and white version available.

here here well said Mr DBF
I always thought it was shot on nitrate as well, maybe you will know?

[darrenburnfan]

Thanks, Arfur. If only Channel 5 would desist from showing the colorised version every Christmas. Maybe they think no one will watch a programme unless it's in colour. All black and white films should be shown in black and white, as they were made to be seen.

[darrenburnfan]

Here is a frame from the remastered Blue Ray disc of Scrooge released about a year ago. A vast improvement on the old Channel 5 copy.

[David Challinor]

It is my favourite too, though I refuse to watch the colourised version. I actually think the muppet version is great too and pushes the 1951 all the way in charm....who could better Sim in this role, ever?
'Love to know what Dickens' would say!

[JamesM]

I saved a viewing of the Blu Ray for later on today.

[TimR]

A beautifully made film and Alastair Sim was the definitive Scrooge.

There was also a 1972 animated version with the voices of Sim and Michael Hordern and narration by Micheal Redgrave. It is excellent.

[torinfan]

It's my favorite version, too. I'll have to try and get a copy from the local library. I saw it when I was a little girl and Alistair turns in an unforgettable performance as Scrooge.

[Josie52]

Well, I have to say I enjoyed it...colour or no colour!! As usual I sobbed my heart out in the bit where Tiny Tim died

I know what you all mean though; it was made in B/W and should be kept like that!!

[vincenzo]

I like the Sim version though George C Scott's is my favourite. Superb cast too.

[TimR]

I like the Sim version though George C Scott's is my favourite. Superb cast too.

I thought Scott was a little too reserved and ordinary, but he certainly had presence and the production was quite good. And I agree - the cast is excellent: Edward Woodward, David Warner, Angela Pleasence and Susannah York as the most beautiful and fascinating Mrs. Cratchit ever imagined.

[philip hindley]

Marvellous even in colour, even the Reginald Owen version as been colorised, but I havent got a copy of this yet !

[CaptainWaggett]

Marvellous even in colour, even the Reginald Owen version as been colorised, but I havent got a copy of this yet !

There's a colorised Seymour Hicks version too.

[philip hindley]

Ah maybe im thinking of that one.

[vincenzo]

the cast is excellent: Edward Woodward, David Warner, Angela Pleasence and Susannah York as the most beautiful and fascinating Mrs. Cratchit ever imagined.

Roger Rees was excellent as Scott's nephew. Also good to see Lucy Gutteridge and the gorgeous Joanne Whalley too.

Shot on location in Scroogebury...... I mean, Shrewsbury.

[Tonch]

I thought Scott was a little too reserved and ordinary, but he certainly had presence and the production was quite good. And I agree - the cast is excellent: Edward Woodward, David Warner, Angela Pleasence and Susannah York as the most beautiful and fascinating Mrs. Cratchit ever imagined.

I liked the George C. Scott version a lot - the real looker of the piece is surely the gorgeous Caroline Langrishe as the wife of Scrooge's nephew.

Best version of all for me is the animated version from the early 70s with the voices of Alastair Sim and Michael Hordern and narrated by Michael Redgrave. It utilised original Victorian woodcuts to provide the backgrounds to some scenes, giving an authentic, Dickensian feel to the film. Brilliant.

[didi-5]

Everyone keeps talking about this version with the woodcuts! I really want to see it!

The Hordern version done for the BBC in the mid-70s is good as well. He was a perfect Scrooge.

This year I watched the Scott, the Sim, and the Frasier musical (in the hope it might have been better than when I first saw it. It isn't).

[jaycad]

i like the michael hordern version,but ( apart from the fact horderns stature is far from one who eats gruel in order to save money) the BBC were certainly 'scrooge' like with regards to budget! didi-what is this 'woodcut' version you refer to?