Scrooge on DVD
Though not a darling of the critics, this British musical adaptation of the
classic Dickens tale is a wonderful holiday movie that deserves a lot more attention
than it gets.
Albert Finney is outstanding as the old miserly codger Ebenezer Scrooge - and
an advantage to his relative youth in comparison with the present day
Scrooge character is that he could also play the young man Scrooge in the Fezziwig
era scenes. This made the transition to miserable old fart even more convincing.
We hadnt seen Scrooge before, so didnt know quite what to expect.
To us, A Christmas Carol meant the old Alastair Sim movie version
and since musicals tend to be a tad lighter than straight dramas, with a few
exceptions, we were a little scared theyd take this dark, classic tale
and turn it into some silly romp.
Well they didn't. In fact, they did it just right, adding songs where they
fit and tailoring them to the characters. This means that Scrooge isnt
forced to sing and dance merrily until his heart is singing and dancing first,
and while the ghost of Jacob Marley does sing a bit, its more of a grumbling
than actual song. Whether or not this is due to the singing abilities of the
late great Alec Guinness, who plays Marley marvelously, we dont know;
all we know is that it works.
Meanwhile, catchy tunes such as "Father Christmas" and "December the 25th"
are performed by cast members who are justifiably celebrating the season, and
the numbers fit without getting in the way of the main storyline. And later,
when Scrooge has been un-Scroogified, the music from throughout
the movie reprises and weaves the tunes together, with Scrooge taking his happy
part in the festivities of which he has finally learned the meaning and the
value.
On the other hand, we were also left wondering (cynically, we admit) how, if
Scrooge spent all that money buying gifts, food and drink, doubling Bob Cratchits
wage, and forgiving all the debts hes owed, he was going to avoid bankruptcy
long enough to continue his newfound generosity. But we digress
The production values are wonderful, with Dickensian sets and costumes, and
the choreography (which is used sparingly, but appropriately) reminds us a bit
of Oliver! - and thats not faint praise.
Besides Finneys tour de force performance, and the always tremendous
Guinness, we also get nice performances from Dame Edith Evans as the Ghost of
Christmas Past and Kenneth More as the upbeat the Ghost of Christmas Present.
And its always good to see Laurence Naismith - in this case as Fezziwig,
leading one of the best production numbers of the movie.
But its Finney who carries Scrooge - and carry it he does. And even though
his character is forced tosing while he's still a mean and nasty guy, his I
Hate People song is delivered not so much as a song but as a muttered
curse - entirely appropriate.
Yessirree, you might go Bah, Humbug! at the thought of watching
Scrooge, but we bet youre drawn into it and by the time youre
watching Scrooge get drawn into a game of The Ministers Cat
despite himself youll be hooked. We certainly were.
We could have done without the scene in Hell; to us, twould have been
better when Scrooge asked what his future was for the Ghost of Christmas Yet
to Come to point to Scrooge's gravestone, and then the miser sees the happy
funeral procession we witnessed earlier (where all those who owed Scrooge money
were basically dancing on his grave, but he misunderstood) bringing his bier
to the grave. The same lights would have gone off in Scrooges head, the
same personal growth could have been experienced, and in a much more powerful,
human and relevant way.
Perhaps this is why we arent movie directors
The DVD is very sparse so far as extras are concerned (you dont even
get a trailer), but as far as presenting the movie is concerned Paramount has
done a very nice job. The film is presented in anamorphic widescreen (16x9 TV
compatible), and the picture is very good. The images are sharp, the colors
are bright and festive, and overall its very easy on the eyes.
Audio is supposedly Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, but we very much doubt the
surround part. That said, however, the front three channels are used very well,
for music and for dialog, and the overall sound quality is very good - as befits
a musical. It aint truly digital, but its very good analog. Your
subwoofer wont get much of a workout, but you wont miss it in this
case.
And the disc even gives you the overture to enjoy beore the picture kicks off,
which is always a nice touch.
As mentioned, we were afraid that turning A Christmas Carol into a musical
would dumb down the story and trivialize it; instead, it has taken some of the
darkness out of it and added a welcome dose of humanity - in the process creating
a Christmas movie that still has the same messages but which also adds a welcome
spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down (with apologies to Walt Disney!).
Scrooge, from Paramount Home Entertainment
114 min. anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1, 16x9 TV compatible), Dolby Digital 5.1
surround audio
Starring Albert Finney, Dame Edith Evans, Kenneth More, Alec Guinness, Laurence
Naismith
Produced by Robert H. Solo
Written by Leslie Bricusse, Directed by Ronald Neame
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