Scrooge
Scrooge movie poster
Directed by	Ronald Neame
Produced by	Robert H. Solo
Written by	Charles Dickens (novel, A Christmas Carol) Leslie Bricusse
Starring	Albert Finney Alec Guiness Edith Evans Kenneth More Michael Medwin Laurence Naismith
Music by	Leslie Bricusse Ian Fraser
Cinematography	Oswald Morris
Editing by	Peter Weatherley
Distributed by	Cinema Center Films
Release date(s)	November 5, 1970 (U.S. release)
Running time	113 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Scrooge was a 1970 musical film adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic 1843 story, A Christmas Carol. It was filmed in London, directed by Ronald Neame, and starred Albert Finney in the title role. The film's musical score was composed by Leslie Bricusse and Ian Fraser. With eleven musical arrangements interspersed throughout (all retaining a traditional British air about them), the award-winning motion picture is a faithful musical retelling of the original, with one exception noted below.

Songs

A Christmas Carol opens the film. It is sung by a chorus over the opening credits about the joys of caroling. An instrumental bit in the middle is a medley of Christmas Carols.

Christmas Children is sung by Bob Crachit and his children walking home anticipating Christmas morning.

I Hate People is Scrooge's song on his way home from work.

Father Christmas is a comic relief song performed by a group of urchins following Scrooge right after his "I Hate People" song.

See the Phantoms is a brief, dark song sung by Marley as he and Scrooge fly through the dark sky, surrounded by phantoms.

December the 25th is a rousing jig at Fezziwig's party.

Happiness is sung by a young Scrooge and Isabel, while they enjoy each other's company.

You...You is sadly muttered by the older Scrooge, watching himself let Isabel go.

I Like Life is belted out by the Ghost of Christmas Present and an at first reluctant Scrooge.

The Beautiful Day is performed by Tiny Tim for his family.

Thank You Very Much Scrooge is unaware that he is seeing his own funeral in the future. He finds everyone singing and dancing on his coffin. This song received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.

I'll Begin Again is Scrooge's song of redemption when he wakes up, relieved to be alive.

The finale is a huge medley of reprises. First, Scrooge marches through the streets singing I Like Life, then dons a Father Christmas outfit and is paraded through town by the kids singing a happier version of Father Christmas. Following that is a massive reprise of Thank You Very Much performed by the entire town. Finally, Scrooge goes home and speaks to Marley through his doorknocker, which the spirit had appeared in earlier. Scrooge thanks his partner for all the help and then leaves for Christmas dinner with his family. A chorus sings a reprise of A Christmas Carol as the film draws to a close.

A soundtrack album containing all the songs from the film was issued on Columbia Records in 1970. Due to legal complications, however, the soundtrack has never been re-released in the CD format.

Acclaim

Overall, the film was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award in the UK, one Golden Laurel award, four Oscars, and five Golden Globes in the U.S.A., in which Albert Finney won as The Best Motion Picture Actor in a Musical/Comedy in 1971. Finney was only 34 years old at the time he was chosen to play both the old miser and the young man Scrooge of flashback scenes, but his performance was widely praised by the critics and the public. A number of well-known British actors appears in the film, such as Alec Guinness as Jacob Marley's ghost, Dame Edith Evans as the Ghost of Christmas Past and Kenneth More as the Ghost of Christmas Present.

Controversial aspect

Though the film was given a very mild "U" (Universal Audience) rating in the UK and a "G" (General Audience) rating in the U.S., one rather controversial aspect of this version of the story is a departure from the novel during the visit of The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. In a nightmarish Scene 12: Office in Hell (1:29:30), Scrooge falls, screaming, through his own open grave, through a seemingly bottomless shaft, and into the very bowels of hell, where Marley tells him of his appointment as Lucifer's personal clerk. The frightened Scrooge's massive chain arrives on the backs of several burly, hooded "demons" who wrap it around him, fairly crushing him to the floor, amid his futile cries to Marley for help. This scene is so intense that it is often edited or censored from television airings (and even some home video releases of the film, though the current Region 1 and Region 2 DVDs retain the sequence).

Continued appeal

In 1992, a stage musical adapted from the film, featuring the Bricusse/Fraser songs and starring Anthony Newley, was mounted in the U.K. under the title Scrooge: The Musical. Nevertheless, the film is available for purchase for home video, and is aired often. Despite the availability of several competing film versions of the Dickens tale, this production continues to be among the more popular airings of the story during the Christmas season.

See also

• List of A Christmas Carol adaptations

External links

• Scrooge at the Internet Movie Database

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