Main Cast: Albert Finney, Alec Guinness, Edith Evans, Kenneth More, Laurence Naismith
Release Year: 1970
Country: UK
Run Time: 86 minutes
Plot
Scrooge was designed as a follow-up to 1968's Oliver!, the Oscar-winning musicalization of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. The umpteenth musical version of Dickens' 1843 novelette A Christmas Carol, Scrooge features several sprightly Leslie Bricusse songs, including the bona fide hit "Thank You Very Much." Buried under mounds of latex, Albert Finney is Ebenezer Scrooge. The Three Ghosts who turn the miserly Scrooge's life around on Christmas Eve are portrayed by Edith Evans (Past), Kenneth More (Present) and Paddy Stone (Yet to Come). Sir Alec Guinness also appears as a fussy, slightly effeminate Marley's Ghost. Intriguingly, Finney performs his many songs live, without post-production dubbing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Albert Finney's portrayal in Ronald Neame's Scrooge may lack the dignity of some other attempts at Dickens' miserly spoilsport, notably that of George C. Scott in Clive Donner's 1984 made-for-TV version of A Christmas Carol. In fact, sniveling and stammering in his sloppy nightshirt, one might mistake Finney for a mentally unbalanced homeless man howling at the moon. But something about the performance, not to mention the songs by Leslie Bricusse, really registers, transforming this grainy production into a family favorite televised at holiday time for years after its theatrical release. One of the triumphs of the Oscar-nominated art direction is that it gives Dickens' London a shabby, lived-in quality, carried over several time periods. The most effective is the portentous future, hosted by a shrouded, faceless figure, who remains quiet as the grave while pointing a skeletal finger toward the images of Scrooge's destiny. The rousing songs are sometimes an odd counterpoint to this gritty design, but they're also probably the ingredient that elevated this adaptation to a level of popularity above the many others that exist. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Michael Medwin - Fred; David Collings - Bob Cratchit; Anton Rodgers - Tom Jenkins; Suzanne Neve - Isabel; Richard Beaumont - Tiny Tim; Frances Cuka - Mrs. Cratchit; Kay Walsh - Mrs. Fezziwig; Derek Francis - Portly Gentleman; Roy Kinnear - Portly Gentleman; Mary Peach - Nephew's Wife; Gordon Jackson - Nephew's Friend; Karen Scargill - Kathy Cratchit; Geoffrey Bayldon - Toyshop Owner; Molly Weir - Woman Debtor; Stephen Garlick; Helena Gloag - Women Debtor; Keith Marsh - Well Wisher; Clive Moss; Marianne Stone - Party Guest; John O'Brien; Paddy Stone - Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
Credit
Robert Cartwright - Art Director, Margaret Furse - Costume Designer, Ted Sturgis - First Assistant Director, Ronald Neame - Director, Peter Weatherly - Editor, Leslie Bricusse - Executive Producer, Leslie Bricusse - Composer (Music Score), Ian Fraser - Composer (Music Score), Herbert Spencer - Composer (Music Score), Ian Fraser - Musical Direction/Supervision, Herbert Spencer - Musical Direction/Supervision, George Frost - Makeup, Robert Cartwright - Production Designer, Terence Marsh - Production Designer, Jack Mills - Cinematographer, Oswald Morris - Cinematographer, Leslie Bricusse - Producer, Robert Solo - Producer, Pamela Cornell - Set Designer, Jack Mills - Special Effects, Wally Veevers - Special Effects, John Cox - Sound/Sound Designer, Leslie Bricusse - Screenwriter, Charles Dickens - Book Author
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 - sung by Bob Crachit and his children walking home anticipating Christmas morning.
I Hate People - Scrooge's song on his way home from work.
Father Christmas - a comic relief song performed by a group of urchins following Scrooge right after his "I Hate People" song.
See the Phantoms - a brief, dark song sung by Marley as he and Scrooge fly through the dark sky, surrounded by phantoms.
December the 25th - a rousing jig at Fezziwig's party.
Happiness - sung by the love of Scrooge's life, Isabel, while they enjoy each other's company.
You...You - sadly muttered by the older Scrooge, watching himself let Isabel go.
I Like Life - belted out by the Ghost of Christmas Present and an at first reluctant Scrooge.
The Beautiful Day - performed by Tiny Tim for his family.
Thank You Very Much - Scrooge is unaware that he is seeing his own funeral in the future (his coffin is brought out of his office with his back turned). He finds everyone who owes him money, led by hot soup man Tom Jenkins, singing and dancing on his coffin, "thanking" him for dying and cancelling their debts. A flattered Scrooge joins in, not knowing they're rejoicing over his death. This song received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.
I'll Begin Again - 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 Scrooge, Tom Jenkins and the entire town, delighted and grateful at the lender's profound change of heart at having announced cancellation of everybody's debts. Finally, Scrooge goes home and speaks to Marley through his doorknocker (which the spirit had appeared in earlier), even dressing it in his costume hat and beard. Scrooge thanks his partner for all the help and then leaves to prepare for Christmas dinner with his family. A chorus sings a reprise of A Christmas Carol as the film draws to a close with views of the dressed-up doorknocker and a wish of "Merry Christmas".
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, [1] and five Golden Globes in the U.S.A., in which Albert Finney won for 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. Several critics, however, found fault with Leslie Bricusse's score. [2][3]
A number of well-known British actors appear 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.
Original 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 original 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 an unusual extension of the graveyard scene. In a nightmarish sequence, the ghost shows its face (the face of Death) to Scrooge who falls backwards, screaming, through his own open grave, through a seemingly bottomless shaft, and into the very bowels of Hell. He wakes up in a coffin-shaped crater and meets Marley, who tells him of his appointment as Lucifer's personal clerk and shows him to his icy, rat-infested office. The frightened Scrooge's massive chain then arrives on the backs of several burly, hooded "demons" who wrap it around him, fairly immobilizing him, amid his futile cries to Marley for help. This scene is often edited or censored from television airings (and even some home video releases of the film, though the current Region 1 and Region 2DVDs retain the sequence).
However, as frightening as the scene sounds, Alec Guinness's performance as Marley here is dryly comic, and lends an aspect of humor to it (e.g. Marley's explanation to Scrooge of where they are: "I should have thought it was obvious." of why he is there to welcome him: "Nobody else wanted to", of his comments on Scrooge's chain: "It's even bigger than I thought." and "That's quite a chain.").
The show was revived in 2003 on a tour of the country by British song & dance man Tommy Steele, and he again reprised the role at the London Palladium in 2004 -making him the performer to have done the most shows at the Palladium. In 2007, Shane Ritchie played the part at the Manchester Palace.
