Thanks for the memories!

Purely Joyful Movie!

Must See Movie...

Don't listen to the negative reviews

There are certain stories that are universal and wherever Christmas is celebrated Charles Dickens's short story A Christmas Carol is read and told and loved. No need to talk of the story where Ebenezer Scrooge gets and attitude adjustment about Christmas and life itself.I've seen this story with Seymour Hicks, Reginald Owen, Alastair Sim, and George C. Scott playing the miserly Scrooge. But none of these had a musical score courtesy of Leslie Bricusse.They also didn't have Albert Finney who is looking like he's having one big old ball in the part. He's just delightful in the role and this has to be right in the top five film performances of his career.Bricusse wrote a full score and being this is a short story you wouldn't think that this being a short story there would be no room. Not so at all we got full numbers in a full score the best being Thank You Very Much which earned an Oscar nomination for Best Song along with three other nominations the film got in technical categories.The story of Ebenezer's Christmas metamorphosis will be told and watched for centuries. So thank you very much Charles Dickens.And thank you Albert Finney.

As a traditionalist, I didn't think I'd go for this musical version of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", but my low expectations were surpassed by this fine film. And almost fifty years after the fact I might add, since my viewing the other day was the first time I've seen it. The ghostly transitions were well done, with some having more of a horror element to them than prior treatments. Scrooge himself had a face that would stop a clock, which was all the more startling after seeing Albert Finney in the 'Christmas Past' portion of the story as a younger man. That was quite the makeup job! Surprisingly, the Christmas Present apparition (Kenneth More) might actually be the grandest of all the movie versions I've seen, which now total six by my best reckoning, including this one. The character exudes a marvelous appreciation for life that's infectious and really propels Ebenezer Scrooge in the right direction for reaffirming his humanity.As far as the musical numbers go, I thought they were well placed and supportive of the story's message. My initial assumption was that they had no place in an interpretation of the Dickens classic, but I've been converted otherwise. In that respect, I felt a little bit like Scrooge himself after his transformation, who came around to like life as much as I liked this picture.

I was fairly impressed with Albert Finny. He has made a career out of playing sort of gruff guys (Daddy Warbucks in Annie) and so Scrooge fits him well. I was a little apprehensive because often the original songs in these films don't work very well. There is that godawful thing that was done by Kelsey Grammar, maybe the worst of all time. But these songs are catchy and they fit in well with the plot line. Of course, everyone knows the story of reclamation by the old buzzard who dotes on money, while the population suffers in the streets. I love the song "Thank You Very Much" which shows how vilified the old man is to the people he meets each day. By dying, they say, he will make the world a better place. Can you imagine that? Anyway, I have my favorites and I do love the Alaister Sim above all else followed closely by George C. Scott. But this will stand the test of time.

I wish I'd managed to watch this overlooked British film musical before Christmas but even with the trees and decorations down for days, it was still a very pleasurable watch. Beats me why it's never mentioned in the top list of classic festive films as it has a lot going for it.The story is so well known and there have been so many film versions of it that familiarity could breed some discontent if not quite contempt, but the twist is here is that it's played as a musical with a lively score by the celebrated Leslie Bricusse. Here, he has to contend with two of his main actors probably challenging Lee Marvin for the award for worst singer in a major production, being Albert Finney and Alec Guinness, but despite this palpable drawback, the movie works well.The evocation of mid-19th Century London is splendidly achieved (in sets apparently left over from the recently completed "Oliver!") with no stinting on cast numbers per scene either. The songs are happy singalong and yet suffused with the personality of the singer, thus Scrooge's "I Hate People" and later the crowd, led by Anton Rogers, singing "Thank You Very Much" to Scrooge for dying.The special effects aren't that great, especially when you see a white-painted Guinness as Marley's ghost float up and away on wires but they're tolerable for the time.Finney is very good even buried away under more pancaked makeup than Shrove Tuesday, Guinness a lot less so in a part in which he's obviously ill at ease. Director Neame directs with some flair and stays reasonably close to the source story.Some Christmas presents I find are best appreciated even if delayed until after the day itself. Watching this film was like that for me, a little post-Yuletide delight all the more welcome