"A Christmas Carol”: 10 Notable Versions of Dickens’s Holiday Classic
Scrooge; image courtesy of National General Pictures, from moviestillsdb.com.
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There’s nothing like celebrating the December holidays with a good, faithful version of Charles Dickens’s yuletide classic A Christmas Carol. Happily, many fine screen renditions are available these days—and a bunch of goodies on audio as well.
Here are 10 notable versions, discussed (as Mr. Scrooge might have it) in terms of assets and liabilities—and rated out of five British shillings:
1. Scrooge (1935), with Seymour Hicks
Assets: An astoundingly abrasive and unpleasant Ebenezer; and aging production values which, ironically, tend to foster a fitting sense of Dickensian nostalgia.
Liabilities: No Fezziwig; no visit to Scrooge’s old school; no men soliciting for the poor!
Unique elements: The Lord Mayor’s Christmas feast, plus Scrooge’s glimpse of the happily married Belle—both in the book but often omitted onscreen.
Value: Three shillings (out of five).
2. A Christmas Carol (1951), with Alastair Sim
A Christmas Carol; image courtesy of Renown Pictures, from moviestillsdb.com.
Assets: Alastair Sim.
No one has played Scrooge better, and no one ever will. This is the favorite of most Carol fans, including yours truly.
Liabilities: Basically none—except for one filming flub: In the final scenes on Christmas Day, a crew man is somewhat creepily visible in Scrooge’s mirror.
Unique elements: Several changes you could swear Dickens wrote: Scrooge greedily buying up the Fezziwig business; his housemaid certain that the happy fellow has gone mad, especially when he stands on his head in a nightshirt; and most impressive, this version has Scrooge’s sister losing her life when Fred is born, which certainly explains the old man’s hatred of both marriage and his nephew.
Value: Six shillings.
3. Scrooge (1970), with Albert Finney
Scrooge; image courtesy of National General Pictures, from moviestillsdb.com.
Assets: An entertaining musical version, with songs by Leslie Bricusse that are tuneful but not overly sweet or cloying; it also has the best production values of any version I’ve seen, along with an intoxicating re-creation of Victorian-era London.
Liabilities: Unnecessary modernization of dialog, hobbling many famous lines from the book.
Unique elements: Includes Dickens’s “locomotive hearse” from Stave One (i.e., Chapter One). The break-up scene, with symbolic scales and Scrooge berating himself for a fool, is exceptionally well done. On the downside, this is one of the few versions that doesn’t end with Tim’s “bless us” benediction.
Value: Four shillings.
4. Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983), with “Scrooge McDuck” (i.e., Donald)
Mickey’s Christmas Carol; image courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, from moviestillsdb.com.
Assets: Handsome Disney animation; manages to capture most of the story’s power despite a mere 25-minute running time.
Liabilities: A bit too breezy.
Unique elements: A comically dim-witted Ghost of Christmas Past; the Cratchits apparently take in Scrooge’s laundry, which is seen simmering in their fireplace.
Value: Four shillings.
5. A Christmas Carol (1984), with George C. Scott
A Christmas Carol; image courtesy of 20th Television, from moviestillsdb.com.
Assets: Solid visuals and direction under the able hand of Clive Donner, who had edited the 1951 Sim version. The misanthropic Scott, who sometimes answered his phone by shouting, “Who the h--- is it?” makes a perfect Scrooge, never overplaying either his nastiness or his reformation.
Liabilities: Weak supporting work, especially from Cratchit and Tiny Tim.
Unique elements: Brief but telling exchange between Scrooge and his surly father; at the pawnshop, Scrooge recognizes his own fenced goods (why didn’t anybody else ever think of this?).
Value: Four shillings.
6. Scrooged (1988), with Bill Murray
Scrooged; image courtesy of Paramount Pictures, from moviestillsdb.com.
Assets: This modernization, with Murray as TV producer Frank Cross, has strong cameos, particularly Carol Kane and Alfre Woodard; and watch for Miles Davis and Paul Shaffer as street musicians!
Liabilities: A mile-wide mean streak, worst in the malicious ghosts; the crude language makes this the rare Carol that’s unsuitable for family viewing; and Murray, who hadn’t yet learned to rein in his withering sarcasm, can’t quite pull off Scrooge’s enlightenment.
Unique elements: Nephew Fred becomes a younger brother; Cratchit is transformed into an office secretary with a mute son (his “God bless us” is one of this film’s few successes).
Value: Six pence.
7. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), with Michael Caine
The Muppet Christmas Carol; image courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, from moviestillsdb.com.
Assets: A tasty batch of original tunes; Kermit makes a great Bob Cratchit; Tiny Tim’s scenes are amazingly powerful, considering that we’re looking at puppets!
Liabilities: None—except that the Muppet setting might suggest it’s just for kids, which it isn’t.
Unique elements: Comic relief from Rizzo and Gonzo—the latter narrating as Dickens; also funny is Scrooge’s crack when Cratchit protests the latest batch of foreclosures with “But Mr. Scrooge—it’s Christmas!” “Fine,” growls the grouch. “You may gift-wrap them.”
Value: Five shillings.
8. A Christmas Carol (1999), with Patrick Stewart
A Christmas Carol; image courtesy of RHI Entertainment, from moviestillsdb.com.
Assets: This TNT production allowed the talented Stewart to adapt his successful one-man stage show for a TV version—one that’s amazingly faithful to the Dickens text. (Stewart’s dramatic reading is, by the by, beautifully reproduced in an audio book that is still readily available.) Solid performances, especially from Joel Grey (at left, above) and veteran character actor Richard E. Grant as Bob Cratchit.
Liabilities: Somewhat cheesy computer graphics.
Unique elements: Incorporates much of Dickens’s prose in the form of dialog (even the famous “dead as a doornail”); also includes many rarely filmed scenes from the book: the second ghost’s visit to a lighthouse and ship, plus the couple—Scrooge’s debtors—who are seen briefly rejoicing over their creditor’s death. (This key moment also finds its way into the 2009 version, below.)
Value: Four shillings.
9. A Christmas Carol (2009), with Jim Carrey
A Christmas Carol; image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, from moviestillsdb.com.
Assets: I was skeptical about a 3-D motion-capture version with Carrey, who typically overplays his roles, but never fear: The hyperactive comic keeps things well under control, and the visuals by motion-capture pioneer Robert Zemeckis are absolutely first-rate. Solid cast too, including Robin Wright, Colin Firth, Gary Oldman, Bob Hoskins, and Cary Elwes.
Liabilities: A silly and overlong late-film chase in which Scrooge has been shrunk to tiny size.
Unique elements: Exceptionally faithful to Dicken’s story; even includes the Lord Mayor’s feast and the blind-man’s dog from Dicken’s opening, plus the overjoyed debtors near the end; and Andrea Bocelli sings a terrific original tune during the closing credits.
Value: Five shillings.
10. A Christmas Carol, various readers on Audible
As a final entry here—and for all those long-suffering drivers who need something to enjoy on those inevitable holiday road-trips—try one of the more than 100 different audio versions available at Audible. (Some of these are free with the cheaper service, and some require the costlier “Premium Plus.”)
Assets: Audible’s offerings includes performances by Tim Curry, Hugh Grant, Derek Jacobi, Patrick Stewart, Laurence Olivier and Jonathan Winters—with an old-time radio rendering that features Orson Welles and Lionel Barrymore. Plus, with most of these, you get the unabridged text, offering a window into Dickens’s irrepressible love of life that is much wider open than in the movies.
Liabilities: Some of these—particularly the older radio versions—are far too radically abridged.
Unique elements: Of course, every reader brings his own slant to the text, so we keep hearing old things in new ways. Watch for award-winning audio-book master Simon Vance, and also the full-cast dramatized version by R. D. Carstairs; the latter somewhat daringly tweaks the text in spots and thereby helps provide new insights.
Value: Five shillings.
It’s hard to make a bad version of this inspiring redemption tale that is suffused with so much Biblical wisdom. With most of these iterations, God has blessed us—every one.
This article has been updated since its original publishing date of December 17, 2019.
