Scrooge (1970)

Too many fans seem to be blown away

Really Surprised!

Great Film overall

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

A great musical with tremendous use of panavision, excellent choreography and catchy songs. Finney takes a while to get used to as he is super over the top, but it fits the style and you get used to it after a while. A fun movie that even left the kids singing along.

This a delightful musical version of Dickens' timeless tale. Not perfect, but delightful, nonetheless.I will not go over the merits of the film. Enough people have done it. But I do strongly advise people to watch the film and make up their own mind about it, rather than listen to the Grinches and the Scrooges who complained here. They bring to my mind one of the songs in the film: "I hate life."

This 1970 movie, "Scrooge," is the first and best movie musical made of "A Christmas Carol." At 113 minutes, it is a very good telling of the story, with most elements included. As with all versions, this one has its changes or extensions. Here, that is the music and an added sequence toward the end with the Spirit of Christmas Future. This film received high praise when it came out, but had some criticism of the musical score. I think the music is weak in the first half of the film. Nor are the tunes and lyrics very good or catching. Thankfully, that turns around in the second half, which has wonderful rousing and catchy tunes, as well as a couple of very good dancing\\\e scenes. Rather than debit this film for a weak start on the music, one should consider the story itself without the music. It has more depth than almost all other films in the various minor characters. A good amount of time is given to Scrooge's early love life. Albert Finney excels in the role of Scrooge. As he is taken on his trips to look into the past, present and future, he becomes immersed in the scenes. The spirits explain that these are only shadows of reality, so he isn't really there and the people can't see or hear him. But, Finney's Scrooge can't stay back as an observer. He becomes eagerly, emotionally, and energetically involved. This happens in the scene of the break-up with his fiancé, Isabel Fezziwig (played by Suzanne Neve). It happens with the party at nephew Fred's home. And, it happens in the futuristic street scene of people cheering Scrooge for the gift Tom Jenkins (played by Anton Rodgers) says Scrooge has given them. All of this makes and shapes Scrooge's character. So, each time he finds himself back in bed, he's a little less convinced that it was a dream. And, he's a little more inclined toward being able to change. I think this film shows that better than any other, including the excellent 1938 and 1951 films. My DVD of the 1970 film has the full movie, which includes a significant added sequence in the graveyard toward the end. This addition more directly and clearly depicts the moral implications of the story. It has some nice humor and cynicism amid the moral messages. Scrooge falls into his grave, spirals downward and wakes up in hell. The ghost of Jacob Marley (played excellently by Alec Guinness) is there to greet him, "because no one else wanted to." Marley tells Scrooge that Lucifer was so pleased with how he lived his life, that he was making him his personal clerk. "A singular honor," Marley says. "You will be to him, so to speak, what Bob Cratchit was to you." Scrooge says, "That's not fair. It's... It's …" Marley finishes his sentence, "Diabolical. I must confess, I find it not altogether unamusing." What great humor. But, besides the humor, this and the rest of the scene of Scrooge in hell are enough to put him over for conversion. So, when he awakens sitting on the floor at the corner of his bed with bed sheets twisted around his throat, his conversion is imminent. Finney's horrified, injured and weeping portrayal here is so sincere and real that the horror of the added sequence can be seen as the final push for his conversion. His dialog changes and his character changes as he reflects. "Perhaps it didn't happen after all. Perhaps it did. But I'm alive. I'm alive. I've got a chance to change, and I will not be the man I was. I'll begin again. I will build my life. I will live to know that I fulfilled my life. I'll begin today." The marvelous conclusion has more elaboration on the events after Scrooge's conversion, and this is where the very good musical parts come to a crescendo – tunes and dance. Besides Albert Finney's outstanding portrayal, other members of the cast excel, and all others are very good. Guinness's Jacob Marley's is by far the biggest ghost role in any films, and he nails it perfectly. The one role that I think most movies have always filled very well is the Ghost of Christmas Present. But, Kenneth More in that role here sets the standard as a head above all others. Edith Evans, a former first lady of British stage, is superb as the Ghost of Christmas Past. She isn't schmaltzy but rather direct and matter-of-fact. David Collings is superb as Bob Cratchit, Frances Cuba is spot-on as Ethel Cratchit, Michael Medwin is excellent as Nephew Fred, and Anton Rodgers plays Tom Jenkins superbly as a debtor of Scrooge. In general, this movie did more than any others to flesh out the circumstances of who Scrooge is and what he has lost in the past. Specifically, he has romantic scenes with Isabel, and we see him contacting a number of men and ladies who owe him small debts. We get the feel that besides his big business deals, he also loaned to individuals in their small businesses, probably at usury levels of interest. In the end, with the scenes we see here, Scrooge's conversion is all the more believable, realistic and exuberant. So, all of this adds up to making this 1970 musical film of the Dickens classic one of the best, if not the best. I have all the live action films in my library. But for those who don't want or can't afford that many, I recommend the 1938 (Reginald Owen), 1951 (Alastair Sim) and 1970 (Albert Finney) films. These are clearly heads above all the others.

While they did stick, for the most part, with the original language and story. There were one or too things that were changed that annoyed me a little. a) The ghost of Christmas present was supposed to be a giant robust man with a bare chest. b) Completely missed the line 'Come in and know me better man'. c) The ghost of Christmas present was supposed to age and wither towards the end of his visit. There were other things but those were the most annoying to me.I found the singing very Oliver like and and, in my opinion, completely pointless and annoying.Overall, I did enjoy the film but being a massive fan of the book maybe I'm a little over-critical I just can not see why people feel the need to alter/embellish what is one of the finest Christmas stories ever written.