Common Sense Note
This is good for younger viewers, whoever, who might still be unnerved by the ghosts. Everyone can use an occasional reminder of what Christmas is really about, even older kids and preteens. This is one worth seeing for teens just to compare it with later versions. The theme that one man's cruelty affects the lives of many is a worthwhile subject for families to discuss. Families may also want to discuss how people survive and deal with unfair circumstances. How do the Cratchits cope?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Scott G. Mignola
When good-hearted Fred pays his Uncle Scrooge a visit on Christmas Eve, he's greeted with an impassioned "Humbug!" On his way home, the old miser fires his clerk, Bob Cratchit, for knocking off his hat with a snowball.
The incorrigible humbugger is visited that night by the ghost of his ex-partner, Jacob Marley, who urges him to change his ways. Three more spirits follow, who show him how his past, present and future actions affect not just him, but everyone he had once been close to. Their work complete, Scrooge awakens on Christmas day a changed man. Full of life, he rushes to make amends, and to accept an estranged nephew's dinner invitation.
Those well versed in the more faithful adaptations of the Dickens tale will notice that this charming early adaptation does things its own way. It veers away from Scrooge for uncommon stretches, lingering on the Cratchit family, on Scrooge's nephew and his wife-to-be. The living are the stars here, the ghosts rather restrained and unmemorable, which makes it a good one for kids who might otherwise be intimidated by the subject matter.
Other peculiarities include Tiny Tim, who isn't at all tiny, and whose full lips and saintly features make him look more like Joan of Arc than an ailing child. The movie's funniest scene, which takes place at the Cratchits' supper table, has Tim so in awe of their paltry feast that he almost can't restrain himself from stroking the roast goose.
Then there's Scrooge himself. Embodied by spindly Reginald Owen, he's almost spider-like, with an unsettling hair arrangement that wouldn't look out of place in Oz or Whoville. In contrast to Alastair Sim, who would fill the same shoes 15 years later, this Scrooge's miserliness comes as a result of his cruel nature, not the other way around. He's so twisted up inside that he actually seems to enjoy the taste of cough syrup.
Older kids wanting a good scare might try the 1984 version starring George C. Scott. For young ones not yet ready for such literary subject matter, there's always that grand old holiday standard Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Rate It!
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Social BehaviorThis moralistic tale demonstrates that greed and lovelessness can lead to spiritual ruin, and that no one is too old or too hardened to be saved. |
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