A Christmas Carol (1984) (PG, 1984)

In A CHRISTMAS CAROL, the ghost of Ebenezer Scrooge's business partner pays him a visit on Christmas Eve. Bound in the chains of greed and contempt he forged in life, Marley warns tightfisted Ebenezer that he awaits the same fate if he doesn't change his ways. "You will be visited by three spirits," Marley tells him, and at the stroke of 1 a.m., Scrooge awakens to the first of them, who leads him through his past to revisit the poor choices that made him the man he is. A second spirit shows him the present, and the dreadfully silent final spirit presents grim shadows of Christmases yet to come. At the sight of his own lonely grave, Scrooge breaks down and begs forgiveness, vowing sincerely to carry the spirit of Christmas in his heart all year round.

This 1984 retelling of the Charles Dickens classic boasts an exceptional cast (among them Frank Finlay as Jacob Marley and David Warner as the put-upon Bob Cratchit), splendid costumes and backdrops, and a timelessness that comes from smart filmmaking and avoidance of gaudy effects that too soon show their age. It's perhaps the finest version yet of this often-told story, right up there with the 1951 version starring Alastair Sim, but it's not for everyone.

This is a painfully expressive movie filled with bleak, chilling imagery. Children may shudder at the sight of crutch-ridden Tiny Tim, whose pale flesh and sunken eyes make him in some ways a more disturbing apparition than the shrieking, milky-eyed ghost, Marley. Scrooge, magnificently played by George C. Scott, is a sneering, despicable tightwad who delights in his humbuggery, yet goes almost willingly with his phantom guides as only a man seeking atonement would. When he breaks down at the end and pleads for forgiveness, he's a pitiable sight, and there can be no doubt that he is truly saved.