A Christmas Carol (1951)

[poliphilo]

I had plans yesterday to meet my friend glitzfrau , but- after looking out the window at regular intervals and comparing notes-  we agreed to postpone. There are only about seven miles between us, but they are currently chock-a-block with snow. 

In the afternoon Ailz and I watched the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol, with Alastair Sim as Scrooge. The secret of Sim's success in the role is that we never hate him. He's not a bad man, merely a soured man- and his conversion- under the deluge of thoughts and feelings he's been keeping dammed back- is perfectly believable. I was surprised at how much of Dickens political anger this version retains- his very specific rage against the cruel, Utiltarian philosophy of the moneymen of his day.  A Christmas Carol isn't rootless fantasy; it's about a particular time, a particular society- or- in the case of this version- two times and two societies that have a lot to say to one another- the churned-up, newly industrial Britain of the 1840s and the churned-up, quasi-socialist Britain of the brief golden age after World War II.  

Comments

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

We watched Sims last week -- it's an annual ritual. And you're quite right about him not being a bad man.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Sim was a wonderful actor: those jowls! those eyes!

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

I love that version of A Christmas Carol. We used to watch for it to be programmed every year in the US. I think you are so right about it being about two times and two societies. I'd never thought of it that way, but yes, I see your point.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Like all the best Christmas movies- there aren't so many of them I think- it doesn't scruple to show us how grim the world can be.

[solar-diablo.livejournal.com]

That version is my favorite. The musical Scrooge runs a close second.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I have a soft spot for the Bill Murray update, Scrooged. Carol Kane as the spirit of Christmas past is a blast.

[sovay]

In the afternoon Ailz and I watched the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol, with Alastair Sim as Scrooge.

The definitive, accept no substitutes! I grew up on him. And the rest of the host of character actors who populate the cast: Michael Hordern, George Cole, Ernest Thesiger, a very young Patrick Macnee; I'm sure I'm forgetting people.

He's not a bad man, merely a soured man- and his conversion- under the deluge of thoughts and feelings he's been keeping dammed back- is perfectly believable.

Yes. It is less a terror of his future than the weight of regret in his past that changes him, once it swamps back up into his life; the reminder that he used to be someone else.

A Christmas Carol isn't rootless fantasy; it's about a particular time, a particular society- or- in the case of this version- two times and two societies that have a lot to say to one another- the churned-up, newly industrial Britain of the 1840s and the churned-up, quasi-socialist Britain of the brief golden age after World War II.

You're a very good film critic.

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

I was thinking the same thing. Your (poliphilo) criticism is informed and thoughtful.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

One of the pleasures of these old British movies is bumping up against so many old friends- often in tiny roles. Miles Malleson as the rag-picker is a stand-out for me.