Rightly acclaimed version of the Dickens classic is not so much A CHRISTMAS CAROL as THE CHRISTMAS CAROL. And now, for the generations who grew up with third-generation subfusc Public Domain ‘dupes’ (Colorized!), here it is in a shockingly improved, fine grain print (available on YouTube*) that sweeps the board cleaner than ever. (Hence this second Write-Up, joining a previous assessment of various iterations.) Comic actor Alastair Sim is as grimly serious (and ultimately joyous/grateful/hilarious) a Scrooge as you’ll find. So too the entire production, now handsome as a deluxe David Lean Dickens adaptation. And, like Dickens at his best, turning cheek-by-jowl from frightful to comic to tearful, though mostly a far scarier ride than you may recall. Darkly shot & claustrophobically designed, it’s all held together by Brian Desmond-Hurst’s concise, moving direction. (Mentored by John Ford, which shows especially in his staging of tight interiors.) Everyone’s caught up in the spirit of the thing as Scrooge slowly warms up from the haggard, vicious soul we first meet, thru ghostly lessons of self-knowledge into a different, better man. And what smart story construction choices, right from the revised opening; plus a few additions to round off some storylines, mainly in the Ghost of Christmas Past section. Even the casting of a slightly older, not so Tiny Tim makes a telling difference: sentiment rather than sentimentality. By the time those two orphans, ‘Ignorance’ & ‘Want,’ appear under the robe of the Ghost of Christmas Present, you’ll be a goner.
LINK:*https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2c1woo
DOUBLE-BILL: Second best CHRISTMAS CAROL? Probably the most unlikely, MISTER MAGOO’S CHRISTMAS CAROL/’62. Even better, Sir John Gielgud’s abridged audio of the book. (See joint review below)
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