and the haunting music. The excellent supporting cast. Mervyn Johns is an excellent Cratchett, multi-dimensional and fun loving. Michael Horden as Jacob Marley definitely the best performance as the ghost . Scrooge is shown to be calculating at every juncture, but seems to know that in many ways he is wrong. His avarice becomes his mistress and he can't forsake her. There are wonderful little scenes that I remember. When he stops to have dinner at the restaurant and is told more bread will cost extra, he decides to deny himself a little bit of warmth. There is the scene where Fezziwig loses his business to Scrooge not a part of the original book but it works fine in the film . Scrooge hesitates for a moment and then barges on, and shows his insensitivity by retaining a worker at a reduction in salary. The scene where Marley is dying and Scrooge waits till the end of business. He then comes to the house and asks "Is he dead yet?" We all know the ending, but there is a joy, a blissful excitement not found in any of the other films. This is all attributable to Alastair Sim. He carries every moment. He shows us what real acting is all about. I treat myself to this movie a couple times a year and it never tires me. See it if you never have.

right moments. The rest of the cast remain faithful to the Dickens' characterizations. A perfect film to watch during the holiday season. Rating, 10.

that their father has repented and become kinder. Scrooge remarks how much Fan looks like their mother ... and Fan replies, saying it might be the reason why he's become kinder. But, if Fan was Scrooge's younger sister and if their mother died during Scrooge's childbirth, Fan couldn't exist ... because their mother was already dead and buried by the time she would have been born.In Dickens' novel, the death of Scrooge's mother is only implied. And Fan's death is only mentioned as happening when she was an adult. Death during childbirth was not associated with either the mother or Fan ... implying that the "distancing" between Scrooge's father and Scrooge, as well as between Scrooge and Fred, was merely because both had become miserly and unfeeling men of business. And in the novel, Dickens referred to Fan as being, quote, "much younger than the boy" referring to Ebenezer . If Langley referred to Fan as being "older" than Ebenezer, it could have been seen as merely a screenplay writer taking "license" to revise the novel. But Langley didn't make such a reference ... which probably left Dickens readers scratching their heads.That error aside, the film was completely enjoyable and will certainly be enjoyed by future generations as much as my generation has enjoyed it.P.S. Trivial tidbit. While death during childbirth was common in Dickens time, it wasn't as common as death by consumption today called tuberculosis . Dickens own younger sister died from the disease ... and her name was Fan.

of his stripped bare journey that the ghosts take him on. The story is full of family values and messages of hope, it makes you sad and then lifts you to a very high place, it is in short, essential viewing at the holiday season, because ultimately it is the season to be jolly.Definitive version from source, and not forgetting to be a ghost story either, Scrooge is Christmas season gold, so thank you Charles Dickens, and thank you Alastair Sim. 9/10

is the best scripted version of the story I have seen.

jovial party-giver ...Strengths of this production include the opening out of events of the past into a linear narrative George Cole plays young Scrooge for the early segments , and the playing of Mervyn Johns and Hermoine Baddeley as the Cratchits. It is a film which has holly, plum pudding, and carol singers written all over it, from the use of Christmas tunes in the music track, to the roaring fires and snow-strewn streets in which everyone makes merry for the festive day.

he's overly delirious at the end for instance but there is also a warm old- style feeling to these surroundings to savor. I think perhaps a tad too much time is spent in Christmas Past in this take of the classic, even though we get to learn more of what makes Scrooge tick.When you have watched so many various versions of the same literary classic you're bound to miss certain things from some adaptations, and some things may be stronger in others. In this case I didn't think the crucial character of Tiny Tim was very lovable, and I missed one classic line that was inexplicably not included: "If I had my way, every fool who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips..." etc. . I might prefer the 1984 George C. Scott TV movie by a slight margin, though both of these versions get viewed by me every Christmas season. ***1/2 out of ****