A Christmas Carol (Ultimate Collector's Edition)(B/W & Color)

 

 

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Gene Shalit said, "There have been at least eight movie versions [of A Christmas Carol] . . . but the single enduring version is the 1951 film starring Alastair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge . . . an incomparable Christmas present." If this is your favorite version of A Christmas Carol, you should definitely buy this collector's edition.

If you haven't seen this version, let me characterize it for you. The film story closely follows the Dickens original with its emphasis on how Ebenezer Scrooge went from being a caring person who wanted to do good for others to someone who only cared about money, until four spirits (his dead partner, Jacob Marley; Christmas past; Christmas current; and Christmas future) visit him and scare Scrooge into reforming which he does on Christmas day. The acting is often overdone, featuring overreactions of the sort that were popular in vaudeville and silent pictures. Many of the actors seem miscast because they are quite plump and prosperous looking, even though they are supposed to be quite poor (this is especially true of Mervyn Johns who plays bob Cratchit, Scrooge's browbeaten, underpaid clerk.). Naturally spirits require special effects and those are pretty primitive due to the year of the film.

So why do people like it? For me, the acting by Alastair Sim as old Scrooge, Patrick MacNee as young Jacob Marley, and Glyn Dearman as Tiny Tim were not only first-rate, they moved me in many ways. Dickens's concept for the story is also pure genius. There is also some wonderful signing of Christmas carols to get you in the mood. It was nice to see such a good performance . . . especially if I didn't look too closely at the actors who didn't please me.

As I watched the original version, I found myself thinking about the choices made by the producer, director, and scriptwriters for about the first 20 minutes. But midway through the appearance of Jacob Marley in Scrooge's house, I found myself forgetting that I was watching a movie and just enjoyed the story from there.

The experience reminded me of watching old black-and-white films on the tiny screen of the Brattle Theater near Harvard Square. It was a good feeling.

Next, I looked at the expanded black-and-white version that includes the ability to fill a wide screen. This looked better, but I didn't like it as well. It didn't take me back into the world of how movies were made in 1951 as successfully.

Finally, I watched the colorized version . . . and hated it as I do almost all colorized black-and-white movies. But what can you do? Some people only want to watch color movies.

After that, I watched the 1935 version of the movie and found the quality to be so poor that it annoyed me. I gave up after about 15 minutes, thinking that I'll pick up there some other time. The 1935 version has several good qualities: the casting seems generally better, the contrasts between rich and poor are better developed, the sense of being in Dickens' London is stronger.

Watching the 1935 version made me quite appreciative of the good work done by VCI Entertainment. The images are clear, the lighting is consistent, the sound is understandable, and you don't feel like you are watching celluloid that's about to break.

For those who love all the details, you'll enjoy the various special features which include:

Before and after restoration comparison
Photo and press book gallery
Cast bios
Original trailers
Commentaries by Marcus Hearn and George Cole about "Spirit of Christmas Past," Alastair Sim, and George Minter (executive producer)

Toss away your "Bah, humbugs" and get in the Christmas Spirit!

Don't bother with that 'other' Emerald editon or any other if you like movies presented in the best possible way especially old movies that need some digital treatment. This is the Ultimate edition of this classic movie, the picture and sound are as as good as it can possibly get. They did a fine job cleaning this movie up for this release. Highly recommended.

The product was as I had hoped. The colour made this classic movie that much better. Would recommend this to anyone who likes classic movies of this type.

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