We all know Charles Dickens' story of Ebenezer Scrooge and
his visits from the three ghosts on Christmas Eve. A story of redemption—a miserly man whose concept
of the Christmas spirit is "Bah, Humbug!" Then his life is turned around after a visit
from three Christmas ghosts—one from his past to remind him of what was and the
promise of what could have been, one from his present to open his eyes to what
he had become and how others felt about him, and one from the future to show
him where he was headed if he didn't change his ways.
From a writer's perspective, it was the first time a story
had been told from the point-of-view of a character within that story rather
than an omniscient point-of-view.
Point-of-view—something vital for today's writer of fiction.
The novella, first published in London on December 9, 1843,
has been a staple of the Christmas season as a movie, television show, or play
for well over a century.
This year, Hallmark's cable movie channel started showing
non-stop Christmas movies the first of November. I wondered how many different versions of
Dickens' story there were. So, I did
what I usually do when I want a quick answer to something…I Googled it.
And the results came as quite a surprise. Things I knew, things I had known but
forgotten, and things I never knew.
Twenty-eight films, twenty-three television productions, plus other
miscellaneous offerings such as staged plays.
Live action, animation, a 3D computer generated images version from
Disney in 2009, one set in America during the Great Depression of the 1930s,
and even a couple where the character of Scrooge was portrayed as being female.
The first filming of A CHRISTMAS CAROL was a fifteen minute
silent movie made in 1908 followed by two other silent versions made in 1910
and 1913. There have been the straight
theatrical films, musical versions, and animated versions with favorite and
very familiar cartoon characters taking on the roles of Dickens' famous
characters. Of the twenty-eight movies,
ten were released under Dickens' exact original title of A CHRISTMAS CAROL as
were six of the twenty-three television productions.
Even though all the various productions of A CHRISTMAS CAROL
tell Dickens' story of Scrooge and the visits from the three ghosts, many had
their own unique twist and flavor on the original. I think my favorite is a 1970 theatrical
musical version titled SCROOGE which stars Albert Finney as the miserly
Ebenezer Scrooge who learns the lessons of the spirit of the Christmas season.
Wishing everyone a joyous holiday season, happy new year,
and most of all
and most of all
PEACE ON EARTH
2 comments:
I have three different versions plus Scrooged, and enjoy watching them every year. I may even break down and buy the Alistair Sims movie this year...and will definitely borrow the Albert Finney musical from the library! And did you know that An American Christmas Carol is viewable on You Tube?? Yep - gearing up now...
Ashantay: It doesn't surprise me of anything that's viewable on U-Tube. :) I found An American Christmas Carol interesting. Not only that it's set in the U.S. during the 1930 depression, it stars Henry Winkler as Scrooge in a role about as far from "The Fonz" as possible, but he also did something behind the scenes...either producer or director (without checking, I'm thinking he was the producer).
Got inspired after reading your comment and watched Scrooge, Holiday Inn, and one of my favorite Christmas movies...We're No Angels, a comedy Christmas offering starring an unlikely cast of Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, Basil Rathbone, and Aldo Ray. In fact, watched dvds most of the day, over 200 channels and there's 'nothing on' tv :)
Thanks for your comment.
Post a Comment