Scrooge
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This is a British movie that came out in 1951. In the U.S., it was released as "A Christmas Carol", but I'm going with the original title (which is also how it's titled onscreen). I'm pretty sure I saw it on TV at some point in like the 1980s or possibly the early '90s, but other than remembering the name Alastair Sim (who played the title character), I didn't remember anything specific about it (I mean, beyond the familiar plot that I've seen in many adaptations of the novella). I've always wanted to see it again, and I got it on DVD in 2024. I watched it on Christmas Eve, and nothing about it was specifically familiar to me. But it was good. This is considered by many people to be the definitive film adaptation of the story, and Sim is considered to be the definitive Ebenezer Scrooge. Personally, it's not my favorite adaptation, but I can see why it is some people's favorite.

Scrooge starts out as a miser who just doesn't care about anything or anyone, except making money. And he doesn't like Christmas, because it's a day no one wants to do business, and he even has to pay his clerk, Bob Cratchit, for no work on his day off. Scrooge also seems to dislike the sentimentality everyone has about the holiday, and the calls for charity that he doesn't think the poor require. He even turns down an invitation to Christmas dinner from his nephew, Fred. (One thing that always seems weird to me is that Scrooge calls his nephew "penniless", but when you see his holiday party with family and friends, he's obviously doing alright for himself, and even has servants. But that's something that bugs me about lots of stories from that era. At least he's poor compared to Scrooge, but obviously spends more money than his uncle does, to make his life more cheerful.)

Anyway, when he goes home after work on Christmas Eve, his old partner, Jacob Marley, who died seven years ago, appears to him as a ghost, and offers him hope of escaping the same fate as Marley, a terrible afterlife. Scrooge will be visited by three spirits that night: the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. I feel like everything that happens up until these visitations begin is kind of rushed. Not bad, it just felt to me like the story was trying to get to the important stuff as quickly as possible. But the Ghost of Christmas Past spends a lot more time with Scrooge than I'm used to, with additional scenes that help better convey Scrooge's change from a young apprentice who didn't mind being poor, because he was happy with his job and especially with his fiancée, Alice. But as time wears on, he becomes more obsessed with money, not wanting to suffer the same fate as so many people who are being overwhelmed by the changing times. He's also hurt by the death of his sister, Fan, shortly after she gave birth to Fred. And eventually Alice breaks off their engagement, believing he no longer loves her as he once did.

I'm leaving out lots of details about what the Ghost shows Scrooge of his past. Then the Ghost of Christmas Present shows him how various people are spending Christmas this year, most notably the Cratchit family. Bob and his wife have several children, including a young son named Tim, who is crippled, and who the Ghost says won't survive to next Christmas. After all these things he sees, Scrooge is repentent, but still feels he's too old to change his ways. Then the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows him how poorly Scrooge will be remembered after his own death, which finally scares him into changing. So, you know, he wakes up on Christmas morning and is quite giddy about his reprieve. He's so out of character that his housekeeper thinks he's gone mad, and even I thought he kinda seemed that way. But he eventually settles down and gets on with the business of amending his ways and helping people, and whatnot.

Anyway... it remains a good story, and the additions were welcome enough. Sim definitely does make a very good Scrooge, even if he's not necessarily my favorite. Like I said, I can understand why many people think he's the best. I'm definitely glad to have re-watched the movie. I liked it a lot, though I'm sort of sorry I didn't like it more than I did. Maybe part of it is underwhelming (relatively speaking) simply because it's so old. (It's the only black & white version of the story that I've seen, though that's by choice. I think I could have gotten a colorized version, but I didn't want to. So that's not something that detracts from my appreciation of the story at all.) I don't know how it could possibly have been any better than it was. But I can certainly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the story.