It’s A Wonderful Life. White Christmas. Die Hard. Home Alone. There certainly isn’t a shortage of classic holiday films to enjoy this time of year. Though Hollywood tends to shy away from the real Reason for the Season, they have produced a plethora of delightful Christmas-centric entertainment thru the decades. One reliable source that moviemakers have returned to over & over again is Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella A Christmas Carol. Y’all know the gist of the story so I won’t bore you with a recap. Suffice to say that it has been adapted into countless movies. Some stick pretty close to the book, while others take the plot and twist it in all sorts of ways. It isn’t easy to choose just a few of these for a weekend of viewing, but hopefully we’ve accomplished the task well.

Friday Night

Scrooged

Bill Murray doesn’t portray elderly miser Ebenezer Scrooge, but his cynical television executive Frank Cross is the perfect 20th century embodiment of the character. An eclectic supporting cast that includes Bobcat Goldthwait, Robert Mitchum, Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton, Jamie Farr, and Lee Majors is inspired fun. If you enjoy dark comedy it hits all the right notes, and might have the best ending of any adaptation of A Christmas Carol.

Saturday Matinee

The Muppet Christmas Carol

Kids of all ages can enjoy a version of A Christmas Carol by The Muppets. Two things need to be noted. First is the performance by Michael Caine as Scrooge. Though all of his co-stars are…obviously…puppets, the Academy Award winning actor made the brilliant choice to “play this movie like I’m working with the Royal Shakespeare Company” and “portray Scrooge as if it is an utterly dramatic role”. Secondly, it’s actually rather faithful to the source material, all things considered.

Saturday Night

A Christmas Carol (1951)

It is generally considered to be the best adaptation of the book, and Scottish actor Alastair Sim is always ranked among the greatest portrayers of Ebenezer Scrooge. It departs from the source material by adding a subplot about a malevolent businessman who lures young Scrooge to the dark side, and makes changes to the backstories of Scrooge’s sister & fiancee. I have mixed feelings about filmmakers taking such creative liberties. That’s one advantage modern society has…today there would be a plethora of interviews online & on TV with the director explaining those choices.

Sunday Matinee

A Christmas Carol (1938)

At the time the movie was made MGM had already produced a number of film adaptations of literary classics…A Tale of Two Cities, Romeo & Juliet, Anna Karenina, David Copperfield…and they preferred the movies be lighthearted & family friendly. Therefore this is a rather sanitized version of A Christmas Carol. No wailing phantoms. No starving children. No thieves stealing Scrooge’s stuff. His fiancee Belle is nowhere to be seen. The tone is pretty cheerful given the subject matter. However, within those odd parameters it works. When I was a kid it was shown on television almost as much as It’s A Wonderful Life.

Sunday Night

Disney’s A Christmas Carol

Am I weird?? I adore this version, but many people seem to dislike it. I’m not really a Jim Carrey guy, but utilizing his unique talents to portray multiple characters in an animated film is perfect. I’m also a big fan of motion capture, which isn’t necessarily a consensus opinion. It might be one of the most faithful adaptations of the book, which seems to be more important to me than the average moviegoer. Are some of the special effects a bit over-the-top?? Yes, but I’m okay with that. The tone is dark, but anyone complaining about that hasn’t read Dickens’ story. We’ve been conditioned thru the years to accept diluted stories that borrow the broad strokes of Dickens but reduce the impact for various reasons. Director Robert Zemeckis mostly avoids those pitfalls in this case, so kudos to him for that.