The Spirits of Christmas

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"There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember, Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not there anymore."

Ghost of Christmas Present (Kenneth More)

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Nearly five years ago, I noticed that one of my favorite — and relatively unknown — Christmas movies, "Scrooge," was being shown on Turner Classic Movies, and I tried to notify my readers of that fact. I discovered rather belatedly that I had missed the 40th anniversary of the movie's release by about five weeks.

Well, here I am, five years later, and today is the 45th anniversary of the theatrical debut of "Scrooge," a musical adaptation of the familiar Charles Dickens tale, "A Christmas Carol." I'm not really sure I have much to add to what I wrote in 2010. Well, maybe a few things.

A couple of days ago, I mentioned that I am not a fan of musicals, and the movie about which I was writing at the time — "Guys and Dolls" — was a big reason why. I also mentioned, though, that I do like some musicals — and "Scrooge" is a big reason why that is true, I suppose.

But, really, I'm not sure why my reaction to those films is what it is. Why do I like one and not the other?

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Maybe it is because I could always see the moral in "Scrooge," and I couldn't really see one in "Guys and Dolls" — other than "crime pays" or something similar.

I liked Albert Finney in the title role — but I've liked Finney in just about everything I've seen him in. Sometimes I have been baffled as to why he accepted an offer ("Looker" comes racing to mind) — but, having agreed to do the part, he always seems to give it everything he has. Far more often than not, he has risen to the occasion.

"The notion of Albert Finney playing Ebenezer Scrooge is admittedly mind–boggling," wrote film critic Roger Ebert, "and so is the idea of 'A Christmas Carol' being turned into a musical. But 'Scrooge' works very nicely on its intended level and the kids sitting near me seemed to be having a good time."

Ebert criticized the music, too: "(Leslie) Bricusse's songs fall so far below the level of good musical comedy that you wish Albert Finney would stop singing them, until you realize he isn't really singing. He's just noodling along, helped by lush orchestration."

That acknowledgement prompted Ebert to ask a question: "[W]hy does 'Scrooge' work? Because it's a universal story, I guess, and we like to see it told again."

I have always been a devout believer in the adage that a book is better than any movie that is based on it. But sometimes the movie tells us things the book apparently did not.

I was very young when I read "A Christmas Carol," and I don't remember a detailed discussion of Scrooge's lost love (played in the movie by British actress Suzanne Neve). It may have been in Dickens' original novel. I hope it was — because it certainly added a layer to Scrooge's personality to which many could relate. Darn few of us have not had the experience of losing a love.

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Most of us overcome it. Some, like Scrooge, do not.

In general, it seems Ebert was pleased with "Scrooge."

"Alec Guinness contributes a Marley wrapped in chains; the Christmas turkey weighs at least 40 pounds; Tiny Tim is appropriately tiny, and Scrooge reforms himself with style," Ebert wrote. "What more could you want? No songs, I'd say."

OK, he didn't care for the music. I get that. It wasn't great, I'll grant you. But I could tolerate it. (Ironically, the music was virtually the only part of "Scrooge" that was nominated for Oscars. "Thank You Very Much" was nominated for Best Original Song, and the music in the movie was nominated for Best Original or Adaptation Score.

(The movie also received Oscar nominations for Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction.)

And just as I admire Finney's work, I also admire the work of Guinness as Scrooge's business partner, Jacob Marley. Some critics liked his performance. Others did not; I recall reading a critical review that dismissed Guinness' Marley as a "gay ghost." Personally, I liked the performance. I thought it was suitably ghostly — and, as Ebert observed, "wrapped in chains," as one expects Marley to be.

But I suppose it wasn't everyone's cup of tea.

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After all these years, I still regard it as a classic Christmas movie, one that is always worth watching during the holidays.

Of course, if one wants to see a movie based on Dickens' classic tale, there is no shortage of versions from which to choose — but only one has Albert Finney and Alec Guinness.

In my opinion, that makes the decision much easier.

Scrooge

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The other day, when I was writing about Christmas viewing traditions, I mentioned that my mother always seemed to know what the latest Christmas movie releases were, and she always saw to it that the family went to see them.

One of those Christmas movies will be airing on Turner Classic Movies tonight at 8:30 (Central).

It is called "Scrooge," and it was a retelling of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," with Albert Finney cast as Ebenezer Scrooge and Alec Guinness as Marley's ghost.

I don't know what you would discover if you could compile the number of times a beloved Christmas tale, like "A Christmas Carol," has been performed on the big screen — or the smaller one, for that matter — or on the stages of school auditoriums or community theaters, but, if it isn't at the top of such a list, Dickens' story certainly must be near the top — especially when you take into account not only the faithful retellings of the story, whether set in the period or given a more modern setting, but the parodies as well.

Heck, I remember being in an elementary school production of the story when I was in fourth or fifth grade. That was a pretty straight–forward telling, incidentally — hardly a satirical treatment.

And, over the years, there have been several Hollywood versions. Some were titled "A Christmas Carol," others took their title from the lead character's name, "Scrooge." Some were made before the advent of the "talkies," others came along later.

The version that will be shown tonight made its debut 40 years ago — in November 1970 — and it earned a few Academy Award nominations, including one for the song in the attached clip, "Thank You Very Much."

That scene, by the way, has a delightful twist to it. Scrooge (the fellow to be seen wandering around in a white nightshirt and a white nightcap) is unaware that what he and the others are singing and dancing about is an expression of their gratitude to Scrooge for dying — and, consequently, nullifying the debts they all owed him.

Unknown to Scrooge, he is in the middle of his own funeral procession, and it plays a role in reforming him.

If you're curious as to how this was accomplished — and, considering how many times this story must have been told on screen and stage, how could you be in the dark about that? But never mind — you'll have to watch the movie for yourself, won't you?

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Unless you've spent your life in a cave, you must know about Scrooge's encounters with the ghosts of Christmas past, Christmas present and Christmas yet to come.

They are the broad brushstrokes of the original story, but each presentation contributes its own colors and textures.

And "Scrooge" managed to explore the reasons why Scrooge was the way he was. In hindsight, I can understand the emotions Scrooge experienced when he reflected on the love of his life, Isabel, and how circumstances had driven them apart forever.

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The same circumstances contributed to the lonely, old miser that Scrooge had become. And I guess we all know that that is pretty much how life operates.

In spite of everything, though — and in large part because of his visit with the ghost of Christmas present — Scrooge decides that he likes life.

I don't recall the critical reaction to the movie, but I liked it. I remember my family was visiting my grandmother in Dallas that Christmas, and we all went out to the neighborhood theater (an old–fashioned single–screen one with a lobby and a balcony and a marquee out front) to see it.

We may have done that on Christmas Eve. Maybe we did it a night or two before that. In my memory, Christmas had not yet occurred, but it was close, excruciatingly close in a child's eyes.

It was a cold night, even for Dallas, which is always milder than most parts of the country in December but seemed unusually cold that particular Christmas. It wasn't snowing — it almost never snows here at Christmas — but, in my memory, it seemed cold enough that night for snow.

Perhaps that is because there were so many cold, snowy scenes in "Scrooge." I don't know. But that is how it is in my memory.

I'm sure that, for many folks, the character of Ebenezer Scrooge was defined by George C. Scott in a made–for–TV movie that came out in the 1980s. For other generations, there were other actors, I suppose, who epitomized the character of Scrooge.

For that matter, I've seen Finney in several movies, and I really liked some of them. I was always particularly fond of his performance as Hercule Poirot in the 1974 adaptation of "Murder on the Orient Express."

But, to me, Finney was Scrooge. And he always will be.

Watch it and enjoy it, especially if you missed it the first time. As Scrooge learned, sometimes life gives you second chances.

Start your own Christmas tradition.