Late last night I caught A Christmas Carol, the 1951 black and white version starring Alistair Sim as Scrooge.
For me personally, this is the best film version of the Dickens tale and one which starts Christmas proper.
The film somehow seems to capture the London fog, the poverty, the wealth and the downright eeriness of the mid- 1800's, not bad going in 1951. It feels like a genuinely scary ghost story, say, in the same creepy way MR James' tales were televised. It's British Gothic at its best.
The appearance of Mervyn Johns as Bob Cratchett, a man running out of time for his son, harks back to his role in the equally fabulous and unsettling Dead of Night from 1945, amazingly after a WWII UK ban on horror being made, where he plays an architect lost in a recurring and very very disquieting dream. The finale with the dummy is simply stunning!
Both these black and white movies are just great and would go well as a double-bill.
What do you think readers?
I must admit,after a lifetime of scheduled television,I am slow to transition to menu -driven Streaming TV.But one thing I like to do is have "A Christmas Carol" marathon on Christmas day with as many versions of the tale as I can find.Movie versions, Stage versions, animated versions...Anything goes!
ReplyDeleteWhat a superb tradition Brian! Yes there's loads. George C. Scott, Jim Carey!
DeleteThe 1951 Scrooge is my favorite as well, due to the bleak atmosphere, the terrific performances all around, and the haunting score by Richard Addinsell. I even like the "colorized" version! SFZ
ReplyDeleteOoh, not seen the colourized version SF! I bet black and white is still better tho.
DeleteBlack and white is, sadly, a lost art form. It is capable of sheer brilliance.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing Dead of Night on my parent's new B&W telly and it scared the willies out of me. I remember the model FX bus crash and that spooky haunted mirror. - Not the least because my father had a similar gold framed baroque mirror he had picked up at an Antique shop!
ReplyDeleteLuckily, it only ever reflected a slightly apprehensive little boy!
I looked for Dead of Night on eBay, but it was priced a bit more than my nostalgia could repay!