Every Adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" Part 3: The Good, the bad, and the ugly

[@trevortrillion6037]

A Wonderful Part 3 from you! Thank you again. Having read the book about 25 times in 30 years, I consider the 'turning point' of Scrooge's redemption to be the ghost of Christmas Present's angry, condescending speech to Scrooge that you've shown here at 10:12 - 10:32. Actually part of the book, using Scrooge's own words against him. The 1984 Scott and 1999 Stewart films use this point. One last recommendation from me to you (with your great interest) is the 1954 version with Fredric March as Scrooge, Basil Rathbone as Marley. Thanks again for your great 3-part series.

[@barbarahannon6033]

I can see that the other way arounnd Basil Rathbone as scrooge and Fredrick March as Marley.

[@trevortrillion6037]

Yes, that version almost exists. Rathbone was Scrooge in 1959 and March was only the narrator. 28 minutes long for TV. then a VHS in 1993 and a DVD in 2009, I have them all.@@barbarahannon6033

[@DeCostaPictures8526]

Very nice video, I’ve always been a fan of “a Christmas carol” films as well. Merry Christmas!

[@dc7981]

The reason Caines Scrooge works so well is cause there’s a gradual change in his character, in most other versions Scrooge is unchanged up until the end when he sees his grave but in the muppets version you can see him slowly shift to how he will turn out in the end

[@WestMichiganTransformers]

I watch the 1984 George C. Scott adaptation basically every year now. It is so well done! George C. Scott feels at once irascible and deeply relatable-and then, from his transformation at the graveyard and through the entire closing action of the story, his depiction of a reformed Scrooge just takes you with him.

[@Tiberius_Productions]

Glad you enjoy the George C Scott version! I loved George C Scott in Exorcist 3 so I’m hype to see how he does playing our favorite cynic! I was also rather disappointed by Reginald Owen’s portrayal of Scrooge so I’m happy to see another actor play Scrooge well besides my favorite Alistair Sim!

[@illinoismotionpicturestudi5065]

Sim is really good, but I think Scott captures Scrooge better.

[@KawikaProductions]

Thank you so much for making these videos a while back. It’s amazing to see all these different versions of “A Christmas Story” into one video. The thing that I liked about the original story is how a man like Scrooge confronts his entire life - before making the hard decision to completely change his ways. The first version that I saw was the Mickey Mouse version. But after seeing this, I think I’ll try to watch the 1984 version. And it makes sense ranking the 1984 version a 10/10. Your favorite one is the one that you grew up with.

[@illinoismotionpicturestudi5065]

Yeah, it's tough to beat George C Scott. He has such command of every scene he's in. A true master of his craft. If I ever revisit this series I'll probably briefly review 'Mickeys Christmas Carol' since I've gotten several requests to do that version.

[@walterwhite4862]

Thanks for posting this!! you can put that ranking now thx

[@illinoismotionpicturestudi5065]

That’s outrageous…. Done! (From worst to best) Scrooge 1935 (My reasoning is that, while the Albert Finney version is terrible, I can at least remember aspects of it. I can enjoy how terrible it is at times, the 1935 one is just boring. Which in my opinion is the worst crime of all) Scrooge 1913 Scrooge 1922 (I forgot this one even existed) Scrooge 1970 A Christmas carol 1910 Marleys ghost 1901 A Christmas carol 1938 A Christmas carol 2009 A Christmas carol 1999 Muppet Christmas Carol Scrooge 1951 Christmas Carol 1984

[@gottahurtthealbertosaurus]

I wonder what your thoughts on the 2019 Christmas Carol Mini-Series with Guy Pearce as Scrooge are? It's a lot darker than the other Christmas Carols and I'd say It harms it.

[@illinoismotionpicturestudi5065]

Haven't seen it, but I've heard mixed things on it. Not sure I want to commit to watching a 3 hour version of a Christmas Carol but I'm willing to give it a chance.

[@henrycoffey1207]

I have to disagree with you on Scrooge (1970).

[@lindawolffkashmir2768]

Yes. Scrooge (1970) may not be the best one made, but it does have some very good moments within it. I do like the part of Scrooge going to hell, myself.

[@tsmotions3446]

Finally back

[@illinoismotionpicturestudi5065]

I’ve returned from the gas station with milk after four months

[@tsmotions3446]

@@illinoismotionpicturestudi5065 wow, you must’ve gone to a really distant gas station

[@justmanic9673]

I actually really disliked the town celebrating his death. As I always thought nobody caring one way or another was the point.

[@illinoismotionpicturestudi5065]

I agree with you, but in the context of that particular version I think it's a standout. There actually was a section in the book which most versions omit where a young couple are happy to hear about the death of Scrooge since they owe him money.

[@lindawolffkashmir2768]

I think everyone was celebrating, because practically everyone owed him money in that part of town. With Scrooge’s death, these people were given a slight reprieve from paying back what they owed, and most likely the person who would take over the books would be a lot more lenient than Scrooge.

[@hardtfelt]

I really enjoyed watching all 3 of these, even though I almost completely disagree with you on almost every film! I love the 1935 version and I love the weird Finney one and I only think the Muppets and Sims are OK (and I will never watch the Jim Carrey one) - but as I said, I really enjoyed hearing you talk about them.

[@abbycollins4820]

Cool

[@kelleyceccato7025]

Scott's version is my favorite as well. Tiny Tim may be a bit cringe -- Robin the frog is the only iteration of that character I actually like -- but otherwise this movie is perfectly cast. It's seamless. While I love 99% of the performances, the standout for me, apart from Scott's beautifully nuanced Scrooge, is Edward Woodward's Christmas Present, who, as you rightly point out, is scary as hell at certain moments. His interactions with Scott's Scrooge are golden, two stone-cold badasses going toe-to-toe. "It's a rather small goose." "It's all Bob Cratchit can afford." / "Tact is a quality I despise." "That, I can see." / "Without me there would be no feast, no goose at all." "Is that all you've learned from observing this family on Christmas Day?" "No, but one must speak up for oneself, for one's life." (I find it interesting that in this one little exchange, Christmas Present actually lets Scrooge have the last word.)

[@illinoismotionpicturestudi5065]

Everyone in that movie was expertly cast, but apparently things could have been very different. I did some digging and David Warner was actually supposed to play Jacob Marley, but he lobbied hard for the part of Cratchit. Edward Woodward almost missed out entirely, having actually been brought on as a replacement for Leo McKern (Who was the original choice for Christmas Present) Fun Fact: Edward Woodward is the father of Peter Woodward, who played General O'Hara in "The Patriot" (He's the guy with the overly British laugh after Cornwallis says "Nearly takes the honor out of victory..nearly")

[@DJParticle]

Small correction: The 1970 version time-shifted the story forward 17 years to 1860 for some reason.

[@illinoismotionpicturestudi5065]

I remember getting hung up on that during editing. Technically the scene I had a joke about takes place several years in the past and would really be accurate if I said 'Nice 1790's costumes guys' but I thought that would confuse people, and would further complicate things since the 1970 version changed the year the story is set in from 1843 to 1860. I don't know why the production decided to do that, obviously it's not a criticism but it's just kind of weird.

[@richardkennedy8481]

Did I miss the 60"s? Rod Serling's (Twilight Zone) A Carol For Another Christmas 1964. And Henry Winkler as Schroog in 1979

[@illinoismotionpicturestudi5065]

Funny you mention that, I recently watched 'An American Christmas Carol' and thought it was fine. I didn't hate it, but thought they could have gone further with some of it's concepts/ the 30's setting

[@scottvasquez1401]

Interesting that you mentioned that Thank You Very Much was the only song you liked because that was the song that was nominated for the Academy Award. I agree that the 1984 version is the best adaptation because it hits every beat the book had and does not leave anything out, and I love the additions of him being a businessman at visiting the stock trade since according to the book, he is a stockbroker. The Patrick Stewart version however is the most text accurate version, but Scott is still better.

[@illinoismotionpicturestudi5065]

Didn’t know that. Yeah it was definitely deserving of an award in that department. I still come back and listen to that whenever the holidays roll around. Thanks watching video

[@eamonclark4952]

I respect your opinion on Scrooge (1970) and I respectfully disagree although I do agree that the HE double hockey sticks scene was dumb and the worst scene in the film but other than that I really like the film it’s fun in the words of ColinLooksBack “That’s the thing with Scrooge it doesn’t always work but it’s fun”

[@bromhead]

I am a little late for this video but when is the pirate movie coming out?!?!?! all I want is a date for when it will come out but anyways good video (:

[@illinoismotionpicturestudi5065]

I don’t know, hopefully somewhere in February-early March

[@user-qn5iq3os4k]

I have disagree about Scrooge (1970) it was absurd dark comedy take on the story there are scenes in this production that shows this like the hell scene and the scene with Marleys ghost and an other example of this dark comedy take is Albert Finneys performance as Scrooge its supposed to be hammy and over the top it loses all the humor if he plays it straight and it wont work because anyone in comedy would tell you a straight lead in an absurd dark comedy wont work and before you say anything watch the movie again because Finney has geniune legit powerfull moments through out the production like the past scenes and the ending

[@illinoismotionpicturestudi5065]

You are certainly entitled to your opinion and I'm glad you liked it, but the 1970 version just doesn't do it for me. In retrospect I was probably a little too harsh on it, as the 1935 movie is the worst out of all of them, but my overall view on the 1970 hasn't changed.

[@alcarbo8613]

Wow wow wow, how could you skip over A Mickey Christmas Carol?

[@illinoismotionpicturestudi5065]

In episode one I state that I won't be covering media with a 'special holiday theme' which basically means it can't just be regular characters from a show or movie doing Christmas Antics. (The Muppets being the exception to this rule). Another reason is that I didn't think it was all that interesting to cover, and wouldn't have much to talk about.

[@alcarbo8613]

@@illinoismotionpicturestudi5065 A Mickey Christmas Carol is a classic and does a remarkably good job of capturing the spirt of the story, you should give it a 2nd look, it’s a surprisingly good adaptation