“Come In! And Know Me Better, Man!" | Alastair Sim (1951)

Alastair Sim's classic version begins this scene where the previous one ended, with Scrooge in bed moaning "no no no" in his sleep about the miserable visions of the past. He's quite beat down by his experience and doesn't want to repeat it with another ghost, as we'll see.

There are chiming bells coming from outside, but they're not yet tolling a specific hour. When they finally do though, it's 1:00, finally revealing which schedule this version's ghosts are on. Marley only announced that the first ghost would come at 1:00 and didn't say when the others would arrive, but it seems now that they're on the multiple night plan.

The tolling bell wakes Scrooge and he's immediately nervous about what will come next. He pulls back the bed curtains and sees his empty bedroom, but doesn't have to wait long before a light comes under the door from the next room and he hears a deep chuckle. 

Sims' performance is always funny even when he's scared and it's hilarious that he tries to lie down again and pull the covers over himself, hoping that he'll be allowed to go back to sleep. That's not happening though and the Ghost in the other room invites him to "come in." Scrooge closes his eyes in resignation, then nods and gets up. "Yes, I'm coming..."

As he walks toward the door, it opens on its own and the music swells, revealing the Ghost sitting atop a throne of bread and fruit and meat. Heavy strands of garland are hung from the wall behind him and the fireplace is blazing merrily. The ghost continues to laugh and it's here that I notice the echo effect laid on him by the sound design. It's otherworldly and doesn't ruin anything, but I don't love it. It's not really needed and feels like overkill.

The Ghost has a good look, showing even more chest than the Reginald Owen one. The robe is right and his hair and beard are both long, though not as full or jolly as the Owen ghost. He's a large, imposing presence, too. Later, when he's standing next to Scrooge, he looks like he's about a foot taller. 

He has the holly crown and though it has no icicles, so few versions have had them that I'm wondering if I even want them at this point. The one time they were there (in the Seymour Hicks movie), they didn't look that great. I know they're in at least one other production we haven't talked about yet, so I'll hold off judging at least until then.

I can't see the Ghost's feet in this version, so I don't know if he's wearing shoes or not. He does have something hanging from his belt that looks like it could be a sheathed dagger, but I can't tell for sure. It's too small to be a sword scabbard though and I don't know what else it would be. A dagger would be weird since it sends the exact opposite message that the empty scabbard does. The worst thing about this Ghost though is that he's missing his torch. That's a crucial part of the costume for me.  

Scrooge doesn't say the line about learning his lesson, but it's all there in the performance and in what he does say. Like I said earlier, he's beat down and exhausted by the ghosts so far. But there are still obstacles to his changing. His first reaction, for example, is to shake his head and try to go back into his bedroom. But the Ghost invites him once more to come in and know me better, man.

"You've never seen the like of me before, have you?"

"Never," Scrooge says, wearily. "And I wish the pleasure had been indefinitely postponed."

The Ghost asks if Scrooge is still unmoved by his experiences and Scrooge complains that he's too old and beyond all hope of changing. It sounds like he sees the need to change, but despairs that he'll be unable. He says something about being left alone to observe Christmas in his own way, which as we know is not to observe it at all.

The Ghost isn't having it though. "Mortal, we spirits of Christmas do not live only one day of our year. We live the whole three-hundred-and-sixty-five. So is it true of the child born in Bethlehem. He does not live in men's hearts only one day of the year, but in all the days of the year. You have chosen not to seek him in your heart. Therefore you shall come with me and seek him in the hearts of men of good will." It's a good speech. I like it.

He holds out his arm and invites Scrooge to "Come. Touch my robe." Scrooge shuffles over resignedly and obeys. As the Ghost chuckles some more, the scene dissolves...

“Another Idol Has Displaced Me” | Alastair Sim (1951)

It's funny to me that after the Reginald Owen Christmas Carol skips this scene altogether, Alastair Sim's classic version more than compensates with a super extended look at not just Scrooge's fiancée, but a bunch of other stuff from Scrooge's past, none of which is in the book.

I remember the first time I watched this version. I was entranced by all of these apocryphal scenes. I'll run through them in a minute, but I loved the additional backstory and how it fleshed out Scrooge's descent into greed and misery. These days, having seen this version so many time, I get a little impatient with the extra material, but I'm still glad that someone decided to go there and fill all that in. (Although, like with the animated Sim version, it's hard to believe that all of these scenes take place at Christmas, so the Ghost feels out of bounds showing it.)

Before we get to the break-up scene, the Spirit shows Scrooge the following things:

• Fezziwig's refusing to sell his old-fashioned, family business to an industrialist named Mr Jorkin who wants to modernize it. Jorkin is understanding, but patronizing. And Fezziwig seems to know that his way of doing business is probably doomed, but he's ready to die on that hill as a matter of principle. Young Scrooge is in the office, too, and eavesdrops on the conversation with interest. He then has his own discussion with Jorkin when Fezziwig is called away to deal with something in the shop. Scrooge attempts to defend Fezziwig's ideals, but Jorkin tests him by offering him a job in a new factory that will offer much higher wages.
• Fan dies after giving birth to Fred. Scrooge is at her bedside and is furious at the baby (and Fan's husband) for killing her. He leaves when she goes unconscious and isn't there when she wakes up long enough to request deliriously that Scrooge take care of her boy. Old Scrooge hears her though, getting this information for the first time in his life, and he breaks down, begging her forgiveness. 
• Scrooge starts work as an accountant with Jorkin's new factory and meets the other clerk, Jacob Marley. Scrooge confides to Marley that he thinks the world has become a hard and cruel place and that people must become hard to survive it. While he admired Fezziwig's philosophy, Scrooge also saw that it was leading his former employer to ruin.
• Jorkin's company has bought out Fezziwig's and the new management is moving in. Scrooge agrees to let one of Fezziwig's employees stay on at a reduced salary, but can't bring himself to talk with Fezziwig himself when he has the chance.

Doing this project, I feel like I'm finally getting a handle on the Spirits' tactics and why they're effective on Scrooge. It has to do with his abandonment and neglect as a child and his fear of ending up like that again. His accumulation of wealth is all about control, which is why he's a miser with it (and also why you'll never catch Scrooge sliding on ice - voluntarily giving up control - the way other characters do in the various versions). Scrooge doesn't crave money so that he can spend it. He needs it so that he can feel secure. And he's instinctively suspicious (and I think, deep down, extremely jealous) of people like Fred who are willing to give up that safety net for love. 

Dickens is pretty subtle with his clues though, so I understand the desire for a movie like this to try to spell things out a little more clearly. Instead of Scrooge's dislike of Fred being out of jealousy for Fred's loving marriage, it's because of a side plot about Fan's death. The stuff about Jorkin and Fezziwig stays on point though and I think gets across the idea that Scrooge is making these decisions out of fear.

At this point, we see Alice (this movie's version of Belle) break up with Scrooge. The vision opens with her staring out a window in a house as the Spirit declares that "she is not changed by the harshness of the world." She's chosen love over fear.

She's not wearing black and doesn't appear to be in mourning, but one of the nice things about this version is that we've actually got to see Scrooge's gradual change in his attitude towards the world. Their conversation makes even more sense in the context of the preceding scenes.

There's a big change in the dialogue that continues the adaptation's trend of humanizing Scrooge. When Alice asks if he'd still propose to her today if he hadn't already agreed to it in the past, he hesitates, but declares, "Of course I would." That's much different from his non-answer in the book where he puts it back on her with, "You think not." 

She doesn't believe him though and releases him. He angrily snatches up her ring where she's left it on a table, saying that he must bow to her conviction. He's ticked at her for breaking up with him and I don't think it's just wounded pride. I think he still loves her and wants to make it work, but she's forcing the issue because he's going down a path she can't accompany him on. Some of the other versions suggest that she's presenting him with a choice: money or me. And he chooses money. This feels more real than that. She's not offering him a choice, she's just breaking it off and he can't do anything but accept it, which is super painful. 

This is apparently her house, because he storms out and leaves her there by herself where she breaks down. This is another aftermath that Young Scrooge never witnessed, but Old Scrooge has to. Like in the book, he tries to get out of seeing any more, but the Ghost declares that they're not done yet. Instead of peeking in on what happened to Alice though, we have some more scenes from Scrooge's life:

• Jorkin is accused of embezzling company funds and is being threatened with criminal prosecution by his partners. Scrooge (played by Alastair Sim from this point on) and Marley offer to pay off the discrepancy and save the company, but under the condition that they be given enough shares to control the company when all is done. They're now shrewd, cold businessmen.
• Marley's housekeeper Mrs Dilber arrives at the office to let Cratchit know that Marley is on his deathbed. If Scrooge wants to say goodbye before Marley dies, he'd better get over there now. Cratchit delivers the message, but Scrooge refuses to leave until the office has officially closed in another couple of hours. Mrs Dilber, who is completely awesome in this version, says that she'll "try and get Mr Marley to hold out 'til then, I'm sure."
• Scrooge leaves at the close of business, as promised. Cratchit tries to offer condolences, but Scrooge is completely cold and not having it. They have the same conversation about Cratchit's wanting all of Christmas Day off work that they will seven years from now in the main story, implying that this is an annual discussion that gets no easier for either one of them. "Every Christmas you say the same thing," Scrooge says. "And every Christmas it's just as inconvenient as it was the Christmas before."
• Scrooge arrives at Marley's, which is the same house that Scrooge inhabits in the present day. Mrs Dilber and the undertaker are waiting for him at the top of the stairs. Scrooge mocks the undertaker for being there so promptly and the undertaker explains that his "is a highly competitive business." I like how that plays into the scene in Christmas Future where both he and Mrs Dilber will sell items to Old Joe that they've pilfered from the dead Scrooge. 
• Scrooge goes into Marley's bedroom (same as Scrooge's bedroom later) and Marley is still barely alive. He can barely talk, but he looks miserable and desperate. "We were wrong," he manages to get out. "Save yourself." It's horrible and wonderful. Marley dies before he can explain further.
• Scrooge signs the death register at Marley's funeral as the Ghost explains that Scrooge also inherited Marley's wealth and house as well as his half of their business. The Ghost points out that Scrooge was emotionless during this scene, except for the greed he felt over Marley's possessions.

With this last vision, the scene dissolves back to Scrooge's bed where Scrooge is now lying and moaning in his sleep, "No no no no no..."

“Why, It’s Old Fezziwig!” | Alastair Sim (1951)

Alastair Sim's classic version skips right to Fezziwig's party in full swing by the time Old Scrooge and the Ghost arrive. It breaks the scene into two sections: the dance and then Young Scrooge in love. But where some previous versions that introduce Belle have neglected Fezziwig, this one pays attention to both.

Fezziwig is a lovely, joyously uninhibited little man with an endless grin. I don't think he's wearing a wig, but his hair is excessively curly (whether natural or something he's done on purpose). We never see his desk, but wherever it is, the fiddler isn't sitting at it. He's on a stool in the foreground. The dance is a raucous affair though with lots of stamping feet and people looking on and clapping from the sidelines and on balconies around the room. It looks like a great time.

Since there's no getting ready for the party, Dick Wilkins is never named. Which probably works in this version's favor. The schoolroom scene was especially sad and emphasized Young Scrooge's deep loneliness. He felt that no one but Fan ever cared for him. That would be undermined by a faithful chum like Dick in Scrooge's life. We'll see of course that Fezziwig has been nice to him, but it's a general kindness that Fezziwig extends to everyone, not a special, particular relationship with Scrooge. And we'll also see that Scrooge is in love with someone who also loves him, but that relationship is the exception that proves the rule. Scrooge's brief happiness in love only deepens the tragedy of his monumental loneliness.

We're not thinking about that right now though as Old Scrooge beams at the party and remarks what a kind man Fezziwig was. That cues the Ghost to question the assertion and Scrooge of course defends his old boss. Fezziwig's special attention to social outsiders isn't explicitly mentioned, but Scrooge says that Fezziwig's generosity affected not only his employees, but "everybody who knew him." During all of this, Sim's Scrooge never appears angry or put off by the Ghost's comment. He's still enjoying himself and he's not so much defending Fezziwig as simply stating what he knows to be facts. He only stumbles when he says that the happiness Fezziwig brought was as great as if it had cost a fortune. The word "fortune" pulls him out of the pleasant memory.

The Ghost notices something wrong and coaxes Scrooge into sharing. Sim is so wonderful as he dismisses that there's something really wrong, but admits, "Just that I'd like to have a word with my own clerk, Bob Cratchit, just now." His face and the music sell the moment. This is something that Scrooge is really feeling. And I love the Ghost's pleasantly satisfied expression at the progress that Scrooge has made. He decides that Scrooge is ready for another scene, though still at Fezziwig's party.

In a quiet corner away from the revelers, Young Scrooge is proposing to a woman. Her name is Alice, not Belle, for some reason. George Cole plays the younger version of Scrooge and he's great. He's a young man who knows that he has a lot of work to do in becoming financially stable and he's concerned about it, but he's also very much in love.

Alice teasingly refuses at first, but it's clear she's not serious. She's just enticing assurances out of Scrooge that he won't have a change of heart toward her some day. He seems equally concerned about money and her, but the attention he gives to money worries her enough that she wants to have a conversation about it before she accepts his proposal. He's able to reassure her though (very eloquently thanks to the script and convincingly thanks to Cole) and she whole-heartedly agrees. I think he's completely sincere at that point in his life. He sees in Alice an attitude towards money that he wants for himself. "I love you because you're poor, not proud and foolish." It's beautifully subtle, but I read that as Scrooge admitting to himself that he's proud and foolish, but doesn't want to be.

As he puts the ring on her finger and makes further promises about "eternity," Old Scrooge turns away, plainly hurt by the memory of how this will all turn out. "I've seen enough," he says.

"Yet more awaits you," says the Ghost.

Scrooge snaps at him. "I won't look!"

The Ghost takes no pleasure in ordering, "You shall." And a new scene begins to fade in.

“I Was a Boy Here!” | Alastair Sim (1951)

There's a transition scene from Scrooge's bedroom to the countryside, but it's a unique one. Instead of having the Spirit and Scrooge fly out the window and over scenery, a mist forms in Scrooge's room and then dissolves into what looks like some kind of tunnel with an hourglass floating through it to represent the passage through time. This then dissolves into a country scene with a quaint bridge in the foreground, a little village in the distance, and Scrooge's school off to the left in between.

As Scrooge and the Spirit talk about this being where Scrooge grew up, riders on horseback appear from behind a building and cross the bridge. They might be students leaving for the holidays, but neither Scrooge nor the ghost mentions or addresses them. Scrooge is distracted by the sight of his school, which he says looks lonely and deserted. "Not quite deserted," corrects the Ghost.

Sim's Scrooge has already been humbled by Marley and is being very polite to the Ghost. He's enduring an experience that he believes that he needs, even though he's unconvinced that it can actually help him. He never cries in this scene, but when the Ghost talks about the solitary boy left behind by his friends, Scrooge remembers and smiles sadly. "I know," he says. I like that the Ghost refers to Young Scrooge as being "forgotten" by his friends instead of neglected. I think that's an accurate, less confusing way to describe what Dickens was getting at.

The scene cuts to a schoolroom where a shockingly old Scrooge sits alone, writing on a piece of paper. Director Brian Desmond Hurst chose to use one actor for all the Young Scrooge scenes: 26-year-old George Cole. He's good, but way too old to play a schoolboy. Unless that's part of the point. Is this a Scrooge who has been left at school far too long when he should have been sent out into the world already to begin his career? As we'll see, that's a possibility given the feelings of this Scrooge's father about his son.

Young Scrooge hears a carriage outside and goes to the window to look, but he can't see it and doesn't know who's knocking on the schoolroom door. The door opens and a young woman walks in. It's Fan of course, but she looks to be about the same age as Scrooge. The actor who plays her (Carol Marsh) was four years older than Cole though and we'll learn that this Fan is older than her brother. Since we've skipped past Boyhood Scrooge, there are no literary friends to mention, but I'm cool with that.

Fan sees Ebenezer in the room and runs towards him. Old Scrooge cries out a heart-wrenching "Fan!," but she passes right through him to the younger version of himself. Sim is so good and I feel the ache in his soul at seeing this beloved woman again after having lost her so many years ago.

Young Scrooge's conversation with Fan begins faithfully enough, but screenwriter Noel Langley adds dialogue to reveal a lot of extra details about Scrooge's relationship with his father. I don't know if this is the version that came up with these details, but it's the earliest in the versions I'm looking at. It starts after Fan says that Father is so much nicer than he used to be and that home is like heaven. "For you, perhaps, but not for me," Scrooge says. He adds that their father doesn't even know Scrooge or what he looks like. It's implied in other versions, but stated clearly here that Scrooge has never been home since he started school. In fact, he goes on to admit that he hardly recognizes Fan, but I can't imagine that this is the first time they've seen each other since childhood. The actors aren't playing the scene that way. But it may have been several years since they last met.

Talk of Fan's looks leads to talk of their mother, whom Scrooge says Fan resembles. Fan admits that this might be why Dad has softened. Having Fan around may be helping the old man finally move through the grieving process, though I suspect it's had a negative effect on her. Marsh is 30-years-old and even though she's playing younger that's way past Old Maid status at this point in British history and culture. She's possibly given up marriage to stay home and comfort a father who likely doesn't appreciate her. When she says that he's kinder than he used to be, that earlier lack of kindness had to have been directed at her, since Scrooge hasn't even been around. 

She tells Scrooge that he's to come home and "never to be lonely again," a promise that Scrooge grasps onto and repeats. "Never as long as I live," she adds, which is again heart-wrenching since we know that she hasn't survived to the present day. The script unfortunately hangs a lantern on this point by having Scrooge ridiculously declare that Fan must live forever. He emphasizes this twice, which seems excessive as if he really is demanding that she somehow become immortal. I let it go, understanding that it comes from a place of deep loneliness, but it's overly dramatic.

As Fan gently chides him for his foolishness, the schoolmaster makes a cameo through the window as he orders Scrooge's box to be brought down and loaded on Fan's carriage. Watching Scrooge and Fan climb aboard the carriage, the Ghost talks about Fan's large heart and her children. Old Scrooge is staring out the window at his departing sister and he's getting angry at the mention of Fred. "She died giving him life."

"As your mother died giving you life," adds the Ghost. "For which your father never forgave you." And then, so insightfully, "As if you were to blame." Scrooge says nothing, totally getting the point, but too hurt to concede it. Ouch, this scene.

One last observation: It just occurred to me this year that Scrooge's father could carry some indirect blame for Fan's dying in childbirth. Clearly she did eventually get married, but her delay in doing so may have made her old enough to have had age-related complications when giving birth to Fred. If her waiting was due to her father's not being able to get along without her, then maybe Scrooge should have directed some of his anger there. Maybe he did and we just don't see it. Or maybe his feelings about his father are complicated enough that he didn't want to add that to them and it was easier to just follow Dad's example and blame the baby.

“Your Reclamation, Then” | Alastair Sim (1951)

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The 1951 Scrooge ended the previous scene with a terrified Scrooge jumping into bed and pulling the covers over his head. He was able to get to sleep though and this scene opens with him snoring loudly behind his closed bed curtains.

He's awakened by the chiming of 1:00, so there's no fretting about the passage of time. And by the time he has his eyes open, a light is already flooding into not just the room, but his bed as well. As spooky strings trill, Scrooge stares - frozen - at his bed curtains, which are slowly pulling themselves aside.

Like in the Reginald Owen version, the Ghost appears first as an aura of light before solidifying (mostly; you can still see through him) into his actual form. Director Brian Desmond-Hurst goes the opposite direction from Edwin L Marin by making this version old and male. He doesn't carry the holly or a cap, though he does wear a garland necklace, which might be where Alex Burrows and Micah Farritor got theirs from. He has a cool cape, too, giving him some additional authority.

This Ghost (he prefers that title) looks much more gentle than Marley's horrifying image, so Scrooge doesn't cower. He does look extremely nervous though, smiling timidly and being very respectful with his questions.

The conversation goes pretty much how Dickens wrote it and I love Sim's performance. It's not comical, but it is very funny and even sweet to see Scrooge so changed already from the cold, confident man he was earlier. When the Ghost says that he's there for Scrooge's welfare, Scrooge gives a weak little chuckle and repeats the word. He's not bold enough to even wish for going back to sleep, but he still retains enough sense of humor to see the irony of the situation. Scrooge's welfare is going to require some serious discomfort first.

The Ghost allows Scrooge's misgiving and changes his purpose to "your reclamation," at which Scrooge smiles sadly, but knowingly. It's a masterful performance by Sim.

The Ghost is mostly gentle, but he carries an air of authority like a schoolmaster. He's not going to be argued with and Scrooge is in no mood to fuss anyway. When the Ghost commands Scrooge to rise and walk with him, Scrooge looks like its the last thing in the world that he wants to do. But he obeys.

The Ghost waits for Scrooge by the window, which opens by itself. Scrooge figures out what's next and backs away. "Through the window?" he asks. And in response to the Ghost's question of whether Scrooge is afraid, he acts like a little kid, fidgeting with his robe and turning to touch his safe bed curtain as he practically whines that he's mortal and liable to fall.

This Ghost doesn't want to touch Scrooge's heart, but tells him that a touch of the Ghost's hand will uphold Scrooge in more than this. Scrooge complies, but he's still adjusting his robe and shaking his head as he does it. Rather than actually fly out the window, though, the Spirit and Scrooge simply disappear in a gust of wind and a rolling fog.

“More of Gravy than of Grave” | Alastair Sim (1951)

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The 1951 Scrooge is straightforward with the knocker scene. A lion-shaped knocker gets super-imposed with Marley's head and Scrooge is taken aback. One interesting change though is that Marley doesn't have the bandage at this point. He will when he appears inside, but this vision of him is exactly how Scrooge would remember him from life.

Inside, the house is well lit by an enormous window that lets in the moonlight. It's a lonely house, but not really spooky. Scrooge starts to close the door, then opens it again for another look at the knocker, then closes it for good. He double-bolts it, too. The whole place clearly belongs to Scrooge and the movie will state that explicitly later on.

Curiously, there's already a candle burning on a little table. Scrooge does have a woman who cleans the place though - something else that we'll learn later - so maybe it's part of her job to get the place into a certain state of welcoming for when he comes home. As he goes upstairs, I notice that the stairs are nice, but only wide enough for one person. There's certainly no hearse going up them and the atmosphere of the house doesn't seem like it would play tricks on Scrooge's mind. But then he does hear Marley's voice calling his name. He finishes the stairs more quickly, shouting, "Humbug!" In his room, he double-bolts that door, too.

The movie fades to Scrooge in his dressing gown, sitting down to a bowl of hot gruel. My wife pointed out to me last year that since Scrooge passed up extra bread for dinner because it cost extra, and because it's not clear that the gruel is for medicinal purposes, it looks like Scrooge is still hungry and has to supplement when he gets home. I like that reading a lot.

He's about to take a sip when he hears Marley call his name again. Convinced now that something's actually going on, he lets the spoon drop back into his bowl. He's still trying to figure out what's up when the bells start ringing. The movie does something cool with them, though. We hear the servant bell, but a shot of it reveals that it's perfectly still. Then a smaller bell joins it and Scrooge looks down at the little bell on his table, also not moving. A grandfather clock does the same thing. Scrooge tries to clean his ears with his fingers, but the motionless bells just get louder.

They finally stop and Scrooge has just about convinced himself to go back to his gruel when he hears a clanking from somewhere in the house. It gets louder and louder until finally the hallway door throws itself open and Scrooge drops his bowl and springs out of his chair. He's mostly looked disgusted up to this point - possibly at his own senses - but now he's terrified. It's then that Marley's ghost appears in the open door.

Marley is transparent and wearing the bandage. Not much new there, but he does remove the bandage early to make it easier to talk. When he does, he goes a little slackjawed and his whole demeanor is very tired, almost drugged, through the first part of the scene. Scrooge puts up a brave front for his part, fussing at Marley and giving him orders, but it's clear that this is all bluster. He keeps wiping his face, trembling, and he has a hard time looking at Marley. He does make jokes about indigestion, but this is also obvious bravado.

Marley gets frustrated with Scrooge's protests and shrieks loudly, which causes Scrooge to fall out of his chair and kneel before the ghost. He can no longer pretend not to believe and his "I do! I do! I do! I do! I must!" is totally sincere. Marley doesn't calm down. He continues shrieking, making Scrooge more and more terrified. As Marley, Michael Hordern sells the pain of his existence and the suffering that's waiting for Scrooge if he doesn't change. And Sim's Scrooge seems to honestly mourn Marley's fate and want to comfort him. Scrooge is miserable and petty, but I'm reminded that he wasn't always alone in that. He used to be able to be miserable and petty with Marley and I sense that he misses that camaraderie.

Marley can't be comforted, but he does offer comfort to Scrooge who seems grateful. Or he does until he hears what this second chance involves. He reluctantly declines, pretty sure that he can't go through this three more times. Of course, Marley isn't really offering him a choice. He tells Scrooge to expect the first ghost at 1:00 am (but doesn't mention a schedule for the other two).

Before he goes, Marley leads Scrooge to the window and opens it supernaturally. Outside, the mother and child sit in the snow against Scrooge's fence, surrounded by transparent phantoms on the ground and in the sky, all trying to throw money at her. The movie offers a good look at the woman's sorrowful face, which is a great way to increase empathy for her. Other versions have kept her distant; an idea more than a human being.

As Scrooge watches, Marley disappears from his side and reappears in the street below. But instead of tossing his own spectral money at her, he motions to her as if he's inviting Scrooge to do something. But Scrooge is far too frightened. He trembles and pants and shuts the window, then runs to his bedroom to jump in bed, pull the curtains closed, and hide under the covers.

His Usual Melancholy Tavern | Alastair Sim (1951)

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The 1951 Scrooge is famous for adding to Dickens' story, but it stays pretty trim in this scene. Cutting away from Cratchit's positively bouncing as he wraps up to leave the office, the movie follows Scrooge into the street. People bustle all around him. They're not really all that merry (no one's wishing anyone "Merry Christmas," for instance); they're just busy. Scrooge moves silently and determinedly through them and there's a funny bit where a blind guy (conveniently labeled with a sign around his neck) is pulled out of Scrooge's way by his dog.

Scrooge's tavern doesn't feel especially melancholy. There are people in the street outside, so it's not in an isolated part of town. And more important, there are people in the restaurant, eating and talking and smiling. The conversations are all quiet, so it's not a raucous place, but it's clear that Scrooge - sitting by himself with a partition between him and the others - is the melancholy element.

The interactions between Scrooge and the server have been silent in the last couple of versions, but it's different this time. In Matthau, Hicks, and Owen's adaptations, the focus is on how stingy Scrooge is. Matthau tips his server with a dirty spoon, Hicks scowls at his as if he expects to be cheated on the change, and Owen actually bites into a coin from his change to make sure it's good. There's none of that with Sim.

Instead, his Scrooge asks the server for more bread and is told that there isn't any extra. Scrooge pouts disappointedly and then barks, "No more bread!" as if it's his decision. That's a perfect fit with the way Sim has been playing the character. [EDITED TO ADD: Reader Gene comments below that I've been hearing the server wrong and I agree. He supports something that Diane has been trying to tell me for years. It doesn't fundamentally change my understanding of Sim's character, but it does make more sense and adds to the reading of Scrooge as petty and miserly.] 

His Scrooge isn't mean and miserly for the sake of being mean and miserly. He's simply got a very small worldview and is irritated, but also continually disappointed whenever it's challenged. He feels entitled to some things. And some of them, like people paying their loans back on time, aren't so unreasonable. But he also feels entitled not to be imposed on for charity and not to be robbed of a day's work by his clerk. These are understandable viewpoints, but they're very selfish and petty. And he reacts to the inconvenience the same way he reacts to getting no extra bread, like it's a personal attack. Every aggravation is further proof that the world hates him and that he's right for despising it. Every day is a bad day for Ebenezer Scrooge.

After dinner, Scrooge heads home. There's no gate or yard in this version; sort of like Scrooge McDuck's house in Mickey's Christmas Carol, his front door is right on the sidewalk. I don't remember that we ever get a look at Scrooge's street during the daytime in this version, but it's a wide street and I imagine that it gets a fair amount of traffic. His house isn't really tucked out of the way at all, but it does feel lonely this time of night with snow everywhere and no one else around.

“If Quite Convenient, Sir" | Alastair Sim (1951)

Index of other entries in The Christmas Carol Project

Alistair Sim's Christmas Carol really knows what it's doing. By introducing Scrooge at the Exchange instead of in his office, it holds off on letting us see him and Cratchit together until closing time. And by switching Fred's visit with the solicitors, it builds to that interaction in a cool way. We go from seeing him conduct business at the Exchange to seeing him conduct business - or rather, refuse to conduct business - with the solicitors. But his next visitor, his nephew, gets under his skin and throws Scrooge off. The strong, confident man of the first two scenes isn't so invulnerable when it comes to his sister's son.

As Fred leaves, he says goodbye to Cratchit, which is the first good look we've had at Scrooge's clerk. Cratchit seems uneasy with the conversation, which could be due to the class difference between him and Fred, or it could just be that he's generally nervous at work. It's too soon to tell, but the movie's about to make up for that.

Rather than letting time elapse in the office, the movie cuts to the city street. That's partly to let us see the Christmas festivities going on out there, but it's also to introduce us to Tiny Tim. Cratchit's youngest son is standing at a toy store window, waiting for his mom to finish an errand. When she's done, they walk towards home with Mrs. Cratchit complaining about Scrooge and how he'll want to keep her husband as late as he can.

That's the segue back to the office where the clock's chiming 7:00. Scrooge scowls at it and checks his watch to verify that it really is time to quit. He packs up methodically and walks to the front door where Cratchit is already getting ready.

Scrooge has had time to recover from his conversation with Fred and he's coldly professional the way he asks about Cratchit's wanting the next day off. Cratchit's timid reply seems to tick him off though. As we'll see later in this version, this exact conversation is an annual tradition for the two men and Scrooge doesn't like it. He snaps at Fred, but - and this is the genius of Sim's performance - still grabs my sympathy when he says that it's not fair. Even though he's wrong, he clearly believes he's right and it hurts him that he's alone in his view.

Cratchit is a nervous wreck for the whole encounter. He hates displeasing his boss and tries to take attention off himself by claiming that it's his family - not himself - who think it's important that he be home with them on Christmas. He's full of crap, of course. It's noticeable almost immediately that Cratchit doesn't agree with Scrooge about working on Christmas.

Scrooge begrudgingly gives Cratchit the day off and we see Cratchit smile for the first time, partly about the conversation's being over, but mostly about getting his holiday. In his delight, as Scrooge walks out, Cratchit accidentally wishes Scrooge a "Merry Christmas," but he stands his ground and bravely accepts Scrooge's disdain rather than retract his statement. He's too excited to let that bother him now and he's positively bouncing as he gets his own stuff together to leave.

Scrooge clearly makes Cratchit uneasy, but he doesn't seem to be unfair or abusive about it the way we've seen in some of the other adaptations. He's simply a hard, serious, unpleasant man, but Cratchit knows exactly where he stands with his boss. In fact, this Scrooge never even threatens Cratchit's job.

'You Wish to Be Anonymous?' | Alastair Sim (1951)

Index of other entries in The Christmas Carol Project

1951's Scrooge is another adaptation that puts the visit by the charitable solicitors in front of Scrooge's nephew. I speculated why that was last year and I'm happy to see that my previous thoughts match the theory I came up with this year, which is that putting the solicitors first is a way of presenting Scrooge's general worldview before honing in on his personal issues with Christmas and his nephew.

Alastair Sim's version began by showing us Scrooge at work at the London Exchange, interacting with other businessmen. When he gets back to his office, he has more ‘business’ to conduct, but this time with people looking for handouts. Seeing how he reacts to them makes a nice transition from the business world to the purely personal visit of his nephew.

The Scrooge we saw on the Exchange and Scrooge as he is around his nephew are very different characters. On the Exchange, Scrooge is energetic and dangerous. Where his sister’s boy is concerned, he's less sure of himself. It’s the first chink we see in the armor he so effectively wears around other people of business, including the charity solicitors. By switching Fred and the solicitors, the film can head into the next events with Scrooge less at ease and less on his guard. It’s a great piece of character development.

As for the solicitors, they're waiting for Scrooge when he gets back to his office from the Exchange. This version has them as thin men, which I won't read into, but is a departure from Dickens. Curiously (since they've been hanging out with Cratchit for who knows how long), they still don't know if Scrooge is Scrooge or Marley. Wouldn't Marley's death be something they learned when they introduced themselves to Cratchit?

There's a great, comical moment when the lead solicitor talks about Marley's "generosity" being represented by his surviving partner and Scrooge simply walks away and goes into his office. He's not inviting the gentlemen to follow, he's dismissing them, very rudely, and the speaker misses a beat of his speech as he tries to process what just happened.

He recovers though and with his partner follows Scrooge into the office, explaining the reason for the visit. The rest of the scene isn't played for laughs, but Sim is darkly funny as he questions the men. "A few of us are endeavoring to raise a fund," one of them says, "to buy the poor some meat and drink and means of warmth." "Why?" says Scrooge. And he genuinely doesn't know.

As the solicitor explains, Scrooge smiles, amused by the notion. He actually laughs when they ask how much they can put him down for. He's still very confident and in control, which will change once Fred shows up.

The solicitors, on the other hand, are shocked and confused by Scrooge's statements. They're severe, serious men (not like the pleasant gentlemen from Reginald Owen's version who seemed so passionate about their work), but they're also quite genuine in their concern for the poor and don't understand why Scrooge doesn't share it. "You wish to be anonymous?" doesn't come across as a legitimate question, but as a last-ditch effort to get a donation. These men know what's going on, but are grasping at straws.

I love that this version includes Scrooge's line about the poor not being his business. The script changes Dickens' text dramatically and effectively. "Isn't it, sir?" replies the lead gentleman in a way that makes me want to cheer. Sadly, Scrooge gets even more grumpy and insistent that no, it's not any of his business. He quickly dismisses the men with a gruff "good afternoon" and they exchange a frustrated look between themselves and leave.

‘Merry Christmas, Uncle!’ | Alastair Sim (1951)

Like the 1910 silent version, the ’51 Alastair Sim adaptation puts the Charity Relief Committee in front of the nephew. I wasn’t sure what the purpose of that was in 1910, but it makes more sense in this one. The Sim’s version began by showing us Scrooge at work, interacting with other businessmen. When he gets back to his office, he has more ‘business’ to conduct, but with people looking for handouts. Seeing how he reacts to them makes a nice transition from the business world to the purely personal visit of Scrooge’s nephew.

The two solicitors have just left Scrooge’s office and he’s started working when he hears a noise and looks up, startled. In this version, Scrooge has a separate office from Cratchit with its own door, so we never see Fred burst in from outside. He still manages to surprise Scrooge though, and Scrooge never fully recovers for the rest of the scene.

Fred comes in from the outer office and Scrooge tries to go back to work, dismissing his nephew. “Oh, it’s you, is it? What do you want?”

Fred offers his hand and assures Scrooge that he’s not there to borrow money (interestingly, he phrases this in a businesslike way, not even entertaining the idea that he could possibly be there for a handout), but simply to wish Scrooge a “Merry Christmas.” Fred’s not particularly cheery. In fact, he’s quite serious. He doesn’t expect Scrooge to receive him very well and looks like he’s politely going through the motions. Ignoring Fred’s hand and not even looking up, Scrooge skips most of Dickens’ dialogue for the scene and goes right to, “Keep Christmas in your own way and let me keep it in mine.”

The conversation proceeds like the book for a couple of lines until Scrooge points out that not “much good [Christmas] has ever done you.” The nephew protests that it’s certainly never done him any harm either, which gives Scrooge the opening to voice his objections about his nephew. “No, your wayward nature has done that. And your marriage.”

They argue for a second about whether Fred’s marriage was the making or the ruin of him, and Fred sees his opening. “Why don’t you come and see for yourself if you won’t take my word for it? Come and dine with us tomorrow.”

That finally gets Scrooge to look up from his work. He actually looks hurt by the suggestion, as if surely Fred knows Scrooge’s answer already and how dare he make them both go through this conversation. Scrooge shakes his head, but is surprisingly polite. “No, thank you.” No mention of seeing Fred in Hell first. Though there’s an obvious rift between Sim’s Scrooge and Fred, Scrooge seems oddly vulnerable around his sister’s son.

Fred is baffled by the degenerated relationship and goes back to Dickens’ text. “But why? Why?”

As in Dickens, the issue is Fred’s marriage (though we’ll learn later in a non-Dickensian scene that there’s actually more to it than that). The conversation proceeds more or less according to Dickens from there, with a couple of noticeable variations. First, when Fred says that he married because he fell in love, Scrooge doesn’t growl at the idea, he simply mocks it, pointing out that Fred’s wife is “a woman as penniless as yourself.”

As they continue to argue, Fred becomes angrier at Scrooge’s stubbornness. He more or less shouts his final “And a Happy New Year!” The affect this has on Scrooge is startling. He’s visibly shaken as he raises his own voice to bid Fred, “Good afternoon!” His hand is still trembling as Fred goes back to the outer office and Scrooge shouts a lame “Humbug!” at the retreating nephew and attempts to return to work.

The Scrooge we saw on the Exchange and Scrooge as he is around his nephew are very different characters. On the Exchange, Scrooge is energetic and dangerous. Where his sister’s boy is concerned, Sim’s Scrooge is much less sure of himself. It’s the first chink we see in the armor he so effectively wears around other people of business, including the charity solicitors. By switching Fred and the solicitors around, the film can head into the next events with Scrooge less at ease and less on his guard. It’s a great piece of character development.

The scene’s not quite over when Fred leaves the inner office. We get to see him stop and chat with Cratchit a bit, which is important since this is the first real look at Cratchit the film offers. Cratchit was all business with the solicitors, just taking their coats and whatnot. With Fred, we learn a little more about the clerk as Fred asks after the various Cratchits, including “the little lame boy” Tim.

Fred’s demeanor with Cratchit is pleasant and warm, as if he’s relieved to be away from his uncle and interacting with a normal person. Cratchit seems a bit nervous though. Scrooge is in the other room and not paying attention as far as we can tell, so maybe Cratchit simply feels socially inferior to Fred. That fits with the way he talks about Fred later on during the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, when he acts pleased and grateful that Fred would condescend to offer condolences about Tim and again ask after Cratchit’s family. In spite of Scrooge’s insult about Fred’s being penniless, Fred and Company celebrate Christmas much more luxuriously than the Cratchits, so there’s something of a class difference there. You don’t feel it from Fred, but Cratchit may have a different view.

Another explanation for Cratchit’s unease though could be that it’s just the way he generally is at work. We haven’t seen any real interaction yet between him and Scrooge, but knowing the kind of businessman Scrooge is, it’s not surprising that his clerk would be a nervous fellow. We’ll see more of their relationship in coming scenes, but I like how the film gives us hints already without our having to see them so much as speak to each other. Unfortunately, the movie cuts out Fred’s big speech and Cratchit’s comical reaction to it, but by doing that it adds a subtle, sinister element to the Scrooge-Cratchit relationship that’s quite effective.

Old Sinner: Alastair Sim (1951)

In spite of the extreme importance that Dickens places on Marley's death right away in his story, all the film versions so far have left Marley out of the earliest scenes. Alastair Sim's is the first to introduce him this soon.

From the beginning of the film we get a sense that it’s trying to mimic the reading experience. Ominous music plays as a hand pulls a leather-bound volume of A Christmas Carol off a shelf full of other Dickens work. The hand opens the book and we see the credits go by on the pages inside. To let us know it’s a Christmas story, the music eventually changes into, you guessed it, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”

After the credits, we get a close up of the first page of the story with “Stave I.” (Dickens liked to be clever with his chapters, especially in his Christmas books. A Christmas Carol has “staves,” The Chimes is broken into "quarters" of an hour, etc.) A voice then begins to read an abbreviated version of Dickens’ opening, “Old Marley was dead as a doornail…”

When the narrator gets to the part about Scrooge’s signing Marley’s death certificate, the scene shifts to the Exchange where Scrooge is getting ready to leave after conducting business. A couple of other businessmen ask if he’s going home for Christmas, to which Scrooge replies that “Christmas is a humbug.” The men laugh rather smugly, enjoying Scrooge’s misery, but also seeming to admire him for the extent to which he worships at the altar of Business. He likes money so much that he resents Christmas for keeping him from making any. The two men are like Star Wars fans who make fun of the guy who spends all of his money on expensive statues and replicas, all the while secretly envying him his collection.

Outside the Exchange, one of Scrooge’s customers is waiting for him to plead for more time to pay off a debt. “Did I ask you for more time to lend you the money?” Scrooge asks. “Then why do you ask for more time to pay it back?” Scrooge demands that the man make payment by the agreed upon time or – Christmas or no Christmas – he’ll put the poor fellow into debtors’ prison.Though Scrooge is obviously a moneylender in this version, later scenes with the Ghost of Christmas Past will show that he wasn't always that way, but got his start in some kind of manufacturing. One of the things this movie does really well is show the transition from Scrooge the apprentice in Fezziwig's warehouse to Scrooge the financier, but I'm getting way ahead of myself.

For now, it's enough to know that Sim's Scrooge is cold and horrifying. He’s tall like McDermott, but even more imposing. McDermott wags his finger like a cranky old man, but Sim – while old – is vital. He has energy; every bit of it focused on increasing his fortune. He’s miserable, but he doesn’t know it. I think that’s why he’s my favorite.

The opening section of this film ends as Scrooge arrives at his office, chasing off some carolers singing “Silent Night” from in front of the building.