Film Review: A Christmas Carol (1984, starring George C Scott)

Clive Donner directs George C Scott and an all-star cast in this enduringly popular version of the classic seasonal tale.

In this 1984 TV movie, George C Scott plays Dickens's famous miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, whose mean-spirited ways are challenged by the appearance of three ghosts on Christmas Eve.

Adaptations of A Christmas Carol stand or fall on the performance of the actor playing Scrooge. George C Scott plays the title role as sharp, principled (in his own weird way) and with his wits firmly about him, in contrast to the way, say, Reginald Owen played him in 1938, or Kelsey Grammer in the later TV musical (2004). No shuffling and hunching and comical mumbling here. He's no caricature, but a very believable character.

Scrooge's increasing anxiety in the final segment, as he struggles to avoid what he knows is true--that the dead man in his vision is him--is particularly well-played, and his desperate pleas as he sees his own grave and acknowledges his fate are both convincing and curiously painful.

Frank Finlay plays Marley's Ghost, bringing to the role some of the camp qualities associated with Michael Hordern (1951) and Alec Guinness (1970), but with a suitable eeriness, too. His fixed expression and occasionally robotic delivery of the lines has a remarkably chilling effect. As the Ghost of Christmas Present, Edward Woodward is jolly at the right time and frighteningly stern at other times, as the character ought to be. Angela Pleasance was the right choice to play the Ghost of Christmas Past, which Dickens describes as androgynous. Only Roger Rees seems a bit out-of-place, appearing much too morose as Scrooge's nephew, Fred.

Director Clive Donner handles the horror aspects of the story excellently; a failing in many adaptations. A Christmas Carol is, after all, a ghost story. Key scenes such as Marley's arrival in Scrooge's chambers and Scrooge's visit to the graveyard with the Ghost of Christmas Future exude a genuinely frightening atmosphere.

The film is one of the few versions of the story to feature extensive shooting on location, rather than confined to a studio backlot. The English town of Shrewsbury stands in for Victorian London, giving the production a pleasing authenticity. The prop men left behind Scrooge's gravestone in St Chad's churchyard, where it can still be seen today.

Those intimately familiar with Dickens's novel will appreciate this version for its faithfulness to the source. Its popularity ensures it airs regularly on TV, and for fans who'd like to savour the movie all year round, it is now available to buy on DVD and Blu-ray.

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