Movie Review: A Christmas Carol

By Jennifer Anne Messing

Rated PG. Some images may be too frightening for young children.
*Recommended for viewing by adults with kids, ages 11 and up. Parental input advised.*

Check your favorite video rental stores for availability.

A Christmas Carol is a one-hour, forty minute, 1984 Entertainment Partners Production/Twentieth Century Fox movie release, in color, directed by Clive Donner, starring George C. Scott, David Warner, Frank Finlay, Susannah York, and Fred Holywell. It is based on the classic novel by Charles Dickens. This yuletide drama/fantasy set in 19th century England is sure to delight and bring some holiday spirit into your home.

Ebenezer Scrooge is a wealthy man who has made it his life’s goal to succeed in business at all costs and share his wealth with no one. His driving ambition to become rich and successful had even prevented him from marrying a beautiful woman earlier on in his life, and as the years have passed he has had no one to share his life and his fortune with.

On Christmas Eve Scrooge goes about his normal business and keeps up his miserly ways, not wanting to spend his holidays with any relatives nor even share a dime of his money with the poor. He’s firmly convinced that people who celebrate Christmas by giving love and presents to their family and friends are fools who are wasting their time. Scrooge does not even have a kind word or present for his faithful employee, Bob Cratchit (David Warner). When Scrooge’s nephew, Fred Holywell (Roger Rees) invites Scrooge to have Christmas dinner with him and his wife, Scrooge refuses and makes it clear he wants to have nothing to do with them.

Later that evening, after Mr. Scrooge has gone home to his empty house and has locked his doors, he has a most unusual encounter . . . or is it a frightening dream? The ghost of Mr. Marley (Frank Finlay), Scrooge’s long time deceased business partner, appears and warns Scrooge about the future consequences of living a selfish and greedy life. Marley also tells Scrooge that before Christmas morning he will have three more visitors.

That night, after Scrooge has gone to sleep, he meets the three strange visitors and lives through a night he will never forget. The three ghosts ultimately have a strong and clear message for Scrooge about the need for him to open his heart and his life, and even his pocketbook, to express love to his family and friends—before it’s too late.

This version of A Christmas Carol is very well-done and has many outstanding features. The fact that it was filmed in Shrewsbury, a historic English town, gives it an authentic feel of Victorian England during Dickens’ time. The historic buildings and homes and the period costumes make this film vividly picturesque as well as warm and inviting. Much of the stirring dialogue is taken directly from Dickens’ novel and the script accurately follows the story found in the novel. Some other versions of A Christmas Carol don’t follow the original story quite as closely.
The casting and the fine performances of the leading and supporting players make this movie a real treat. George C. Scott portrays Scrooge as cold, selfish, even nasty—yet he is still able to draw your sympathy at times. David Warner is perfectly cast as Bob Cratchit, a kind man and faithful employee who is also a loving husband and committed family man. Even the ghosts all render memorable and appropriately haunting performances. Parents are advised that some of the ghost scenes may be a bit frightening for children aged 10 and under.

A Christmas Carol is filled with many scenes that stir up memories of joyful family gatherings as well as scenes that are thought-provoking and which urge one to examine the life he or she is living. Are the life choices we’re making today ones that we’ll be glad we made 10 or 15 years from now—or are they choices we will regret or, even worse, have negative consequences we cannot undo? Perhaps Scrooge had overlooked a very important thing that Norman MacEwan sums up very wisely, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

Overall, A Christmas Carol is entertaining and upholds traditional family values. It’s the type of movie that can be viewed and enjoyed many times and can be added to your list of holiday favorites. May you and your family have a blessed Christmas!

Jennifer Anne Messing of Southeast Portland is the author of over 140 articles and a gift book, In the Shadow of His Wings. JenniferAnneMessing@comcast.net, or www.JenniferAnneMessing.com