...or else I might just have passed on something hawked as "Scrooge, the Musical!". I actually had to used my allowance to go see this with a friend (I was 12) and I actually scraped some of my money together to go see it a second time. Unlike so many experiences from childhood that seem larger than life and are disappointing as an adult, I still love this film and think it is the best of the film renditions of "A Christmas Carol".
I am putting a spoiler warning on this just in case there is somebody on earth who has never heard of the story of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". Believe me, the joy is in the experience, not knowing every little plot point.
Albert Finney was at just the right age that he could strike a handsome impressive pose as Scrooge the shy young man, yet look realistic with the right makeup (and trust me the makeup jobs here are great) as a bitter dried up old man who finds comfort in nothing, not even his money. He simply holds fast to it because he thinks everyone sane is as self involved as he is and if not, that they are fools.
Alec Guinness is terrific as Marley, Scrooge's long dead partner now in hell. He is terrifying yet he plays the part somewhat tongue in cheek almost to the point that you feel he isn't too upset that Scrooge is headed to where he is in the afterlife, he just enjoys scaring the daylights out of him.
Never being particularly religious as a child, the vision of hell conjured up when Scrooge confronts his future was very terrifying to me at the time, just the same.
And then there is the music - the songs actually work and add to the enjoyment of the film, "Thank You Very Much" being the most rousing.
There is just ONE tiny thing that occurs to me now when I watch this 44 years later that did not occur to me as a child. Would everybody have been so welcoming to a redeemed generous Scrooge the day after his epiphany if he hadn't had the money to buy things for them? Just a thought.
I am putting a spoiler warning on this just in case there is somebody on earth who has never heard of the story of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". Believe me, the joy is in the experience, not knowing every little plot point.
Albert Finney was at just the right age that he could strike a handsome impressive pose as Scrooge the shy young man, yet look realistic with the right makeup (and trust me the makeup jobs here are great) as a bitter dried up old man who finds comfort in nothing, not even his money. He simply holds fast to it because he thinks everyone sane is as self involved as he is and if not, that they are fools.
Alec Guinness is terrific as Marley, Scrooge's long dead partner now in hell. He is terrifying yet he plays the part somewhat tongue in cheek almost to the point that you feel he isn't too upset that Scrooge is headed to where he is in the afterlife, he just enjoys scaring the daylights out of him.
Never being particularly religious as a child, the vision of hell conjured up when Scrooge confronts his future was very terrifying to me at the time, just the same.
And then there is the music - the songs actually work and add to the enjoyment of the film, "Thank You Very Much" being the most rousing.
There is just ONE tiny thing that occurs to me now when I watch this 44 years later that did not occur to me as a child. Would everybody have been so welcoming to a redeemed generous Scrooge the day after his epiphany if he hadn't had the money to buy things for them? Just a thought.