“A Christmas Carol” (1910)
Retro Review #3: We’re still talking a movie that’s more than a century old, but this is much better than the 1901 version.
“A Christmas Carol” (1910) — We’re still talking a movie that’s more than a century old, but this is much better than the 1901 version.
+ Silent short film, bw, £, 1910-12-23, 13m
Project #1: 2024 Christmas Tour
Project #4: 2025 Christmas Tour
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Family Suitability
+ ✅4️⃣ OK for younger kids. (Grades K+) | NR
Alignment with Judeo-Christian Values
+ ❎3️⃣ Very Good/Strongly Favorable
+ Based on literature (novella) A Christmas Carol. (1843)❗🔙🔜 ⭐ by Charles Dickens ⭐
+ ?/? works in Christmas Carol multiverse⭐
“A Christmas Carol” (1910)
Grade: A > (12.0) / HOF: 3
EQ 👍A | 📖A 👥A 📽️B+ 🎼B
DW 😎😎10.0 | 🌚10 🌝10
POPCAP 💯n/a 🍿n/a 🧢n/a
L-R ☮️n/a ◀️n/a ▶️n/a 🛐n/a
What a difference nine years and seven more minutes makes!
I’ve watched a few handfuls of silent shorts in the last coupl’a years and this was one of the better ones I’ve seen.
In just thirteen minutes this one covers the full story of Dickens’ work pretty well, while still using special effects comparable to the 1901 version. Better title cards to read helps, as did the music added to the enhanced version I found on YouTube, linked at the end of this review.
Possible timeline violation alert! The video linked at the end of this review chose “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” as one of their holiday melodies, a tune that may have originated after 1910. It can’t be definitely placed until it was arranged and performed in 1935, but it is considered a traditional carol and might have been in use already in 1910. So we will give them a pass for now!
All said, the 1910 tech is still a limiting factor for this short film based on the Dickens novella, but they get the mood of the source material pitch perfect and I was entertained for thirteen minutes.
Onwards!
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Watch on YouTube:
Note: This work is in the public domain.
+ last viewed (2) 2025-12-02, sd7, 1.33, 0D
+ first viewed 2024-12-02, sd7, 1.33, 0D
+ ⏳👻🎈⛄🎄🎅🦄🧙😥
Family Suitability Detail
+ ✅4️⃣ OK for younger kids. (Grades K+) | NR
+ 😡+4 😵💫+4 🤬+4 🤭+4 🫣+4
Judeo-Christian Values Detail
+ ❎3️⃣ Very Good/Strongly Favorable
+ ✝️ +3 ➕😇😇❤️❤️💒🩸
+ ✡️ +4 ➕✡️✡️🌗🌗💎💎💎🤍
+ 🗽 +2 ➕🗽🗽🏦🏦
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