Scrooge (1935)
Retro Review #10: It’s the best Scrooge we’ve seen yet, but could use more of the Charles Dickens twinkle.
Scrooge (1935) — It’s the best Scrooge we’ve seen yet, but could use more of the Charles Dickens twinkle.
+ Feature film, bw £ 1h 18m
Project #1: 2024 Christmas Tour
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A ^
Family Suitability
+ ✅2️⃣ OK for teens and adults. (Grades 7+) | Approved
Alignment with Judeo-Christian Values
+ ❎4️⃣ Excellent/Very Strongly Favorable
+ Based on literature (novella) A Christmas Carol. (1843)❗🔙🔜 ⭐ by Charles Dickens ⭐
Scrooge (1935)
Grade: A ^ (12.0) / HOF: 20
EQ 👍A- | 📖A 👥A- 📽️B 🎼A-
DW 😎7.4 | 🌚10 🌝7
POPCAP 💯n/a 🍿n/a 🧢n/a
L-R ☮️n/a ◀️n/a ▶️n/a 🛐n/a
In the novella A Christmas Carol. by Charles Dickens, the genius in his writing can perhaps best be expressed by pointing out that even in the sad, solemn or grim scenes of the story, the reader can still sense the tongue in the author’s cheek and the twinkle in his eye.
This film is the earliest feature-length adaptation of the novella that still exists today, and also the earliest non-silent adaptation with both the video and soundtrack available.
It takes full advantage of its length, by faithfully reproducing almost every scene from the original source, both in content and dialogue. Only a little is left out.
But the Dickens twinkle is mostly left out. It seems to me that the hardest thing for the adaptation makers to capture is the sense of humor and whimsy that permeates the original Dickens work.
Fortunately for this film, some of the Dickens twinkle unavoidably comes through in the content and dialogue of the happy scenes. It’s the serious scenes that suffer for the twinkle’s absence and the black-and-white cinematography doesn’t help.
This remains the best adaptation of the novella up to this point in history. Despite the overly-somber tone of the film, the brilliance of the novella and its powerful message of redemption survive triumphant over the missing twinkle. The connection of the message to its Christian heritage is adhered to faithfully in this adaptation, ultimately making it a film worth watching, even if it wasn't the first surviving feature-length Scrooge movie.
Lead actor Seymour Hicks had been playing Scrooge on stage since 1901, and also played the role in the 1913 silent short “Scrooge”. His performance here in 1935 is excellent and marks the first really noteworthy portrayal of Scrooge set to celluloid that has survived until today.
Onwards!
+ last viewed (2) 2025-12-04, HDI7, 1.37, 1D
+ first viewed 2024-12-03, HDI7, 1.37, 1D
+ ⏳👨👩👧👦👻🎈🎄🎅🦄🧙😥
Family Suitability Detail
+ ✅2️⃣ OK for teens and adults. (Grades 7+) | Approved
+ 😡+3 😵💫+2 🤬+4 🤭+3 🫣+4
Judeo-Christian Values Detail
+ ❎4️⃣ Excellent/Very Strongly Favorable
+ ✝️ +4 ➕✝️✝️✝️🎁😇😇😇💒🩸🩸🩸
+ ✡️ +4 ➕✡️✡️✡️🌗🌗🌗💎💎💎
+ 🗽 +1 ➕🗽🇬🇧🏦🏦 ➖💲
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