David Lean's production of "Great Expectations" (1946) is truly at fault for the burst of all following adaptations of Charles Dickens's classics. It would be fair to assume that "many [...] would count [Great Expectations] among the greatest British films ever made." (A Christmas Carol and Its Adaptations: A Critical Examination of Dickens's Story on Screen and Television. Guida, Fred. 1999) The boom continued with Alberto Cavalcanti's "Nicholas Nickleby" (1947) which was neatly tucked between Lean's "Great Expectations" and his next adaptation in "Oliver Twist." It would only be a matter of time until someone on either side of the pond would end up making "A Christmas Carol" ... again.
The holiday classic would not be the first or last time it would be adapted having reached as far back as 1901 with 7 more adaptations until Henry Edwards's talkie "Scrooge" (1935) which starred a veteran to playing the shrewd money lender, Seymour Hicks who also starred in one of the silents back in 1913. Three years later, MGM sanitized the Christmas Eve ghost story down to "family film" fanfare with Reginald Owen in the lead. But it had been 13 years since the last British-made "A Christmas Carol" and it was indeed time for Renown Studios.
Under the original title of "Scrooge," director and producer Brian Desmond Hurst found his actor in the then beloved stage and screen actor Alastair Sim. "The Scottish born Sim was fifty-one years old when the film was made, but in keeping with its naturalistic approach, no drastic attempt was made to make him look older as MGM had done with Reginald Owen. Instead, one of the screen's great comic character actors was essentially allowed to be himself. With a wonderfully expressive face and eyes, a rich mellifluous voice, and an almost describable penchant for droll wit, irony and eccentricity, Sim was both a unique personality and a fine actor [...] As brilliant as his performance is, however, it never dominates the film. Instead, it is seamlessly integrated into a near perfect distillation of the story." (A Christmas Carol and Its Adaptations: A Critical Examination of Dickens's Story on Screen and Television. Guida, Fred. 1999)
It is popular knowledge that post-WW2 America had created an even more zealous industry in the Christmas holiday which can only be best explained for how poorly this classic holiday ghost story did in the box office. It also probably hurt that "Scrooge" now "A Christmas Carol," in the states, premiered November 28th, 1951 just outside of the holiday window and to very mixed reviews. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times relished throwing the MGM adaptation under the bus through "A Christmas Carol" as "not conceal[ing] Dickens' intimations of human meanness with an artificial gloss. The usual conceptions of Christmas in terms of puddings and flowing bowls are not visualized in this picture to any conspicuous degree. Even the gay board of the Cratchits is kept on a modest scale, and cheerfulness rather than foodstuffs is apparent in the home of nephew Fred." "In short, what we have is this rendition of Dickens' sometimes misunderstood "Carol" is an accurate comprehension of the agony of a shabby soul. And this is presented not only in the tortured aspects of Mr. Sim but in the phantasmagoric creation of a somber and chilly atmosphere." Variety, however, was even less forgiving and hated the film with a, according to Guida, review that "must surely rank as one of the most dunderheaded reviews of all time." Alastair Sim was said to "stalk[...] through the footage like a tank-town Hamlet." But overall, Variety found it as "a grim thing that will give tender-aged kiddies viewing it the screaming-meemies, and adults will find it long, dull and greatly overdone."
"A Christmas Carol" will be shown on Turner Classic Movies December 23rd, 10:00 EST/9:00 CST
Happy Yule, dear readers!
No comments:
Post a Comment