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Trollheart · 12-12-2014, 05:25 PM

Okay, time to check out three more versions of this classic tale and see how they measure up. First we have this one, and yes, it's not quite chronological, but to be honest I had originally intended not to feature this one, then thought better of it. So this comes just before the 1951 version. And no, my 1938 DVD has not yet arrived...

Year: 1949
Medium: Black-and-white
Starring: Taylor Holmes, and narrated by Vincent Price
Directed by:
Length: 26 mins

Brief comments: Although it's wonderful to see Price reading the story and bringing his usual flair and warmth to the movie, the acting is at best adequate and the way I see this is almost like the original 1910 version but with sound and slightly --- slightly --- better effects. It seems very rushed, as the ghosts sequences are truncated and the whole idea seems to be to get the thing done as quickly as possible, which does not translate well to the screen.

CHARACTERS
Scrooge: Not the greatest, but then Holmes is rather rushed through his role. I'll be generous and say a 4.
Marley: Awful. Nothing more than a man standing in front of Scrooge, not even an attempt at making him seem transparent. When he leaves, he simply walks out the door. The version ten years previous did him far better. 2
Cratchit: Again, just adequate. Nothing stands out about him. 4
Tiny Tim: Same really. Back to annoying again, and the constant androgynising of Tiny Tim through these movies --- at least the early ones --- he always seems like he could be a girl (Tiny Tina?) --- is annoying. 3
Others: n/a
The Ghosts: Awful to a man. I won't even bother separating them, and will give them a low score of 10 to share among them.

Faithful to the novel: Yes, but very rushed and abridged, so only gets a 4 again.
Emotion level: Zero
Puke level: Zero
Horror level: Zero
Soundtrack: Meh, pretty standard. 5.

So that makes a total of 32. Lowest yet, even lower than the silent version, which comes across as far superior. I do however have to take into account the titanic figure of Price, without whom this would never have flown, and so he adds an extra 10 to the poor, poor score, leaving it at a pretty low but somewhat more respectable 42.

Year: 1954
Medium: Black-and-white (Originally colour apparently, but only a b/w version has survived)
Starring: Frederic Marsh, Basil Rathbone
Directed by:
Length: 60 mins

Brief comments: For a so-called musical, the movie seems to consist of a drama with its own score, with intermittent interruptions from a vocal choir. Weird. Made-for-TV special, not particularly impressed with it I must say. Messes with the ending: no massive turkey for Cratchit, Scrooge has dinner with them instead of his nephew, and generally it ends on a song, pretty annoying.

CHARACTERS
Scrooge: Terrible. Flat, uninteresting/ed, not in the least scared when Marley appears. Very very poor. Does improve a little as the movie goes on. Still, I'd give him the lowest rating yet: 2
Marley: You'd think with an accomplished actor like Rathbone playing him he'd give a good performance. You'd be wrong. He's stiff, flat, boring. He walks like a zombie or a robot. Poor. Another 2.
Cratchit: Least annoying yet. Kind of reminds me of a cross between Jack Lemmon, Bob Hope and Kelsey Grammer. Doesn't make me want to puke. 8
Tiny Tim: Meh, he was doing reasonably ok until he started singing in an annoying soprano. Losing points for that! 5
Others: n/a
The Ghosts: The Ghost of Christmas Past: Good twist, this time it's a pretty girl, whom I think is meant to resemble Scrooge's lost love. 5
The Ghost of Christmas Present: More like a bellboy than a ghost, and he sings! Like, constantly! He won't shut up! If I have to hear this fucker sing "A merry merry Christmas!" one more time I'll bloody bury him with a sprig of holly through his heart! Plus he looks like Fred, Scrooge's nephew. Yeah, same actor. Scrooge even remarks upon it, though the ghost pretends he doesn't know what he's talking about. Still, have to give him points for being the first original Ghost of Christmas Present, even if his singing does get on my wick! Okay, okay! A 7, 8 if you'll shut up singing. No? 7 it is then.
The Ghost of Christmas To Come: Not shown. Scrooge wanders alone into the graveyard and in something of a “two-for-one” sees his own grave and then Tiny Tim's. A bit cheap, though the use of the crow on the headstone is good. Is that meant to be the ghost? Cheap get-out but again marks for originality. All I can award here really though is a 4, as there is no actual ghost shown. Although it may be the crow. But it may not be.

Faithful to the novel: Not really. In its way yes, but very rushed and truncated. 5. I'm revising that, due to the liberties taken with what is always the ending, so down to 3.
Emotion level: Not terribly. Maybe a 3
Puke level: Again, no. Zero.
Horror level: Little, but the crow adds something and Scrooge being alone in the graveyard gets this a grudging 2.
Soundtrack: It's a musical, so it has songs, but they're mostly in soprano which is annoying and none of them speak to me. Still, have to award it points for originality. Say 6.

Total then is 47. However because of the serious screwup on the ending I'm deducting 10 points. "A Christmas Carol" is a story that, no matter what you do, the ending is set in stone and should never be changed as they did here. So because of that, this effort can only muster a paltry 37. Boo!

Year: 1962
Medium: Colour (Animated)
Starring: Mister Magoo!
Directed by:
Length: 62 mins

Brief comments: I thought about not including this, but if I did that then I would have to question looking at other animated versions, and there are some really good ones, so in the end I decided to go with it. I initially thought I was not going to like it, as t here's an annoying little supposed-to-be-funny prologue where Magoo has to get onstage (the whole movie is acted out on stage) and accidentally goes to a restaurant. But once it settles down it's actually very well handled and the songs are really quite good. Its hard to take Mister Magoo as Scrooge seriously, but it's not the disaster I had worried it would be.

CHARACTERS
Scrooge: Decent, but it's a little hard to take anyone seriously (even a cartoon character) who has his eyes screwed up all the time. Plus, who doesn't love Magoo? Have to rate him at a mid-range 5 really.
Marley: Again, ok, but a little overacting. Decent ghost, and they remembered the chains. 5 also.
Cratchit: Least annoying Cratchit yet, even less so than the previous but still a little too willing to accept their situation with good grace, damn him. Have to say a quite decent 8
Tiny Tim: The first one not to annoy me. He's cute and bearable. A high 9 for him
Others: n/a
The Ghosts: Ghost of Christmas Past: Very good, quite cute and even sexy (!) in a way (yes, there's something wrong with me, I know!). Smiles a lot but has a sort of sadness in his/her smile (not sure if it's meant to be male or female). Of all the Ghosts of Christmas Past so far, definitely the best, considering it's a cartoon. I love the way the burning candleflame above his/her head dims when their time is running out. A serious 8 here.
Ghost of Christmas Present: Pretty much the same as all others, but with a severe aspect I haven't seen in the others. Give him a 6
Ghost of Christmas to Come: Although again a hooded figure, there's something creepier about him than the others, so he gets a 6 too.
Ghosts Total: 20

Faithful to the novel: Very much so. Even Fezziwig is included, although Scrooge's love is called Belle, not Alice? Even so, a very high 8
Emotion level: Zero.
Puke level: Zero.
Horror level: Zero.
Soundtrack: Very decent, some nice songs, first one to have songs written for it rather than just use hymns and carols. Got to give this an 8

So the total then is 60. But then it has to get extra points, both for being the first animated version and for being the first version in colour, so let's say 5 each for those, bringing us to a Grand Total of 70, highest score yet, surprisingly in some ways!

Which means that despite his short-sightedness, ol' Magoo races to the top and easily into the next round.

Oh Magoo! You've done it again!

12-12-2014, 05:25 PM	#332 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Okay, time to check out three more versions of this classic tale and see how they measure up. First we have this one, and yes, it's not quite chronological, but to be honest I had originally intended not to feature this one, then thought better of it. So this comes just before the 1951 version. And no, my 1938 DVD has not yet arrived... Year: 1949 Medium: Black-and-white Starring: Taylor Holmes, and narrated by Vincent Price Directed by: Length: 26 mins Brief comments: Although it's wonderful to see Price reading the story and bringing his usual flair and warmth to the movie, the acting is at best adequate and the way I see this is almost like the original 1910 version but with sound and slightly --- slightly --- better effects. It seems very rushed, as the ghosts sequences are truncated and the whole idea seems to be to get the thing done as quickly as possible, which does not translate well to the screen. CHARACTERS *Scrooge:* Not the greatest, but then Holmes is rather rushed through his role. I'll be generous and say a 4. *Marley:* Awful. Nothing more than a man standing in front of Scrooge, not even an attempt at making him seem transparent. When he leaves, he simply walks out the door. The version ten years previous did him far better. 2 *Cratchit:* Again, just adequate. Nothing stands out about him. 4 *Tiny Tim:* Same really. Back to annoying again, and the constant androgynising of Tiny Tim through these movies --- at least the early ones --- he always seems like he could be a girl (Tiny Tina?) --- is annoying. 3 *Others:* n/a *The Ghosts:* Awful to a man. I won't even bother separating them, and will give them a low score of 10 to share among them. Faithful to the novel: Yes, but very rushed and abridged, so only gets a 4 again. Emotion level: Zero Puke level: Zero Horror level: Zero Soundtrack: Meh, pretty standard. 5. So that makes a total of 32. Lowest yet, even lower than the silent version, which comes across as far superior. I do however have to take into account the titanic figure of Price, without whom this would never have flown, and so he adds an extra 10 to the poor, poor score, leaving it at a pretty low but somewhat more respectable 42. Year: 1954 Medium: Black-and-white (Originally colour apparently, but only a b/w version has survived) Starring: Frederic Marsh, Basil Rathbone Directed by: Length: 60 mins Brief comments: For a so-called musical, the movie seems to consist of a drama with its own score, with intermittent interruptions from a vocal choir. Weird. Made-for-TV special, not particularly impressed with it I must say. Messes with the ending: no massive turkey for Cratchit, Scrooge has dinner with them instead of his nephew, and generally it ends on a song, pretty annoying. CHARACTERS *Scrooge:* Terrible. Flat, uninteresting/ed, not in the least scared when Marley appears. Very very poor. Does improve a little as the movie goes on. Still, I'd give him the lowest rating yet: 2 *Marley:* You'd think with an accomplished actor like Rathbone playing him he'd give a good performance. You'd be wrong. He's stiff, flat, boring. He walks like a zombie or a robot. Poor. Another 2. *Cratchit:* Least annoying yet. Kind of reminds me of a cross between Jack Lemmon, Bob Hope and Kelsey Grammer. Doesn't make me want to puke. 8 *Tiny Tim:* Meh, he was doing reasonably ok until he started singing in an annoying soprano. Losing points for that! 5 *Others:* n/a The Ghosts: *The Ghost of Christmas Past:* Good twist, this time it's a pretty girl, whom I think is meant to resemble Scrooge's lost love. 5 *The Ghost of Christmas Present: More like a bellboy than a ghost, and he sings!* Like, constantly! He won't shut up! If I have to hear this fucker sing "A merry merry Christmas!" one more time I'll bloody bury him with a sprig of holly through his heart! Plus he looks like Fred, Scrooge's nephew. Yeah, same actor. Scrooge even remarks upon it, though the ghost pretends he doesn't know what he's talking about. Still, have to give him points for being the first original Ghost of Christmas Present, even if his singing does get on my wick! Okay, okay! A 7, 8 if you'll shut up singing. No? 7 it is then. *The Ghost of Christmas To Come:* Not shown. Scrooge wanders alone into the graveyard and in something of a “two-for-one” sees his own grave and then Tiny Tim's. A bit cheap, though the use of the crow on the headstone is good. Is that meant to be the ghost? Cheap get-out but again marks for originality. All I can award here really though is a 4, as there is no actual ghost shown. Although it may be the crow. But it may not be. Faithful to the novel: Not really. In its way yes, but very rushed and truncated. 5. I'm revising that, due to the liberties taken with what is always the ending, so down to 3. Emotion level: Not terribly. Maybe a 3 Puke level: Again, no. Zero. Horror level: Little, but the crow adds something and Scrooge being alone in the graveyard gets this a grudging 2. Soundtrack: It's a musical, so it has songs, but they're mostly in soprano which is annoying and none of them speak to me. Still, have to award it points for originality. Say 6. Total then is 47. However because of the serious screwup on the ending I'm deducting 10 points. "A Christmas Carol" is a story that, no matter what you do, the ending is set in stone and should never be changed as they did here. So because of that, this effort can only muster a paltry 37. Boo! Year: 1962 Medium: Colour (Animated) Starring: Mister Magoo! Directed by: Length: 62 mins Brief comments: I thought about not including this, but if I did that then I would have to question looking at other animated versions, and there are some really good ones, so in the end I decided to go with it. I initially thought I was not going to like it, as t here's an annoying little supposed-to-be-funny prologue where Magoo has to get onstage (the whole movie is acted out on stage) and accidentally goes to a restaurant. But once it settles down it's actually very well handled and the songs are really quite good. Its hard to take Mister Magoo as Scrooge seriously, but it's not the disaster I had worried it would be. CHARACTERS *Scrooge:* Decent, but it's a little hard to take anyone seriously (even a cartoon character) who has his eyes screwed up all the time. Plus, who doesn't love Magoo? Have to rate him at a mid-range 5 really. *Marley:* Again, ok, but a little overacting. Decent ghost, and they remembered the chains. 5 also. Cratchit: Least annoying Cratchit yet, even less so than the previous but still a little too willing to accept their situation with good grace, damn him. Have to say a quite decent 8 *Tiny Tim:* The first one not to annoy me. He's cute and bearable. A high 9 for him *Others:* n/a The Ghosts: *Ghost of Christmas Past:* Very good, quite cute and even sexy (!) in a way (yes, there's something wrong with me, I know!). Smiles a lot but has a sort of sadness in his/her smile (not sure if it's meant to be male or female). Of all the Ghosts of Christmas Past so far, definitely the best, considering it's a cartoon. I love the way the burning candleflame above his/her head dims when their time is running out. A serious 8 here. *Ghost of Christmas Present:* Pretty much the same as all others, but with a severe aspect I haven't seen in the others. Give him a 6 *Ghost of Christmas to Come:* Although again a hooded figure, there's something creepier about him than the others, so he gets a 6 too. Ghosts Total: 20 Faithful to the novel: Very much so. Even Fezziwig is included, although Scrooge's love is called Belle, not Alice? Even so, a very high 8 Emotion level: Zero. Puke level: Zero. Horror level: Zero. Soundtrack: Very decent, some nice songs, first one to have songs written for it rather than just use hymns and carols. Got to give this an 8 So the total then is 60. But then it has to get extra points, both for being the first animated version and for being the first version in colour, so let's say 5 each for those, bringing us to a Grand Total of 70, highest score yet, surprisingly in some ways! Which means that despite his short-sightedness, ol' Magoo races to the top and easily into the next round. Oh Magoo! You've done it again! __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 12-14-2014 at 05:35 AM.