Scrooge (1970 film)

Scrooge is a 1970 British musical film adaptation in Panavision of Charles Dickens' 1843 story A Christmas Carol. It was filmed in London between January and May 1970 and directed by Ronald Neame, and starred Albert Finney as Ebenezer Scrooge. The film's score was composed by Leslie Bricusse and arranged and conducted by Ian Fraser. With eleven musical arrangements interspersed throughout, the award-winning motion picture is a faithful musical retelling of the original.

The film was a follow-up to another Dickens musical adaptation, 1968’s award-winning Oliver!. The posters for Scrooge included the tagline “What the dickens have they done to Scrooge?”, designed to head off any criticism of an all-singing, all-dancing old skinflint. Finney won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy in 1971. The film received four Academy Award nominations, including for Best Original Song for "Thank You Very Much".

Plot
On Christmas Eve, in 19th-century London, Ebenezer Scrooge, a surly money-lender, does not share the merriment of Christmas. He declines his nephew Harry's invitation for Christmas dinner and reluctantly gives his loyal employee Bob Cratchit Christmas Day off. Cratchit and his children go shopping and prepare for the holiday ("Christmas Children"). As Scrooge leaves for home, he visits some of his clients including Tom Jenkins and declines two gentlemen's offer to collect money for charity ("I Hate People"). As he makes his way home, he is accosted and mocked by street urchins ("Father Christmas").

In his house, Scrooge encounters the ghost of his deceased business partner Jacob Marley, who warns him to repent his wicked ways or he will be condemned in the afterlife as he was, carrying a heavy chain forged by his own selfishness and greed ("See the Phantoms"). Before leaving, Marley informs him that three spirits will visit him.

At one o'clock, Scrooge is visited by the Victorian Ghost of Christmas Past, who takes him back in time to his childhood and early adult life. They visit his lonely school days, and then his time as an employee under Mr. Fezziwig. Attending a Christmas party held by Fezziwig ("December the 25th"), Scrooge falls in love with his daughter, Isabel ("Happiness"). However, the spirit shows Scrooge how Isabel left him when he chose money over her ("You..."). He dismisses the spirit as he returns to the present.

Scrooge is visited by the merry Ghost of Christmas Present, a jolly giant, who shows him the joys and wonder of Christmas Day ("I Like Life"). Scrooge and the spirit visit Bob's house, learning his family is surprisingly content with their small dinner, while Scrooge takes pity on Bob's ill son Tiny Tim. The spirit comments that Tiny Tim might not survive until next Christmas unless the course of events changes. Before the spirit vanishes, Scrooge is warned that life is too short and to do as much as he can in what little time he has.

Left alone in the street, Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, a silent, cloaked figure who takes him into the future. Scrooge and the spirit witness Tom and the other citizens rejoicing at the death of Scrooge ("Thank You Very Much"). The spirit transports Scrooge to Bob's house, where he discovers that Tiny Tim had died. The spirit escorts Scrooge to a cemetery, where the spirit points out his own grave. Realizing this, Scrooge promises to change his ways before the spirit forces him to fall through his grave into the caverns of Hell. Scrooge is met there once again by Marley, who shows him to his ice-cold "office" to serve forever as Lucifer's personal clerk. Scrooge is adorned with an enormous chain made from his lifetime of past sins by four masked demons.

Awakening in his bedroom on Christmas Day, with love and joy in his heart, a gleeful Scrooge decides to bring happiness to the citizens of London ("I'll Begin Again"). He goes on a shopping spree, buying food and presents. He runs into Fred and his wife and gives them some overdue presents as well. They invite Scrooge to Christmas lunch, which he gladly accepts. Dressed as "Father Christmas," Scrooge then delivers a giant turkey, presents and toys to the Cratchits, and after making his identity known, gives Bob a raise and promises that they will work to find the best doctors to make Tiny Tim better. Scrooge then frees all his clients from their debts, much to their delight ("Thank You Very Much (Reprise)"). Scrooge returns home to get ready for lunch with his family and thanks Marley for helping him at a second chance at life.

Cast

 * Albert Finney as Ebenezer Scrooge
 * Alec Guinness as Jacob Marley
 * Edith Evans as Ghost of Christmas Past
 * Kenneth More as Ghost of Christmas Present
 * Paddy Stone as Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
 * David Collings as Bob Cratchit
 * Frances Cuka as Mrs. Cratchit
 * Richard Beaumont as Tiny Tim
 * Michael Medwin as Harry, Scrooge's nephew
 * Mary Peach as Harry's wife
 * Gordon Jackson as Tom, Harry's friend
 * Anton Rodgers as Tom Jenkins
 * Laurence Naismith as Mr. Fezziwig
 * Kay Walsh as Mrs. Fezziwig
 * Suzanne Neve as Isabel
 * Derek Francis as charity gentleman
 * Roy Kinnear as charity gentleman
 * Geoffrey Bayldon as Pringle, the toyshop owner
 * Molly Weir as woman debtor
 * Helena Gloag as woman debtor
 * Reg Lever as Miller, the puppeteer
 * Keith Marsh as well wisher
 * Marianne Stone as party guest

Soundtrack listing

 * 1) "Overture" (removed from current Blu-ray release)
 * 2) "A Christmas Carol" – Chorus
 * 3) "Christmas Children" – David Collings & Cratchit Children
 * 4) "I Hate People" – Albert Finney
 * 5) "Father Christmas" – Urchins
 * 6) "See the Phantoms" – Alec Guinness
 * 7) "December the 25th" – Laurence Naismith, Kay Walsh & Ensemble
 * 8) "Happiness" – Suzanne Neve
 * 9) "A Christmas Carol" (Reprise) – Chorus
 * 10) "You....You" – Albert Finney
 * 11) "I Like Life" – Kenneth More & Albert Finney
 * 12) "The Beautiful Day" – Richard Beaumont
 * 13) "Happiness" (Reprise)
 * 14) "Thank You Very Much" – Anton Rodgers & Ensemble
 * 15) "I'll Begin Again" – Albert Finney
 * 16) "I Like Life" (Reprise) – Albert Finney
 * 17) "Finale: Father Christmas" (Reprise) / "Thank You Very Much" (Reprise) – All
 * 18) "Exit Music" (Bonus Track, not included on LP)

A soundtrack album containing all the songs from the film was issued on Columbia Records in 1970. Due to legal complications, however, the soundtrack has never been re-released in the CD format. The current Paramount Blu-ray release of the film has removed the Overture (intact on all VHS and DVD releases).

Title sequence
The film features an opening title sequence of numerous hand-painted backgrounds and overlays by British illustrator Ronald Searle. Art of the Title described it, saying, "As is often the case with Searle’s illustrations, the forms jump and squiggle into shape, the strokes loose and sprightly. In each scene, swaths of colour and life pour out, white snowflakes dotting the brush strokes." The illustrations later appeared in a book, Scrooge, by Elaine Donaldson and published in 1970 by Cinema Center Films.

Production
Filmed in London and on location in Buckinghamshire between January and May 1970, the film sets at Shepperton Studios included fully reconstructed Victorian streets.

Acclaim
The film was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award in the UK, one Golden Laurel award, four Oscars, and five Golden Globes in the US, in which Albert Finney won for Best Motion Picture Actor in a Musical/Comedy in 1971. Finney was only 33 years old at the time he played both the old miser and the young man Scrooge of flashback scenes, and his performance was widely praised by the critics and the public. However Pauline Kael, writing in The New Yorker, found Finney's "glumly" realistic interpretation at odds with the musical and fantasy aspects of the film. Other critics found fault with Leslie Bricusse's score.


 * Academy Award nominations:
 * Best Art Direction (Art Direction: Terence Marsh and Robert Cartwright; Set Decoration: Pamela Cornell)
 * Best Costume Design (Margaret Furse)
 * Best Original Song
 * Best Original Song Score

Stage adaptation
In 1992, a stage musical adapted from the film, featuring the Bricusse/Fraser songs and starring Anthony Newley, was mounted in the UK under the title Scrooge: The Musical.

The show was revived in 2003 on a tour of the country by British song and dance man Tommy Steele, and he again reprised the role at the London Palladium in 2004 -making him the performer to have done the most shows at the Palladium. In 2007, Shane Ritchie played the part at the Manchester Palace. The musical was revived at London Palladium in October 2012 with Steele reprising the role. It ran till 5 January 2013.