The Many Versions of A Christmas Carol

Another Christmas, Another Scrooge

By watching different film versions of the same story, students can see that movies are the results of choices made by actors and directors. A Christmas Carol has been filmed many times, and various adaptations are widely available, making a comparative viewing easy to arrange.

The touchstone for all contemporary renditions of A Christmas Carol must be the 1951 version starring Alastair Sim. Virtually all the cast and crewmembers interviewed during the filming of TNT's A CHRISTMAS CAROL mentioned this version and the challenge of living up to it. Another worthwhile version that's commonly available is the 1984 film starring George C. Scott as Scrooge. Both of these adaptations share a common conception of Scrooge as simply a bitter man who uses his severe utilitarian ideals as an emotional shield to protect himself from others.

Patrick Stewart, however, has other ideas. Americans may know Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Startrek: The Next Generation, but, before the success of that show, he was an acclaimed Shakespearean actor. Over the past few years Stewart has performed the Dickens story as a one-man play during the Christmas season. He brings to Dickens' tale his years of experience in trying to find the "right" way to play Scrooge. Most viewers will find his Scrooge to be quite different from what they might expect based on other filmed versions: Stewart's Scrooge truly believes in the extreme version of laissez faire capitalism he spouts.

Activities:

Before you show the students various versions of A Christmas Carol, you may want to familiarize them with Patrick Stewart's theory and practice of acting. One place to learn how he works is at:
search.npr.org/cf/cmn/cmnps05fm.cfm?SegID=7771

You might also read students this quotation from Stewart: "I think there's more to Scrooge than that grumpy old miser that we've sometimes seen. He's a man with a sense of humor too. He's also a very smart man, articulate." Ask your class to note where Stewart's Scrooge demonstrates his humor, intelligence, and eloquence. Are these attributes as pronounced in other Scrooges?


You might show students some of these scenes:

1. Scrooge's encounters with his nephew Fred and with the members of the Benevolent Society who come trying to solicit a donation. Show them different versions of this scene and ask them if they detect a difference in the commitment to ideology shown by the Scrooges of various films.
   
   
2. The visitation by Marley. Which Scrooge seems most afraid? Least? What does this suggest about his commitment to his ideals? His character? The reasons he holds on to his beliefs and the reasons he might give them up to be more charitable?
   
   
3. When Scrooge awakens Christmas morning after being left by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. How does each actor register the dramatic change in Scrooge? How does he convince others of his "redemption"?

Questions concerning specific versions of the film:

1. Many of the adaptations of A Christmas Carol add material that was not in the original story. Compare the story of Christmas Past in the 1951 version with TNT's version. What has been added? How does this help us to further understand the older Scrooge? How does the TNT version resolve this problem? If you are reading other Dickens' novels, you might ask your students if they found the Past presented in the 1951 version more typical of a Dickensian story.
   
   
2. The 1984 version emphasizes the tale as a ghost story. Show your students selected scenes: Marley's visitation and Christmas Yet to Come offer the best comparisons. How do the filmmakers use editing, music, sound effects, dramatic camera angles, lighting and shadow, and other special techniques to create these effects? You might ask them to compare the film with horror movies such as the Scream series. How is the TNT version less like a horror film and more like an adventure tale? How do filmmakers achieve this goal?

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