There is not much to say about this film that has not already been said. It's a great movie to watch on Christmas Eve and an excellent film in general. It is amazing to think that this film was not well received in when it was released in 1946. The film does mark a turning point in James Stewart's career. He allowed a dark side to creep into the characters he plays. Look at the scene when he is trying to convince his mother who he is. The look of need and desperation on his face. And then later look at the pure joy he exhibits when he reunites with the children. With It's A Wonderful life Jimmy Stewart began exploring the full range of human emotions that would culminate in his superb work in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo.
At the Movie House rating **** stars
Many say that this is the definitive version of A Christmas Carol. The film gets everything right, from the period details and music to making Scrooge slightly less than a caricature of a miserly old man. George C. Scott is a hard-hearted Scrooge, but he does have a sense of humor.
I for one like this version and the Alister Sim version equally and I alternate every Christmas Eve.
At the Movie House rating **** stars
2 comments:
Excellent version, but the Syms version wins out...the black and white is so powerful, particularly as he walks the streets in the begining...also, when he goes to his nephews at the end, Barbara Allen is playing on the viola, which is enough to make a grown man cry...
The two movies are from different era's and made for different mediums. They both are excellent adaptations of A Christmas Carol and each have their own merits and powerful emotional moments. They are equally as good and to say one is better than the other is incorrect. To express a favorite between the two makes more sense.
The 1984 george C. Scott version is considered the most accurate and authentic representation of Dickens's prose
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