Scrooge
(1935/Legend Films Blu-ray)
Picture:
B Sound: B- Extras: B- Film: B
There
have been many incarnation of A Christmas Carol over the years, so
it is hard to remember which is which with few truly making their mark. Scrooge
(1935) stars Sir Seymour Hicks as Ebenezer Scrooge.
The story
follows Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol,
but in a much, much more truncated manner.
As was mentioned in the previous Disney’s
A Christmas Carol (CGI) review, it is/was pretty hard for real life film actors
to recreate the vivid imagery of the ghosts and other things that Dickens
described in his classic tale; so many times things were omitted. This 1935 retelling of A Christmas Carol cuts out aspects of the tale like that of
Scrooge’s sister Fan and his beloved boss Fezziwig. It is unclear as to why the film is so short
(especially with a good deal of time spent at the film’s beginning), but
nevertheless it is a good first attempt way back when. So needless to say, there are the occasional
gaps or reimagined moments in the tale for the sake of time and practicality.
Rather
then getting too deep into a tale that most are aware of in way or another;
let’s discuss the more technical aspects of this classic British film. Scrooge
was released in 1935 and directed by Henry Edwards. It was a landmark film for the time as it was
the first time A Christmas Carol had
ever been produced in full sound. Actor
Seymour Hicks was chosen due to his well established and revered history of
playing Ebenezer Scrooge on multiple stage runs. Hicks was an easy choice for director Henry
Edwards, but Edwards also made many odd choices as well. Outside of truncating the tale, Edwards also
gives the film’s ghosts limited or no screen time (outside the Ghost of
Christmas Present). What would seemingly
be due to technological restrictions, goes outside the window once you see
Marley’s Ghost superimposed on Scrooge’s door knocker; i.e. they had the
power. Perhaps Edwards found the limited
screen time more ominous or that if they were over exposed the mystery/intrigue
would be lost; but in the end, who knows?
It is a
solid film and definitely can be held among some of the greater tellings of A Christmas Carol. Oddly enough due to the lack of copyright
renewals the film fell into public domain and is now found Remastered here on
Legend Films Blu-ray.
The film
looks great! There are both color and
black & white versions of the film found here on Blu-ray. To this reviewer the black & white film
version has a much richer feel than the updated color edition, which feels
somewhat artificial. The picture is
presented in a 1080p Full Frame 1.33 X 1 High Definition image that though not
stunning, demo material is masterfully remastered for its age. This all considering that most film versions
that exist today are very badly damaged.
The black & white version has nice depth and whereas clarity is lacking
at times the textured atmosphere shines through, the detailing and black levels
exquisitely presented. The colored
version as previously mentioned does not add much and is a bit bright and
washed for this reviewers taste. The
sound is a simple English 2.0 mono that solely comes from the front, getting
the job done but far from thrilling.
The
extras include:
·
Collection
of Vintage Holiday Cartoons
o
Santa’s
Surprise
o
Christmas Comes but Once a Year [Max Fleischer;1936]
§
One
of my FAVORITE cartoon animated shorts, worth a look
o
Christmas
Circus
o
Christmas
Night
·
A Christmas Wish (DVD) starring Jimmy Durante & Terry
Moore
o
Available
in both Color and Black & White
o
A
nice film, but I actually enjoyed the short cartoons more than this film
- Michael P. Dougherty II
