A Christmas Carol [1951] (NTSC)

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-01-11 rating:
Great film - tacky print
With a central performance by Alistair Sim that is nothing short of brilliant this movie deserved to be restored to its original condition for DVD but wasn't. I have not seen any prior reviews that commented on the crappy quality of this print but crappy it is, sadly.

Cut to fit the TV screen, it is a poor quality print. No subtitles. No closing credits. A lack of sharpness and definition to the picture and sound. The "extras" are not worth bothering with. Disappointing is what it is.

Kathleen Harrison is superb as is the supporting cast of British film luminaries. They and Alistair deserved better. Cheap and looks it.

Bah! Humbug!!

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review by: date: 2007-12-30 rating:
One of the best
Along with the Patrick Stewart version this is the truest and best of the versions of Christmas Carol - true to the original Dickens in script and message. It is without doubt a must every Christmas - and my eleven year old loves it too.

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review by: Steve The BlackFerret date: 2007-12-25 rating:
Done it again!
The perfect way to end Christmas Day 2007;I've just watched this again.

For about the 30th Xmas running!

Enduringly good it is, simply because the acting and photography recreate Dickens to a T. This was only 3 years after the definitive Oliver Twist, but the black and white photography is once more just as effective in portraying the brighter side of life as the gloom,squalor and horror in which Dickens specialized and has always been famed for.

The supporting cast is marvellous, and Jack Warner as the venal and crooked Mr Jordan is around a million miles away from Dixon of Dock Green. Everyone in the cast, child actors included, seem to have made a real effort to get under the skin of their characters. And when a writer is as deliberately obtuse and verbose as Dickens often was, that is to their eternal credit.

But Alistair Sim, of course, is the main reason to buy this. Even distinguished Shakespearean actors like Patrick Stewart wasted their time trying to reprise his efforts. No one could, end of story, hence my current pity for the remake of St Trinians and all concerned in it.

Sim was also wonderful in a host of other films, but here he has seen what in Scrooge is simply selfishness and curmugonliness. Thus he enables us to also look beyond that and see the redeemable qualities that were always there.

And without that, the change in Scrooge after the spirits' Xmas Eve visitations makes no sense whatever. One of the great beauties of this film is that Alistair Sim somehow grabs your pity, if not sympathy straight away, which illustrates perfectly how well he'd studied it too.

There are a lot of Xmas traditions that may drive you or I round the bend;believe me, this is definitely NOT one of those-enjoy it,anytime!

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review by: date: 2007-12-21 rating:
The best -Nothing near it !
Please do not look for any other adaptation of a christmas carol,as you wont find a better one than this.Featuring the sublime alistair sim as scrooge no one has ever came near his potrayal of the famous miser.
I first watched this as a boy and now watch it every christmas with my own wife and children,superb!I agree with other reviewers it is best in black & white .


review by: date: 2007-10-08 rating:
Hits the mark every time
There has never been a better film version of A Christmas Carol than this - captures the mood of the time pefectly and depicts the story as Dickens wrote it. Best viewed in b&w

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Similar products

A Christmas Carol [1984]
Miracle On 34th Street [1947]
Scrooge
It's A Wonderful Life [1946]
White Christmas [2001]

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Similar categories

Video . DVD & VHS . Categories . Science Fiction & Fantasy . Fantasy & Futuristic
Video . DVD & VHS . Categories . Classics
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Format (binding_browse-bin) . DVD
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Release Date (feature_three_browse-bin) . 1950 - 1959
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Region(feature_browse-bin) . Region 0
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Editions (feature_two_browse-bin) . Standard Edition
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Language (theme_browse-bin) . English
Music . Styles . Christmas Music . Traditional & Carols
Music . Styles . Christmas Music . Children's
Music . Styles . Christmas Music . Soundtracks
Music . Styles . Christmas Music . General AAS

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