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Scrooge | 
| Director: Henry Edwards
Actors: Oscar Asche, Donald Calthrop, Charles Carson, Robert Cochran, Maurice Evans
Studio: Image Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: CDN$ 17.99
Buy New: CDN$ 11.72
You Save: CDN$ 6.27 (35%)
New (8) Used (1) from CDN$ 11.72
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 4200
Format: Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 014381184624
UPC: 014381184624
EAN: 0014381184624
ASIN: B00006IUIT
Theatrical Release Date: November 30, 1935
Release Date: October 1, 2002
Availability: Usually ships within 1 - 2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Ships from the USA. ALL ITEMS ARE BRAND NEW! Delivery takes from 10-14 Working Days.
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| Editorial Reviews:
From Amazon.com
This British production of Dickens's Christmas Carol has been eclipsed by subsequent versions, but it stands on its own as a darkly atmospheric (if sometimes regrettably brisk) telling of the beloved tale. Even with the rough quality of existing prints, this Scrooge has a visual intensity that approaches the bold compositions of German expressionism. And in its central role it has a mostly forgotten star: Sir Seymour Hicks, one of the era's celebrated English stage actors. With his gnarled face and flyaway hair, Hicks looks every inch the mean old misanthrope, and his cruelty has a realistic quality missing in some of the more stylized interpreters of the role. Hicks had played Scrooge many times on stage (and before in silent film), and he gets the tenor of every "Humbug!" just right. As a bandy-legged Bob Cratchit, Donald Calthorp is a perfect Victorian illustration come to grinning life. --Robert Horton
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| Customer Reviews:
 An unusual but rewarding 1935 adaptation of the classic tale July 5, 2006
Daniel Jolley (Shelby, North Carolina USA)
We true fans of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and the various film adaptations it has inspired tend to have pretty strong feelings when it comes to which version is best. The film starring Alistair Simms wins the vote of many, despite its sometimes rash departures from Dickens' original story, while the newer version starring George C. Scott has many of its own stalwart defenders - including me. I doubt that many fans would nominate 1935's Scrooge, starring Sir Seymour Hicks, as their all-time favorite, but it is definitely a respectable and immensely rewarding theatrical recreation of the story of Ebenezer Scrooge. Some of this film's obvious shortcomings are necessarily accounted for by the time of its creation,
Sir Seymour Hicks makes for a surly and unattractive incarnation of Mr. Scrooge, leading me to wonder just how convincing his eventual change of heart would be on the screen, but those final scenes play out wonderfully and erased any prior doubts I had up until that point as to the emotional power of the film. Heart-strings that have been pulled many times in the past were pulled yet again for this fan, making this a truly memorable version of Dickens' intimately familiar Christmas story.
You'll notice some definite peculiarities with this film. It's rather dark, for one thing - and not just in terms of the print; a few scenes seem to have soft touches of German expressionism woven into them. All of this is not surprising, given the date of production. I will admit that one scene, in which an unimportant character's head becomes momentarily transparent, borders on the weird, though. Don't expect a whole lot from Jacob Marley - upon his arrival, he announces that only Scrooge can see him. He isn't lying, as Marley's ghost is completely invisible here. The Ghost of Christmas Past is equally unimpressive, existing as sort of a hazy area of light. (The Ghost of Christmas Present appears in all his glory, however - albeit without a certain pair of disturbing children underneath his flowing robes.)
The film is basically pretty faithful to Dickens' story up until the appearance of the Ghost of Christmas Past. Many adaptations spend an inordinate amount of time in the past, but here the first haunting is over before you can say "Bah! Humbug!" There's almost no attempt to explore the path by which Scrooge became such an insufferable miser. The Ghost of Christmas Present takes a few odd detours in his journey with Scrooge, but the story of the Cratchits is told quite well. (I was a little bothered to see Scrooge's nephew belittling him unmercifully at his own Christmas celebration, though.) The look at Christmas Future plays out very well indeed, and then of course we have the aforementioned change of heart that transforms Scrooge into the merriest of men. That change of heart begins far too early, however - right after the very much abbreviated look at Christmas Past, in fact.
The film is a little uneven in its middle portions, and it adds a few needless scenes to the original story, but Seymour Hicks evidences a grand rebirth on Christmas morning, and a film that moved me very little early on proved itself more than capable of delivering a powerful and heart-touching ending. I feel safe in saying there are better adaptations of A Christmas Carol out there, but this early film is more than worth your time should you happen across it.
 Lackluster production values May 9, 2004
George Hollo (Denton, TX USA)
One of the reasons Alister Sim and Albert Finney work so well as Scrooge is that you are able to witness a transformation of a person throughout their lives. This truncated version does little to convey the whole story. It is also a horrible transfer and the original print has faded to dull tones of grey.It is interesting to see the censorship laws at various times throughout our cinematic history in the choices made when producing "A Christmas Carol." The Patrick Stewart version is perhaps the best-filmed version but the heavy-handed script writing destroys the illusion of 19th Century England. Stewart's one-man stage play is a much better version by far. Seymour Hicks is very good at being nasty but that's not what Scrooge is about. Scrooge is a guy who has had a tough life and he chose to value money above people to get through the day. Hicks can never seem to rise above the nastiness. He is never subtle like Finney or giddy like Sim, he's always just there. For a completest, you should get this DVD; other folks should enjoy Albert Finney's musical version and Alistar Sim's B&W triumph.
 Good! December 7, 2003
Thebookwoman
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I saw Scrooge starring Seymour Hicks years ago on TV when I was a little girl, I believe it was on Christmas Eve and I remember sitting on the livingroom floor in front of the TV and liking this movie so one day I was in a store and found this movie on video and I purchased it but the tape's quality was awful and it was cut down in length from about 80 minutes to 60 minutes so it made an already short movie even shorter and very choppy so I'm hoping to buy the DVD that has the restored length and better film quality!
 Excellent version, and a good print of it January 26, 2003
A. Guyton (Fredericksburg, VA United States)
This is one of the most beautiful adaptations, and keeps to the heart of Dickens (unlike the unnecessarily visious Alastair Sim version, or the downright wierd Reginald Owen version.) Sir Seymour Hicks really captures Scrooge's character as written in the original novelette. This print is very good, the best I have seen in a while, and includes scenes usually editted out that really add to the atmosphere of the movie. The sound is also excellent- most of the prints I have seen lately have the soundtrack going too fast, and this one is fine. There are a couple of dark spots, but considering the other prints out there, the majority of the print is excellent, and this DVD is a good print to have for years to come.
Best print you will probably ever see November 15, 2002
David Pinkerton (Germantown, MD USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I own both the edited version Marengo DVD and complete 78 minute version Front Row DVD of this classic and I can say that this new release by Image Entertainment (from the Blackhawk Collection) is by far the best print available. Strangely, the Front Row DVD (while good) says that it is from the Blackhawk Films collection (not on the box but on an opening screen prior to the beginning of the film). However, this new Image Entertainment edition states on the box that the print is from the Blackhawk collection and it is clearly in much better shape than the Front Row release (as well as the Marengo release). So if you want the complete 78 minute version in the best quality to date, you need the Image Entertainment DVD. If you're more concerned about price you can usually find the (still complete but now out of print) Front Row DVD on eBay for only a few dollars.
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