Scrooge (1951)

Director:

Brian Desmond Hurst

Writers:

Charles Dickens (story)
Noel Langley (adaptation)

Release Date:

31 October 1951 (UK)

Genre:

Fantasy | Drama

Tagline:

Now! The story that has brought joy to millions! A new screen triumph!

Plot:

An old bitter miser is given a chance for redemption when he is haunted by ghosts on Christmas Eve.

Plot Keywords:

Christmas | Ghost | Scrooge | Miser | Redemption

Cast

Alastair Sim	...	Ebenezer Scrooge
Kathleen Harrison	...	Mrs. Dilber
Mervyn Johns	...	Bob Cratchit
Hermione Baddeley	...	Mrs. Cratchit
Michael Hordern	...	Jacob Marley / Marley's Ghost
George Cole	...	Young Ebenezer Scrooge
John Charlesworth	...	Peter Cratchit
Francis De Wolff	...	Spirit of Christmas Present (as Francis de Wolff)
Rona Anderson	...	Alice
Carol Marsh	...	Fan Scrooge
Brian Worth	...	Fred
Miles Malleson	...	Old Joe
Ernest Thesiger	...	The Undertaker
Glyn Dearman	...	Tiny Tim
Michael Dolan	...	Spirit of Christmas Past
Olga Edwardes	...	Fred's Wife
Roddy Hughes	...	Fezziwig
Hattie Jacques	...	Mrs. Fezziwig
Eleanor Summerfield	...	Miss Flora
Louise Hampton	...	Laundress
C. Konarski	...	Spirit of Christmas Yet To Come
Eliot Makeham	...	Mr. Snedrig
Peter Bull	...	First Businessman, Narrator
Douglas Muir	...	Second Businessman
Noel Howlett	...	First Collector
Fred Johnson	...	Second Collector
Henry Hewitt	...	Mr. Rosehed
Hugh Dempster	...	Mr. Groper
David Hannaford
Maire O'Neill	...	Alice's Patient
Richard Pearson	...	Mr. Tupper
Patrick Macnee	...	Young Jacob Marley (as Patrick MacNee)
Clifford Mollison	...	Samuel Wilkins
Jack Warner	...	Mr. Jorkin
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vi Kaley	...	Old Lady Sitting By Stove At The Charity Hospital (uncredited)
Tony Wager	...	Fezziwig's lad (uncredited)

Directed by
Brian Desmond Hurst		(as Brian Desmond-Hurst)

Writing credits
Charles Dickens		(story "A Christmas Carol")
Noel Langley		(adaptation and screenplay)

Produced by
Brian Desmond Hurst	....	producer (as Brian Desmond-Hurst)
Stanley Haynes	....	associate producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Richard Addinsell		(musical score by)

Cinematography by
C.M. Pennington-Richards		(director of photography) (as C. Pennington-Richards)

Film Editing by
Clive Donner		(film editor)

Casting by
Maude Spector		(casting director)

Art Direction by
Ralph W. Brinton		(as Ralph Brinton)

Set Decoration by
Freda Pearson		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Constance Da Finna		(costume designer: Mr. Sim, Mr. Hordern and Miss Edwardes)
Doris Lee
Phyllis Dalton		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Eric Carter	....	makeup artist
Betty Lee	....	hair stylist
Aldo Manganaro	....	assistant makeup artist (uncredited)
June Robinson	....	assistant hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Stanley Couzins	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Denis O'Dell	....	first assistant director
Buddy Booth	....	third assistant director (uncredited)
Tony Harris	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Chris Chapman	....	property buyer (uncredited)
T. Hopewell Ash	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Ted Marshall	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Patricia Neville	....	sketch artist (uncredited)
Freda Pearson	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Wallis Smith	....	construction manager (uncredited)

Sound Department
W.H. Lindop	....	sound recordist
Charles Earl	....	sound camera operator (uncredited)
Fred Ryan	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Leonard Trumm	....	dubbing editor (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Cecil R. Cooney	....	camera operator (as C. Cooney)
Richard Cantouris	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Tom Friswell	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
Gerry Turpin	....	focus puller (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Phyllis Dalton	....	assistant costume designer (uncredited)
W. Walsh	....	wardrobe master (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Anne Barker	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Stan Hawkes	....	second assistant editor (uncredited)
Michael Johns	....	second assistant editor (uncredited)
Charles Squires	....	second assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Muir Mathieson	....	conductor
Charles Villiers Stanford	....	composer: "My Love's an Arbutus"

Other crew
George Minter	....	presenter
Larry Edmonds	....	accountant (uncredited)
Hugh Findlay	....	publicity director (uncredited)
Elizabeth Montagu	....	dialogue director (uncredited)
Doris Prince	....	production secretary (uncredited)
Margaret Ryan	....	continuity (uncredited)
Jan Saunders	....	runner (uncredited)

Thanks
M. Steiner	....	acknowledgment: mechanical Victorian dolls loaned by (as Mr. M. Steiner)

Production Companies

• George Minter Productions (uncredited)

Distributors

• Renown Pictures Corporation (1951) (UK) (theatrical) (as Renown Pictures Corporation, Ltd.)
• United Artists (1951) (USA) (theatrical)
• VCI Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD) (and Blu-Ray)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Morningstar Entertainment (2004) (Canada) (video)
• WWOR (1954) (USA) (TV)

Other Companies

• Nettleford Studios  recorded at (as Nettlefold Studios, Walton-on-Thames)
• Rank Organisation, The  Jack Warner by permission of (as The J. Arthur Rank Organisation)
• Bracher & Partner  mechanical toys loaned by (as Bracher and Partner)

Also Known As:

A Christmas Carol (USA)

Runtime:

86 min | Germany:74 min (video version)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #15238) | Finland:K-8 | UK:U | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Nettlefold Studios, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

George Minter Productions

Trivia:

Although the word "Scrooge" means a stingy person now, in Charles Dickens's time, the word was a slang term meaning "to squeeze."

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In an early street scene, as Scrooge leaves his office, he argues with a debtor asking for more time to settle on account of the season by saying "You'd still owe me £20 you're not in a position to repay if it was the middle of a heatwave on August bank holiday". In reality, the August Bank Holiday did not come about until 1871, well after the year the novel was set (1843).

Quotes:

Ebenezer: Waiter! More bread.
Waiter: Ha'penny extra, sir.
Ebenezer: [pauses] No more bread.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Deadly Bees (#10.5)" (1998)

Soundtrack:

Silent Night, Holy Night

the perfect Christmas carol

Many adaptations of Dickens' Christmas book have been and gone, but this is generally thought to be one of the definitive films of the story.

Brian Desmond Hurst directs a fine cast, headed by the incomparable Alastair Sim (a man who can play both malevolent and humorous) as the about-to-be-redeemed Ebenezer Scrooge. Sim's reactions are priceless and he settles down well in the role. Michael Hordern is a less successful Marley, certainly when he visits as a ghost, but the three Ghosts of Christmas are just as you imagine - Christmas Past is a wise old sage, Christmas Present is a jovial party-giver ...

Strengths of this production include the opening out of events of the past into a linear narrative (George Cole plays young Scrooge for the early segments), and the playing of Mervyn Johns and Hermoine Baddeley as the Cratchits. It is a film which has holly, plum pudding, and carol singers written all over it, from the use of Christmas tunes in the music track, to the roaring fires and snow-strewn streets in which everyone makes merry for the festive day.