Review of A Christmas Carol (1984) by John A — 02 Dec 2010

The superbly-one-of-a-kind actor George C Scott brings a wonderfully different spin to the classically-crotchety miser Scrooge, turning him into a forceful and formidable bull of a man, abrasive and gruff, truly making the character his own in this outstanding mid-80's made-for-TV installment of the iconic Christmas story, steeped in atmosphere and with superior production values.

He is surrounded here and ably supported by a wondrous cast of notable British thesps, including Michael Gough, Joanne Whalley, Nigel Davenport as Scrooge's cold-hearted and steely-eyed father, Susannah York, "The Equalizer"'s Edward Woodward as the Ghost of Christmas Present, and especially Frank Finlay as a ghoulishly-great and very-dead-looking Jacob Marley, and David Warner as the mild-mannered and ill-treated Bob Cratchett.

I consider this one of the three best versions ever made, the others being Alistair Sim's early 1950's treatment, and the fun animated "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol".