Review of Scrooge (1970) by Richard D — 16 Oct 2016
This musical adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" is clearly inspired by the success of "Oliver!", and while it's not a film that manages to live up to it's inspiration, it has a lot going for it.
As an adaptation of "A Christmas Carol", it works well. Albert Finney makes a good, if perhaps overly mannered, Scrooge. The sets and production design are quite magnificent. There's a great supporting cast, particularly Alec Guinness as Jacob Marley and Kenneth More as the Ghost of Christmas Present.
The main issue is that for a lot of the running time, it doesn't feel like it should really be a musical. All of the songs are written by Leslie Bricusse, and they are a mixed bag. Like his music for "Goodbye, Mr.
Chips", there's a lot of slow, meandering songs that only serve to bog down the pace. A few songs really do shine though, and the film manages to end with a production number that highlights the best two songs of the lot, which finishes the film on a really high note.
This review of Scrooge (1970) was written by Richard D on 16 Oct 2016.
Scrooge has generally received positive reviews.
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