We’ve probably all either read the Charles Dickens story or seen one adaptation/version of “A Christmas Carol.”
We all know the story of a stingy, cynical, and nasty old man, Ebenezer Scrooge, who is a banker who collects money from borrowers (a loan shark). Everyone fears and despises him. One night, his seven-year-deceased business partner, Jacob Marley, visits Ebenezer to warn him that he has to change his ways or end up like him. He also says that that night, he will be visited by three ghosts (past, present, and future) who will show him the error of his ways. It’s Scrooge’s last chance for redemption.
It has been done dozens upon dozens of times in some form with titles ranging from “A Christmas Carol,” “Scrooge,” and “Ebenezer” to more unique names such as “Scrooged” or “Mr. Scrooge.” There are also versions with drastically different stories and titles, like “Ms. Scrooge” or “An American Christmas Carol.” I do enjoy most versions, but since this is a top 10, I need to narrow it down to ten. Most of you have probably seen one of my top 10 because a few have played every year for decades.
There have been female versions, such as Ms. Scrooge (1997) (TV) with Cicely Tyson as Ms. Ebenita Scrooge, and I believe there are a few others with titles I don’t remember. Not to sound sexist, but I don’t care for these female versions at all. I’m not sure if any woman can fit Ebenezer’s role, possibly with a newly written part just for women. I think Cicely’s a great actress, but she wasn’t very believable here. Maybe we need Leona Helmsley, Martha Stewart, or Condoleezza Rice for the part to work.
Other female versions include Ebbie (1995) (TV), with Susan Lucci playing Elizabeth ‘Ebbie’ Scrooge. Lucci as Scrooge? I just didn’t buy it. Then there’s A Carol Christmas (2003) (TV), a Hallmark original movie with a very mismatched cast of Tori Spelling as Carol, and, get this, Coleman and Shatner play two of the Ghosts! Ugh! Plain awful. I guess Cicely beats these two versions.
Almost all A Christmas Carol adaptations are TV movies with limited budgets. A few look like they were financed better than others. The last version in theaters that I know of was Scrooged (1988) with Bill Murray. Not sure about Scrooge (1970) with Albert Finney, but it’s probably the highest-costing production.
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On with the list! I’ll just sort by year of release. I’ll also list the cast for Ebenezer, Bob Cratchit & his wife, Tiny Tim, Fred (Ebenezer’s nephew), Fezziwig (Ebenezer’s boss and “teacher” of sorts), Jacob Marley, and the three ghosts.
1. Scrooge (1935)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026972/
An old black-and-white version, which I don’t see too often but do occasionally catch. This British production version stars Seymour Hicks as Ebenezer Scrooge, a reprisal of his 1913 silent role. He does an okay job, but not my favorite black & white version. A straightforward adaptation of Dickens’s classic.
- The voice of the Ghost of Christmas Past is not that of Marie Ney, whose physical outline can be seen onscreen as the Ghost. Ney was a woman, and the voice of the Ghost of Christmas Past is that of an uncredited male actor.
2. A Christmas Carol (1938)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029992/
This is a version that I’ve seen played every year since I can remember. It’s your standard adaptation. The sets look cheap, but what can you expect for 1938? Reginald Owen does a great job as Ebenezer Scrooge, but he kind of reminds me of a Lollipop Kid munchkin in Wizard of Oz with an almost bald head and a little wispy hair. There is nothing really special about it, but it still is one of the better black & white versions. This production also exists in a colorized version, but I don’t remember seeing that one.
- A very young June Lockhart plays a small role as one of the Cratchit daughters, and both of her parents play the Cratchit parents, which is kind of cool.
- MGM released a record-breaking 375 prints of the film so that as many people as possible could see it during the Christmas season.
- This was the only film in which Gene Lockhart appeared with his wife, Kathleen Lockhart, and their daughter, June Lockhart.
- Carl Bark’s Uncle Scrooge McDuck was probably based physically on this version of Ebenezer Scrooge, with the fringe of hair and the small tuft of hair on the top of his head.
3. Scrooge (1951)
This is another black & white adaptation which is played yearly and is probably the most popular black & white version. This one has been colorized, so that’s the version we usually see. Usually, the colorized version is played as an homage, with Patrick Macnee acting as host and adding facts about it between breaks. Patrick Macnee, of Avengers fame, has a small role in the film as a young Jacob Marley. He probably hosts because he’s the biggest star in his career; either that, or he was the only cast member still alive. It’s your standard adaptation.
Alastair Sim is one of the best Ebenezer Scrooges. He’s very mean to start with, and he’s great to watch after the ghosts leave. He jumps around hysterically like an insane man and has a unique scene where the maid screams and runs away from him, thinking he went mad. He’s probably my second favorite Scrooge.
4. A Christmas Carol (1954) from the show “Shower of Stars”
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13569424/
This version is only a 60-minute episode of “Shower of Stars,” but it’s worth a view. This was originally broadcast in color. This is important because RCA introduced the first color television, the CT-100, that year. It was filmed in color, but only black & white prints exist today. Note Basil Rathbone as Marley’s ghost.
5. Scrooge (1970)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066344/
This is my favorite adaptation and far from your standard adaptation. It’s one of the very few musical adaptations of Charles Dickens’s novel A Christmas Carol and the best one at that (forget Kelsey Grammer’s recent version!). This version is basically the same as Dickens but with a few added scenes and, of course, the singing. This aspect drives some away from it, but there are plenty of great non-musical scenes, and the atmosphere is fantastic. The colors are greyer than most, so it seems more real and darker for Scrooge’s personality. This version is a lot darker, bordering on horror.
Alec Guinness has to be the best and scariest Jacob Marley’s Ghost ever. His ghost still creeps me out, especially his face on Scrooge’s door knocker. Two other creepy scenes are one where we see thousands of ghosts flying outside Scrooge’s window, supposed to be trapped in limbo. And we see Scrooge go to Hell if you see it uncut—it’s often cut on TV. The other scene is Scrooge in Hell.
Albert Finney is THE best Ebenezer Scrooge I’ve ever seen. At only 34 at the time of production, the makeup artist did a phenomenal job making Finney look like an old man, but Finney’s different mannerisms, movements, and voice tones are great as well. He also plays a younger Scrooge just as well.
Richard Beaumont is one of the best Tiny Tims as well. His songs are so sad.
Kenneth More is one of the MOST cheerful, boisterous, and colorful Ghosts of Christmas Present. Just great!
One character who’s not part of any other Christmas Carol I’ve ever seen but deserves mentioning is Anton Rodgers as Tom Jenkins, a broth maker and one of Scrooge’s clients. He sings before Scrooge dies, but after he dies, he has his best song, which he starts solo and slowly builds up until it’s a huge musical number. The song is “Thank you very much,” and Scrooge thinks it’s positive, but really, everyone’s happy he’s dead because their loans are no longer owed to him.
If you haven’t seen this version, see it now! The lavish sets alone will make you love it! The end shows tons of old toys, like a huge three-foot-wide toy carousel.
- Scrooge (played by then 34-year-old Albert Finney) is actually younger than his nephew Fred (played by then 46-year-old Michael Medwin).
6. An American Christmas Carol (1979) (TV)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078764/
A very non-traditional Christmas Carol in that it’s set in America during the Depression with all different character names. I’m not sure why the names needed to be changed because they’re basically the same characters, but it doesn’t detract from the story. It’s different enough to feel refreshing yet similar enough that it feels like an old friend.
Henry Winkler plays Benedict Slade, their version of Scrooge. His portrayal both looks and sounds unique for the role. Not that it’s bad, just different. Here, he’s not a banker but a wood furniture business owner. Chris Wiggins (of Friday the 13th: The Series fame) plays Mr. Brewster, the Fezziwig character, but also pulls double duty as Slade’s foster dad, as Slade was in a foster home as a child.
The ghosts are also unique. One is an old man, and one is a 1970s black man, which is rare to see.
The ending is also unique in that the “Tin Tim” character is sent for surgery, and Slade helps another trouble-making boy at a foster home because he reminds him of himself as a kid.
The colors are very white, so it has more of a bleak, lonely feel to it. Winkler isn’t as cheerful as in other adaptations after the ghosts leave. He went for the subtle approach.
Definitely worth a view!
7. A Christmas Carol (1984) (TV)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087056/
George C. Scott plays Ebenezer Scrooge in the traditional rendition of A Christmas Carol. George C. Scott is great, as always. This adaptation is not seen enough on TV. If you come across it on TV, don’t pass up the chance to see this treat.
- Director Clive Donner was the film editor of Scrooge (1951).
8. Scrooged (1988)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096061/
This is one of my favorite adaptations, partly because I’m a HUGE Bill Murray fan and because it’s a comedy version, which is rare.
The story is very unique. It’s a story within a story. Frank Cross runs a TV cable network, and he planned a live adaptation of A Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve. Frank’s childhood wasn’t pleasant, and he lost his girlfriend, Claire, so he doesn’t appreciate the Christmas spirit. Suddenly, Frank finds Claire again, and old feelings are awakened. But Frank wants both her and his career at the same time. With the help of the three ghosts of Christmas and Claire’s love, Frank realizes he must change.
Bill Murray is great as Frank Cross, the Scrooge character. Bill plays it sarcastically, so it’s both rude and funny at the same time. There’s an all-star cast of guest stars from Robert Mitchum as Scrooge’s boss, Preston Rhinelander, Robert Goulet as himself (Christmas on the Bayou), Mary Lou Retton as herself, Lee Majors as himself (helping Santa fight a war), Buddy Hackett as Scrooge for the TV special, John Houseman as himself (narrator of the TV special), Bob Goldthwait as Eliot Loudermilk, a worker laid off by Frank, John Glover as Brice Cummings (Frank’s new VP), Carol Kane as the Ghost of Christmas Present, and tons more!
The ghosts are unique. David Johansen is the Ghost of Christmas Past, a loud-mouthed, cigar-puffing taxi driver. He is unforgettable. David Johansen is a former member of the ’70s rock group The New York Dolls. and singing under the name Buster Poindexter; he had a big hit with the song “Hot, Hot, Hot.” Carol Kane plays the Ghost of Christmas Present. Her unique voice adds to the humor as she kicks Murray in the gonads; she’s hilarious! The Ghost of Christmas Future is a tall skeleton with a TV for a face, which I also take as sort of a statement on society as well as Frank’s network career.
Very good adaptation and deserves a view. The ending is so cheerful in a modern sense, and Bill reaches out across being behind a camera, interacting with those who were in the theater back in 1988. It ends with the Annie Lennox song “Put A Little Love in Your Heart,” which always gets my eyes wet.
- At the end of the movie, when everybody is singing, “Put a little love in your heart,” Frank (Bill Murray) says (among many other things): “Feed me, Seymour!” This is a reference to Little Shop of Horrors (1986), in which Murray has a small part.
- When the Ghost of Christmas Present first appears in the movie, she says to Frank Cross, “I’m a little muddled.” This is a direct quote from Glenda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz (1939) when she first meets Dorothy in Munchkinland.
- All of Bill Murray’s brothers—John Murray, Joel Murray, and Brian Doyle-Murray—make appearances in this film.
9. Ebenezer (1997) (TV)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133727/
A very, very unique adaptation, but it’s not for everyone because it’s barely recognizable as A Christmas Carol. It’s set in the American Wild West, where Scrooge is a land baron, gunfighter, and card cheat who is visited by three ghosts who attempt to teach him the true meaning of Christmas.
The main reason to see this is because veteran actor Jack Palance plays Ebenezer Scrooge. Sadly, Palance passed away on November 10, 2006.
10. A Christmas Carol (1999) (TV)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0216621/
This was a TNT/Hallmark TV movie. It seems that many do not like Patrick Stewart as Ebenezer Scrooge, but I liked him. Most say he seemed too mean-tempered, but I felt the opposite. I thought his meanness just didn’t seem believable at times. But I still thought he did fine. I also feel that this movie stayed truer to the novel than most movies.
- It is the first Christmas Carol to incorporate computer-generated graphics. These are used most effectively in the scene where the Ghost of Christmas Present takes Scrooge on a whirlwind visit to a lighthouse, a ship at sea, and a group of miners.
By exploring these top 10 adaptations, you can find the version of A Christmas Carol that best fits your holiday spirit, whether you prefer timeless classics or modern interpretations.
