Scrooge (1951), with Alastair Sim
Alastair Sim’s Scrooge, in black and white. In the US it is called A Christmas Carol.
Show how he got this way, and his change on Christmas morning means more.
You want the British classic, in black and white, with a Scrooge whose history is filled in.
What it keeps and what it changes
Keeps: the period, the ghosts and a good deal of Dickens’s dialogue.
Changes: the backstory. Noel Langley’s screenplay adds an employer, Mr Jorkin, who lures young Scrooge away from Fezziwig, and has his sister Fan die giving birth to Fred.
Whose story is it?
Scrooge’s, from his youth onward.
How much time does it ask?
A feature, 1 hour 26 minutes. Directed by Brian Desmond Hurst.
Alastair Sim, Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn Johns, Hermione Baddeley, Michael Hordern, George Cole.
Where to find it
Other ways to get it: Rent or buy — Prime Video · Find where it’s streaming — JustWatch
Common questions
Is Scrooge (1951) the same film as A Christmas Carol (1951)?
Yes. The Alastair Sim film was released as Scrooge in Britain and as A Christmas Carol in the United States.
More Christmas Carols: A Christmas Carol (MGM, 1938) · A Christmas Carol (1984), with George C. Scott · A Christmas Carol (1999), with Patrick Stewart