A Christmas Carol (1999 film)

A Christmas Carol
DVD cover
Based onA Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
Written byPeter Barnes
Directed byDavid Jones
StarringPatrick Stewart
Richard E. Grant
Joel Grey
ComposerStephen Warbeck
Country of originUnited Kingdom
United States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producersRobert Halmi, Sr.
Patrick Stewart
ProducerDyson Lovell
CinematographyIan Wilson
EditorDavid Martin
Running time95 minutes
Production companiesTNT Productions
Turner Television
Hallmark Entertainment
Original release
NetworkTNT
Release
  • December 5, 1999 (1999-12-05)

A Christmas Carol is a 1999 British-American made-for-television film adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol that was first televised December 5, 1999, on TNT.[1] It was directed by David Jones and stars Patrick Stewart as Ebenezer Scrooge and Richard E. Grant as Bob Cratchit.[2]

Plot

Ebenezer Scrooge, a surly moneylender, buries his longtime friend and business partner Jacob Marley before hastily returning to work at his counting house.

Seven years later, on Christmas Eve 1843, Scrooge's bad mood has become a perpetual state of mind. His loyal, but meek clerk Bob Cratchit is the constant target of Scrooge's cruelty and bitterness. Scrooge declines his nephew Fred Bowley's invitation to join him for Christmas dinner and dismisses two gentlemen, Williams and Foster, collecting charitable donations. He even frightens away a young carol singer by brandishing a ruler. Scrooge reluctantly gives Cratchit Christmas Day off so long as he comes in early the next day. Returning home, Scrooge encounters the tortured ghost of Marley. Marley warns Scrooge that the suffering he causes others, he will have to repay - even in death. He tells Scrooge that he must either repent his wickedness or suffer a worse punishment than his own. Marley tells Scrooge that three spirits will visit him during the next three nights before departing.

At one o'clock, Scrooge is visited by the angel-like Ghost of Christmas Past, who takes him back in time to his childhood, visiting his lonely days in boarding school, where his friends go home for Christmas but he is not wanted, because his father turned against him after his mother died. Scrooge's sister, Fran, the mother of Scrooge's nephew, brings news that their father has changed, agreeing that he could come home for Christmas. The ghost shows Scrooge when he was employed by the benevolent Albert Fezziwig, who loved celebrating Christmas. Scrooge was in love with a young woman named Belle, and they became engaged. However, Belle chose to leave him when Scrooge proved unable to commit to her over amassing his fortune. An emotional Scrooge extinguishes the Ghost as he finds himself back in bed.

Scrooge meets the Ghost of Christmas Present, who shows Scrooge the joys and wonder of Christmas Day. They visit Cratchit's house, where Scrooge is astonished to find that Martha Cratchit is a hardworking young girl and that Cratchit has an ill son, Tiny Tim. The family is content with their small dinner. Scrooge asks if Tiny Tim will live. The Ghost comments that Tiny Tim will likely not survive unless something changes. In a tornado, the ghost shows Scrooge Christmas being celebrated on a lighthouse, a ship, and by a group of miners. The ghost shows Fred's Christmas party, where he defends his uncle from his guests' snide remarks. The ghost shows prisoners celebrating the carols before suddenly aging, telling Scrooge his life is ending and warning him to beware of "Ignorance" and "Want", who manifest themselves as two wretched children. The Ghost then vanishes.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come arrives, appearing as a tall, silent, black cloaked figure, and takes Scrooge into the future. At the stock exchange, Scrooge sees his business colleagues discuss the death of an unnamed man and how they have no intention of attending his funeral as they secretly loathe him. In a den, Scrooge sees a charwoman, a laundress, and the local undertaker trading several of the man's stolen possessions to a rag-and-bone man. Scrooge is shown the dead man under a sheet but is reluctant to see his face. He asks to see anyone showing emotion for the man and is shown a couple celebrating how his death has freed them from debt. When asked to see tenderness connected with a death, the Ghost transports Scrooge to Cratchit's house, where Tiny Tim has died and the Crachits vow to keep him in their hearts. The Ghost escorts Scrooge to a cemetery, where the Ghost reveals Scrooge's name carved on a gravestone. Realizing this, Scrooge vows to change his ways just as the Ghost closes its eyes and lifts its head. The grave opens, and Scrooge sees his corpse, before falling into a dark abyss and waking up to find himself alive in his bed.

A gleeful Scrooge finds the ghosts had visited him all in one night instead of three, and that it is Christmas Day. Scrooge anonymously sends Bob's family a large turkey for Christmas dinner and ventures out among the citizens of London to spread Christmas cheer in the city, even singing carols in church. He reluctantly goes to Fred's house where he reconciles with Fred, shares Christmas dinner, and dances for the first time in years. The next day, Scrooge plays a practical joke on Bob, pretending to be about to scold him for lateness, but instead giving him a raise and offering to assist his family. Fred narrates that Scrooge came to treat everyone around him with kindness, generosity, and compassion, became a second father to Tim (who did not die and recovered), fully embodying the spirit of Christmas.

Main cast

Production

The film was produced after Patrick Stewart performed a series of successful one-man shows of A Christmas Carol on Broadway and in London.[3][4]

Inspiration

Rather than deliberately trying to resemble either the 1938 MGM version or the 1984 made-for-TV version, this adaptation takes as its inspiration the 1951 film version in the grimness of some of its scenes and set design.[5]

Liz Smith had previously played Mrs. Dilber in the 1984 adaptation. Ian McNeice would go onto play Edward Chapman in 2017's The Man Who Invented Christmas, which details the making of the book. Joel Grey had portrayed a spirit in the Dallas series finale "Conundrum".

Critical reception

In a positive review, Michael Speier of Variety praised the cast and direction, and wrote:

"Oft-told tales are difficult to pull off, but ... this one gets it right ... Director David Jones displays a smooth hand that adds mounds of style to the rendition, and his approach to Peter Barnes’ script is a tribute to delicate staging ... Stewart as Scrooge is such a perfect piece of casting that it will be hard to imagine anyone else as the sour ol’ tightwad in years to come."[6]

The New York Times also gave the film a positive review.[7]

Mary Ann Johanson praised Stewart's performance.[8]

Awards

Patrick Stewart was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2000.[citation needed] Ian Wilson was nominated for Outstanding Cinematography at the Emmy Awards in 2000.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ "A Christmas Carol (1999) - David Hugh Jones | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie.
  2. ^ "A Christmas Carol (1999)". BFI. Archived from the original on March 15, 2018.
  3. ^ "Review/Theater; Patrick Stewart's Dickens - The New York Times".
  4. ^ "THEATRE / Personal voyage: Paul Taylor reviews Patrick Stewart's".
  5. ^ "BFI Screenonline: Scrooge (1951)". www.screenonline.org.uk.
  6. ^ "A Christmas Carol". Variety (film review). 1 December 1999.
  7. ^ James, Caryn (3 December 1999). "A timeless spirit of giving melts that hardened heart". TV Weekend. The New York Times (film review) – via NYTimes.com.
  8. ^ https://www.flickfilosopher.com/1999/12/a-christmas-carol-patrick-stewart-and-a-christmas-carol-alistair-sim-review.html Flick Filosopher
  9. ^ "Ian Wilson". Television Academy.

External links