Today's posting in THE MOVIE GAME Christmas series is going to be different because I'm going to give you the answer right away! After all, who wants to talk about Christmas movies on January 3rd?
So, my favourite Christmas movie is - drum roll, please - A Christmas Carol! And my favourite Scrooge is Alistair Sim in the 1951 film version. That's him up above.
There are two other very strong contenders for my favourite Scrooge. George C. Scott is one. With his trademark leonine gruffness and ferocity, he was born to play Scrooge before his reformation.
And my family and I love Michael Caine (well, we love Michael Caine, period) in The Muppet Christmas Carol. Although we have to skip the part where Belle tells the young Scrooge that their relationship is over in "When Love is Gone," and Michael sings a duet filled with regret with her. Breaks our hearts every time.
But I love Alistair Sim. Remember the part in the movie where he's eating his supper at a gloomy restaurant and tells the waiter, "More bread." The waiter tells him that more bread will cost him extra, and he says, "No bread." He sums up the miserly soul of Scrooge in that small scene without a single, "Bah! Humbug." But the expression of youthful joy and thankfulness on his face when his conversion to humanity is complete is unparalleled, in my humble opinion. What an expressive face Alistair Sim had!
Now, to last week's double-header. This scene with Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby looking so silly as they aped Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen was from White Christmas. A great holiday treat with lots of singing and dancing.
Or, if you prefer something a little more understated but with plenty of romance and holiday nostalgia, there's Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan in The Shop Around the Corner.
This was fun! I've enjoyed sharing some wonderful movies with you, whether they were Christmas films or not. Looking forward to my first post of THE MOVIE GAME in 2014. Until then . . .
If you would like to receive a note when a new Cathy Spencer novel is released, just leave your name and e-mail address with the "Contact Cathy" app to the right of this post.
No comments:
Post a Comment