To begin with, in the coming days I should be checking out all the major film adaptations of the venerable Charles Dickens festive classic "A Christmas Carol" seven in all (1935, 1938, 1951, 1970, 1983 {animated short}, 1984 {TV} and 1992 {puppets}).
This is the first of three I watched in quick succession, being also one of only two I hadn't viewed previously. Unfortunately, it came via the trimmed 60-minute version (included as a supplement on VCI's 2-Disc Set of the definitive 1951 adaptation) though, ironically, I came upon a copy of the complete 78-minute print the very next day! Curiously enough, while this particular narrative has been adapted to the screen countless times, its plot has rarely been updated or altered; in this respect, most versions could well be deemed superfluous...except that the intrinsic moral lesson is so timely that film-makers constantly feel the need to remake it (this line of thought was understandable back in the old days when DVD, or even TV, wasn't available but now I find the concept unfathomable and even punishing, since no one can hope to surpass the aforementioned classic with Alastair Sim)!
Anyway, the 1935 film itself emerges to be an unsurprisingly faithful rendition of the Dickensian tale; actually, the lead actor Sir Seymour Hicks had already appeared in a 1913 Silent version! Still, unsurprising is the key word here: granted, the plot is so well-structured and engaging that one can't help watching (especially during this time of year) but it's also so inextricably familiar that one tends to become impatient during expository passages, fully anticipating the next dramatic highlight or famous line. Ironically, even if this version is shorn of some 20 minutes, there's still a bit of padding particularly the bludgeoning message inherent in the scene where the scraps of a royal banquet are flung out on the street to be picked up by beggars.
Hicks himself emerges as probably the least sympathetic Scrooge (but, at the same time, being the right age for the role unlike most other performers of the emblematic miser figure); in hindsight, this may be due to the fact that I'm only familiar with his work through this one performance (incidentally, he co-scripted the film himself) though, to be fair to him, I hadn't watched most of the other versions in quite some time. Similarly, the supporting cast doesn't have the many established faces one finds in subsequent versions which, again, serves to distance one somewhat from the narrative's desired effect; that said, the Ghost Of Christmas Present is played by Oscar Asche co-author of CHU-CHIN-CHOW, a stage musical whose 1934 screen adaptation (via VCI's surprisingly generous 3-Disc Set) preceded this very same viewing!
Artistically, therefore, the 1935 SCROOGE is workmanlike if nothing more: the silhouetted Ghost Of Christmas Future is rather effective but, then, Jacob Marley's ghost is heard but not seen!; it's unfortunate, too, that the outdoor night-time scenes on this particular print were excessively dark.
This is the first of three I watched in quick succession, being also one of only two I hadn't viewed previously. Unfortunately, it came via the trimmed 60-minute version (included as a supplement on VCI's 2-Disc Set of the definitive 1951 adaptation) though, ironically, I came upon a copy of the complete 78-minute print the very next day! Curiously enough, while this particular narrative has been adapted to the screen countless times, its plot has rarely been updated or altered; in this respect, most versions could well be deemed superfluous...except that the intrinsic moral lesson is so timely that film-makers constantly feel the need to remake it (this line of thought was understandable back in the old days when DVD, or even TV, wasn't available but now I find the concept unfathomable and even punishing, since no one can hope to surpass the aforementioned classic with Alastair Sim)!
Anyway, the 1935 film itself emerges to be an unsurprisingly faithful rendition of the Dickensian tale; actually, the lead actor Sir Seymour Hicks had already appeared in a 1913 Silent version! Still, unsurprising is the key word here: granted, the plot is so well-structured and engaging that one can't help watching (especially during this time of year) but it's also so inextricably familiar that one tends to become impatient during expository passages, fully anticipating the next dramatic highlight or famous line. Ironically, even if this version is shorn of some 20 minutes, there's still a bit of padding particularly the bludgeoning message inherent in the scene where the scraps of a royal banquet are flung out on the street to be picked up by beggars.
Hicks himself emerges as probably the least sympathetic Scrooge (but, at the same time, being the right age for the role unlike most other performers of the emblematic miser figure); in hindsight, this may be due to the fact that I'm only familiar with his work through this one performance (incidentally, he co-scripted the film himself) though, to be fair to him, I hadn't watched most of the other versions in quite some time. Similarly, the supporting cast doesn't have the many established faces one finds in subsequent versions which, again, serves to distance one somewhat from the narrative's desired effect; that said, the Ghost Of Christmas Present is played by Oscar Asche co-author of CHU-CHIN-CHOW, a stage musical whose 1934 screen adaptation (via VCI's surprisingly generous 3-Disc Set) preceded this very same viewing!
Artistically, therefore, the 1935 SCROOGE is workmanlike if nothing more: the silhouetted Ghost Of Christmas Future is rather effective but, then, Jacob Marley's ghost is heard but not seen!; it's unfortunate, too, that the outdoor night-time scenes on this particular print were excessively dark.