|  | Actors: Alastair Sim, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn Johns, Hermione Baddeley
Studio: VCI Entertainment
List Price: $19.99
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Rating:  169 reviews
Sales Rank: 125
Format: Black & White, Color, Digital Sound, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 2
Running Time: 86 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 5
Dimensions (in): 5 x 4 x 1
MPN: 8500
UPC: 089859850028
EAN: 0089859850028
ASIN: B000SR0DDE
Theatrical Release Date: 1951
Release Date: October 23, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Five Star Seller!!! New, factory sealed US Region 1 DVD. Item is 100% guaranteed not to be a bootleg or import. Item is shipped directly from our warehouse. Easy exchange if item defective or damaged in shipped.
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Showing reviews 141-145 of 169
 Colorful is Best October 5, 2007
Mr. Perfect
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
We are so lucky to be able to see this once drab b/w movie in now beautiful accurate living color. The folks at VCI have hit a home run in releasing this Christmas classic in beautiful living color. Refuse to watch anything b/w until it's been beautifully colorfied, the way all b/w films and TV shows should be. VCI, start colorizing the rest of your b/w features and I'll buy them too. This is the best of the Christmas Carol movies, and now that it's in beautiful color it's now worth watching even more. LOVE THOSE BEAUTIFUL LIVING COLORIZED movies, keep it up, now all my dreams will be answered if we can only see "Holiday Inn" In Color!!! Wow, now that's my fantasy come true. Color all my dreams and all those old drab b/w movies too.
 Classic Movie, So-so Extras October 4, 2007
B. Niedt (Cherry Hill, NJ United States)
There must be dozens of versions of this classic Dickens tale in existence, from Michael Caine and the Muppets to a TV version with Marlo Thomas (?) in the Scrooge role, not to mention animated versions starring everyone from Mister Magoo to Mickey Mouse. (My personal favorite is the TV version starring George C. Scott.) But this is considered the definitive version, the 1951 British film with Alistair Sim in the title role. (For some reason, it was originally released as "Scrooge" but has come to be known, at least here in the States, under the original story's title, "A Christmas Carol"). And indeed, it seems that Sim's portrayal as the redeemed miser is the standard against which all subsequent performances have been measured. It is still considered the most "authentic" version of the story on film, even though, like most other versions, it still takes some liberties with the story (like changing Scrooge's fiancee's name from Belle to Alice, for some reason). The cast may be largely unfamiliar to U.S. audiences, except perhaps for the wonderful Hermoine Badderley (Mrs. Cratchit), and Patrick Macnee (John Steed of "The Avengers") in a small role. But as one would expect from a British production, the performances are uniformly fine. It's still an inspiring movie, and essential for anyone who wants classic holiday films on DVD.
This two-disc package contains the usual extras (a rather dry commentary track, bios of the stars, etc.). There is also a colorized version of the film (for those of you who prefer that god-awfully fake process to the original black-and-white) introduced by cast member Macnee, and an earlier 1935 film version starring Sir Seymour Hicks (which isn't bad, but makes you appreciate the Sim version all the more). Also included is an interview with George Cole, who played young nephew Fred in the 1951 version (and still looks rather dapper today), and a short piece demonstrating the restoration of the film.
The perfect version fully restored October 4, 2007
Thomas Paul (Plainview, NY USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is the perfect Christmas story. The 1951 version of the story starring Alastair Sim as the miserly Scrooge is the perfect version of the book. And now thanks to advanced restoration technology, we have the perfect version of the movie.
This has always been a Christmas favorite in our house. Every year as my wife and I help Santa put the presents under the tree, we watch the ghosts show the miserly Scrooge his past and how he has allowed the evils of the world to turn his heart, the present and how the joys of Christmas are for all people no matter how poor, and the future and how what we leave behind depends on how we lived. Alastair Sim is perfect in the role showing us that Scrooge isn't evil but rather that Scrooge hates all men, no less himself, because of the suffering and death he has endured. When Scrooge changes, and no actor does a better job of changing from "bad Scrooge" to "good Scrooge", we cheer that the good man who was always in him has been allowed to burst free.
This DVD has been restored using the original masters of the film and advanced computer technology. Nearly perfect, it makes the earlier versions look muddy which we can see in the short comparison of the two provided as an extra. The extras themselves are worth the price. An audio commentary is provided by Robert Cole who played the young Scrooge in the film. Cole actually lived with Sim when Cole was an up and coming actor and has many stories to share. Richard Gordon (who provided the funding for the film) relates the interesting story of how the movie was created in the short about George Minter and Renown Pictures. The package also includes as a bonus, the colorized (but not restored) version of the movie (which I will never watch) and the 1935 movie, "Scrooge" starring Sir Seymour Hicks in what is a fairly good version of the book.
There are a few Christmas movies that must be watched each year and this version of A Christmas Carol is absolutely one of them. And now that it is available in restored form it is even more of a must-see version. No movie version is closer to the work of Charles Dickens and no team of actors does a better job of bringing Victorian England to life on the screen. This is not to be missed. Merry Christmas!
A family treasure, one of three must-own Christmas videos. October 3, 2007
Patrick McCormack (New Brighton, MN USA)
This is one of the sharpest performances of a Christmas Carol you can own. The best of british actors bring the performance into England, into a Dickensian world. This, and the black and white version, give this movie an exotic flavor, a performance that is Christmas in a foreign land -- at least for this American reviewer.
The package includes a colorized version, and the colorization is not bad. My kid liked the colorized version. But the black and white film
version has more character.
This is the version I grew up with. I have since seen a dozen versions, from a play at the Guthrie to Scrooged, from George C. Scott to Marlo Thomas, including the classic cartoon with Jim Backus... this performance takes the story seriously, is scary in the scary parts, and imparts a sense of joy at the conversion of Scrooge that resonates deeply, is believable, and makes me want to watch this movie again, next year, and the year after. I would put this next to A Christmas Story and It's A Wonderful Life on my shelf of Christmas films.
By the way, this review also appears as an anonymous kid's review, for some reason. That one was also written by me, a non-anonymous non-kid...
A family treasure, one of three must own Christmas videos. October 2, 2007
This is one of the best performances of a Christmas Carol you can own. The best of british actors bring the performance into England, into a Dickensian world. This, and the black and white version, give this movie an exotic flavor, a performance that is Christmas in a foreign land -- at least for this American reviewer.
The package includes a colorized version, and the colorization is not bad. My kid liked the colorized version. But the black and white film
version has more character.
This is the version I grew up with. I have since seen a dozen versions, from a play at the Guthrie to Scrooged, from George C. Scott to Marlo Thomas, including the classic cartoon with Jim Backus... this performance takes the story seriously, is scary in the scary parts, and imparts a sense of joy at the conversion of Scrooge that resonates deeply, is believable, and makes me want to watch this movie again, next year, and the year after. I would put this next to A Christmas Story and It's A Wonderful Life on my shelf of Christmas films.
Showing reviews 141-145 of 169
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