|  | Actors: Alastair Sim, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn Johns, Hermione Baddeley
Studio: VCI Entertainment
List Price: $19.99
Buy New: $9.75
as of 11/22/2009 18:25 CST details
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New (26) Used (6) Collectible (1) from $9.74
Seller: digitaleyes_dvdplanet
Rating:  169 reviews
Sales Rank: 104
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 146-150 of 169
 Ultimate Collector's Edition indeed! October 1, 2007
Brian Reaves (Anniston, AL USA)
95 out of 98 found this review helpful
I only discovered this movie about four years ago but have watched it every Christmas since. To me it's the best version of the Christmas Carol ever made, and now it gets the best treatment you could have ever hoped for. This two disc collector's edition contains two different versions of this movie. First is the colorized version, but then the second is the real treat. They went back to the original prints of this and worked from there. After carefully removing the skips, scratches, and jerky frames, they digitally restored the movie to a version that looks as if it were made yesterday! The sound has been changed to 5.1 digital surround, and there's even a widescreen version for 16:9 televisions.
The special features include an earlier version of Christmas Carol (not as good as this one), as well as several featurettes on the movie, interviews with the stars, a feature on Alistair Sim, and others.
You can tell the distributor put a lot of effort into this restoration and it shows. I wish they'd do the same for other great films like "It's a Wonderful Life" and "The Bishop's Wife".
Highly recommended as the best version of this classic you'll find anywhere.
 Alastair Sim's Performance As Scrooge Is The Reason To Watch! September 29, 2007
Susan Y. Schoonover (Boulder, CO)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Alastair Sim is the reason to watch this 1951 version of Charles Dicken's Victorian Christmas classic as he really brings the old miser, Scrooge, to life in a believable manner. The film is quite faithful to Dicken's original story and it expands on some themes from Scrooge's past that are just hinted at in the book. We even get to see Marley as a young man at his first meeting with his future business partner in the Christmas past sequence as well as getting some insight in to why Scrooge resents his nephew when he had been so fond of his sister. The film is presented on a two disc set with plenty of interesting extras and the viewer has the choice of watching the rather cheap looking colorized version (I started watching that first which was probably a mistake) or the well restored black and white original. Why then do I not give it five stars? Though this version is very worthy I can think of three other available CHRISTMAS CAROL versions I prefer. My favorite is the one starring George C. Scott, my next is the often overlooked version of the musical SCROOGE starring Albert Finney and the third, believe it or not, is the excellent Mr. Magoo cartoon which was my first ever introduction to THE CHRISTMAS CAROL and I still enjoy that too little seen classic with my family every holiday season.
A Perennial Holiday Favorite! Beautifully Restored! September 29, 2007
Monty Moonlight (TX)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
In 19th century London, cold-hearted miser Ebenezer Scrooge gets a Christmas Eve visit from the ghost of his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley. Marley's visit heralds three more, the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, all to come that night in turn. The goal of the spirits is to reform Scrooge in order to save him from Marley's fate: an afterlife of unrest bearing heavy chains of remorse. They seek to accomplish this by showing Scrooge select moments from his life and the lives of those he affects, as have been, are, and will be, from Christmases long past to those yet to come. Scrooge witnesses how his lonely boyhood changed to happiness, but soon turned cold with growing greed, anger, loss, and distrust. He sees the plight of London's poor and destitute and how he ever turned a bind eye to them, and witnesses the love he lost in his pursuit of an idle fortune. Nothing, however, is as disturbing as those images of Christmases yet to come. Can these emotional visions work their magic in time to save Ebenezer Scrooge's soul?
Presented in this new, 2-disc DVD set is probably the world's favorite version of "A Christmas Carol," the 1951 British film (known as "Scrooge" in England) starring the magnificent Alastair Sim. As a great fan of the various film versions of "A Christmas Carol," from those starring human actors to ones featuring the likes of Yosemite Sam, Kermit the Frog, and Mickey Mouse, I have to confess that this is probably the best, and it had been years since I'd seen it! Most versions of Charles Dickens' classic Christmas tale have something special that sets them apart and makes them worthy of the holiday film lover's home library, and I think one of the best aspects of this version is the depth the film takes us into Scrooge's past, something barely touched upon in the 1935 version included as a bonus in this set. Adding to the touchingly real and thorough look into Scrooge's history is the excellent casting of George Cole as the young incarnation of Ebenezer. He bears a fine resemblance to Alastair Sim, and both are wonderful in the role. It makes the flashbacks all the more believable. The rest of the ensemble cast is also excellent, featuring great British character actors like Hermione Baddeley and Mervyn Johns, who play the struggling Cratchits, and Michael Hordern, who plays Jacob Marley. Directed beautifully by Brian Desmond Hurst, the excellent restoration job done for this release makes it look better than ever in glorious black and white! Of course, you also can watch the unrestored, colorized version if you have a mind to, and there's even a mock widescreen version of the restored film included for folks who want the picture to fill up their modern, wide-style screens.
As for the bonuses, Disc One includes the aforementioned regular and enhanced widescreen versions of the newly restored, black and white film, along with text cast bios, English and Spanish subtitle options, an optional narrative track for the blind, and an audio commentary by Marcus Hearn and actor George Cole. The audio commentary may seem a bit dry to American ears and the film isn't discussed all that much (more attention is focused on the careers of George Cole, Alastair Sim, and other cast members), but it's a welcome extra nonetheless. Disc Two features the colorized version of the film, which is unrestored and seems to be taken from a TV airing, including opening and closing host segments (which are rather nice, picture quality aside) by "Avengers" star Patrick MacNee (who has a small role in the film as young Jacob Marley). Now, most of us film buffs don't think much of colorization, however, I can see a bit of nostalgia to it now, being amongst the many who grew up during the period when TV presentations of holiday classics often were shown that way. Also on Disc Two are the audio options from the first disc (minus the commentary) and some other fine extras as well! We receive the original British and American theatrical trailers, a brief look at the restoration process for the black and white version of the film, a Photo and Press Book gallery (which runs on its own, something I rather appreciate, though some accompanying music would have been nice), a fine and rapid yet thorough look at the life and times of Charles Dickens, an interview with George Cole on the subject of Alastair Sim titled "Spirit of Christmas Past," an audio interview with Richard Gordon on the subject of Renown Pictures and "Scrooge" producer George Minter, and, most delightfully, the 1935 Seymour Hicks version of "Scrooge." The only disappointment here is that the bonus film of Seymour Hicks' "Scrooge," an excellent film in its own right, is not complete. I noticed one of its sweetest moments, the scene at the end where Ebenezer joins the Cratchits in church, was not there. This left me wondering what else might have been cut out, if anything, and deciding I would definitely be keeping my bargain bin edition of that film.
Nevertheless, this 2-disc release from VCI, complete with lovely, opening flap slipcover, is the finest presentation of Alastair Sim's "A Christmas Carol" to date, and if you love this film and holiday films in general, you owe it to yourself to get it right away!
A Perfect Gift for the Member of Your Family Who Can't Get Enough Christmas! September 29, 2007
Jean Yates (United States)
I first saw this movie, starring the incredible Alistair Sim as Scrooge(the real title of the film), at school back in the fifties. We were ushered into the school gym and the projector was run for all of the children in my rather small school. I was entranced with the story. We owned a copy of the book at home, with the original illustrations, and it is remarkable either way. When you have Charles Dickens as the author, chances are you are going to get a classic tale which is honestly great.
I find this movie, which I have viewed countless times, honestly great as well. I believe that it is all too true that people need to be taught at times how to behave toward other people: when Scrooge gets a second chance to become a good man and live the spirt of Christmas every day of the year after his visitations (from Jacob Marley, and the three spirits: Past, Present, and Future) it is incredibly affecting.
I particularly found the visitation of Christmas Past interesting to watch, as an adult. I suppose I understand now why Scrooge became the man he became. No excuses, but it is a realization I didn't have when I first watched this film growing up. It is an excellent explanation of why a person would become cold and bitter and unfeeling.
Alistair Sim's face is an extraordinary one. He sort of looks like a beagle. But when he is angry or mean, he is fearful looking. There are many things in this movie which are genuinely fearful, or sad, or moving.
That is part of what makes it a great classic.
True emotions evoked by fantastic directing (Brian Desmond Hurst) and perfect acting (not just by Sim, but also by Mervyn Johns as Bob Crachit, the epitome of a loving devoted father who must work for Scrooge to support his family, which includes, of course, Tiny Tim) make for a film which is worth watching any time of the year, by anyone.
I recommend giving this to the person(s) you most love, and watching it together!
I love seeing Scrooge go off in the snow at the end with a running, cheerful Tiny Tim, now healed because Scrooge has changed and is helping the Cratchits. It isn't silly, it is lovely. A great, uplifting scene!
It is a true delight to have a great movie come so exquisitely and beautifully packaged just in time for the Holidays! It has everything you could want and more!
Deck the Halls!
If only all the great classic movies could come in editions like this! September 28, 2007
Mary Jo Sminkey (Carlisle, PA USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
A Christmas Carol became a huge hit almost as soon as Dickens wrote it and has remained a classic ever since. Is there any movie that has been remade so many times and in so many ways? From more recent versions with George C Scott, or even more recent with Patrick Stewart to children's version with the Muppets or even Mr. Magoo to musicals to other derivative versions like Scrooged and American Christmas Carol, few stories are as enduring as that of the curmudgeonly Scrooge and his ghostly visitations. This surely is one of the best of the traditional movie versions. Alastair Sim is absolutely believable as Scrooge, from beginning to the very end, hitting all the right emotional notes along the way. Getting to play the restored B&W version on my large widescreen TV is truly a delight, one can really get immersed in the story and the wonderful acting without grainy old images and crackling sound track getting in the way. Being able to listen to an audio commentary on a 50+ year old movie was certainly extraordinary! I've always been a fan of commentaries and it's amazing the recollections that they provided us with. An additional track for the blind is certainly an interesting, and I'm sure for visually impaired people, a very welcome addition.
Going to the second disk, we have the often lamented colorized version. While like most I do prefer the original B&W I do often enjoy watching colorized movies once in awhile. My grandfather often colorized photos and many of my favorite photos of my mother are ones that he colored and watching old colorized movies somewhat reminds me of them. The additional features and interviews on this disk have some interest....the before & after on the restoration is kind of neat. I think I will enjoy the interviews more in the future, they became a little much after already being through the audio commentary on the movie. Getting another edition of "Christmas Carol" was a neat bonus, but would have been much nicer if that movie had been restored as well.
Overall, this is a truly wonderful movie, well worth the purchase price, and full of wonderful features and bonuses that will surely be enjoyed for years to come.
Showing reviews 146-150 of 169
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