Various Versions of A Christmas Carol...

Gotta go with the classics: Alastair Sim from 1951 black and white is still the quintessential Scrooge.

And for audio only, no question it's Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise. Patrick Stewart does an absolutely killer reading of a Christmas Carol. He's done it live in NYC, which still has my sister and brother-in-law talking about it, and his cassette version (probably also CD by now) is a Christmas must-hear in their home. You can cook holiday dinner better listening to it.

For my money, alistair simm is the only Scrooge.

I'm with MJ and EB on this one.

Id agree with the proviso that , were Shatner to play SCrooge, it would be the all time greatest version.

Ghost of Christmas Past--John Goodman in his "Great Lebowski style"

Sean Penn as Ghost of CHristmas Present

Billy Bob Thornton as Ghost of Christmas Yet to Be

Yup, just like the only Sherlock Holmes would be Jeremy Brett.

There is a new action film about Sherlock about to be released. I forgot the star. It's expected to be different.

Noooooooooooooooo! The ONLY Sherlock Homes is Basil Rathbone, just as the onlyDr. Watson is Nigel Bruce.

I agree about the notion that Brett is the best Holmes, and he looks very much like the Sidney Paget illustrations. In fact, the producers were very good at making those versions of the Holmes story look like the Paget illustrations. Some scenes they shot were identical--i particularly remember the scene of the butler being discovered going through the family papers in "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual" which was as nearly identical to a Paget engraving as anyone could expect a piece of film to be.

Nigel Bruce was an awful Dr. Watson. He makes Watson look like a bumbling idiot, and i never cared for his portrayal of the character. Anyone familiar with the Holmes canon knows that Watson was neither a bumbler nor an idiot, and that Holmes often relied upon him. All of this is, of course, my never humble opinion.

Yep, Alistair Sim for the win:



Although Bill Murray's Scrooged is, in my opinion, underappreciated.

You obviously haven't seen Jeremy Brett's version of Sherlock Holmes. There is NO comparison.

As well, Nigel Bruce's character constantly looks like a bungling buffoon. Edward Hardwicke's version is intelligent and as a co-partner, not some silly sidekick.

you mean that he wasnt an English version of LEo Carrillo?

Jeremy Brett and whoever the BBC has acting Miss Jane Marple, have always struck me as particularly bloodless creations. They may be truer to the canons, but they both seem totally enervated. Basil Rathbone and Hermione Gingold stride through their roles.

I've got 15 or 20 of the Basil Rathbone one reelers on DVD. They are entertaining, but there is no way that Basil is a better Holmes than Brett. Perhaps you do find Brett's portrayal to be bloodless, but that's much closer to the the classically self-repressed Victorian character that Doyle created. For Miss Marple, i have no opinion--i never cared for the books, and haven't paid any attention to film version. By the way, Brett appeared in productions on Grenada, not the BBC.

Sorry, FM, don't know who that is.


Set's got it right here! The casting was perfect! It's too bad he died young.


Edgar, yes that's the new version. Not quite sure what to make of it. Seems interesting, but not sure how true it keeps to Doyle's stories.

Edgar, yes that's the new version. Not quite sure what to make of it. Seems interesting, but not sure how true it keeps to Doyle's stories.

Seems like this version makes him, at least in part, Batman.

Yes, it is quite a bit more physical, isn't it?

So nobody else thinks Michael Caine was kinda awesome in A Muppets Christmas Carol? LOL

Saw a bit of footage from this upcoming Christmas Carol and it looks eerie but in a good way! And Jim Carrey playing Scrooge and all the ghosts should be interesting to watch as well....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfMC3ApFVvs