Best "A Christmas Carol" movie?

[Jasonic]

Muppet Christmas Carol hands down. My favorite Christmas movie in general actually.

[ChuckT43]

Fans of the story should check out the Doctor Who one released last year. This was definitely a fun ride.

[Belloche]

Originally Posted by paul_66

Alastair Sim - 1951, period.

I'll go with that. I do also have a soft spot for Scrooged though.

[MarkWM]

Originally Posted by EricJ

He's also too Capt.-Picard dictatorial:
In the scene with Marley, Stewart doesn't come off as the least bit scared of seeing a ghostly apparition in his room--which even George C. Scott managed to be--and talks down to Marley as if he's trying to talk a friend out of buying a car. ("Ja-cob, you were always a good man of business...")

Robert Halmi Hallmark series can be either very good (like Gulliver or the Odyssey) or very bad (like Merlin), but never ever very deep, and most of the stuff that was sent to TNT Network was in the aggressively-mediocre middle.
Stewart only co-x-produced the movie so he could cash in on his popular stage reading of the book, but reading Scrooge and playing him are two different things--As Dickensian misers go, he's more suited to iron-fisted Ralph Nickelby than Scrooge.

He Didn't read the play but played all major characters for several years on Stage.

[classicfan1224]

As far as best Christmas Carol film I am fond of the 1951 version. As far as best Scrooge, to me there is no one that tops Alistair Sim of the 1951 film. I also like the George C. Scott depiction, even though he makes no attempt of speaking with a British accent, and sentimentality plays a part in it also, as I believe that was one of his last roles before his death. I absolutely hated Patrick Stewart as Scrooge. Sorry fans - the bald head really threw me for a loop, and it was quite startling. I just ordered Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (don't laugh) and will chime in later as to whether it was worth it.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by classicfan1224

I just ordered Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (don't laugh) and will chime in later as to whether it was worth it.

Most of UPA's "Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo" (of which Christmas Carol was unofficially considered to be the "first"--Quincy later went on to play Puck, Don Quixote, Friar Tuck, Dr. Watson, all seven Dwarves, and the Count of Monte Cristo) may not be deep, by 60's-cartoon standards, but they're so earnestly straightforward in telling the My First Kids' Classics, they win you over.
It's mostly the songs we remember, though: There's still the urban myth floating around that, this being Jules Styne's first musical, he'd originally written "People" for Magoo, not Streisand, but this myth has since repeatedly been debunked.

[Madman Marz]

I like the George C. Scott version and Scrooged the best.

[little flower]

I am not really sure I have a favorite, but one that I really like is the one from 1938 with Reginald Owen. There are a lot of movies about a Christmas Carol that I like. I really like the story. One of my names is Tiny Tim. One thing that I have always been curious about is the fact that it seems like Ebenezer Scrooge is remembered as being a mean person more than he is remembered as being a good person. When I think of Ebenezer Scrooge I think of someone who is a very kind man.

[GaragePoet]

g/f & i just watched "Scrooged" last night (which she'd never seen) followed directly by "The Muppets Christmas Carol" (which i'd never seen)... personal fave is still "Scrooged"

[stephenharrod]

Muppet Christmas Carol is the gold standard for Christmas Carol's movie. If Charles Dickens wished he'd made it!

[Damon1281]

Alistair Simms 1951 is the best but I like them all. George C. Scott, Bill Murray whom I don't even like, Mr. Magoo, the Flintstones. Zemecki's is great with the added bonus of being in 3D.

[jess1581]

For me, it'll always be Albert Finney's Scrooge.

[RFK]

Alastair Sim's version.

[dancerslegs]

George C. Scott remains the finest actor to ever play Scrooge in front of the cameras.

Of the ones I've seen, I'd say that one is the best.

The Patrick Stewart one dreadful. Ye gods, he was as awful in that as he was playing Ahab, which I didn't think was possible.

[Canada]

I like the Alastair Sim Christmas Carol 1951 version, the TV George C. Scott version was great.

[Winslow Leach]

Albert Finney's SCROOGE (1970) is a favorite, as are SCROOGED (1988) and THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL (1992).

[lupinskitten]

Originally Posted by stephenharrod

Muppet Christmas Carol is the gold standard for Christmas Carol's movie. If Charles Dickens wished he'd made it!

This. Only Christmas movie I never get sick of watching.

[Michael24]

For traditional adaptations I like a few but the '84 TV film with George C. Scott is, IMO, the best. I never get tired of watching it. A close second would be Mickey's Christmas Carol.

For take-off/spoof versions Scrooged is hilarious and another top favorite.

[stvn1974]

Big fan of the George C. Scott version. My mom taped it off of TV the first time it aired the family watched it every year until the BD came out. We still watch it at my parents every Christmas Eve.

[rooboy78]

Albert Finney’s Scrooge, which is a musical, is the definitive version for me because that’s the one I grew up with.