"A Christmas Carol" (1984) - SPOILER ALERT

I have had this version of "A Christmas Carol" on my must see list since last Christmas. (You can read brief reviews of other versions here.) I was surprised to see it is currently on multiple streaming channels, several of which I have! So, on this dimly lit overcast December day, I watched it. While it isn't my favorite version, it was worth watching.

I was immediately drawn into it with the very snowy, picturesque, opening street scene. There are many scenes like that scattered throughout the film that I enjoyed immensely. However, overall, this is definitely the spookiest version I have seen. Plus, this was the only version I can remember seeing where Scrooge was not wearing his signature nightcap. Why did they take that away? It was one of the first things I noticed.  

It wasn't entirely scary, but just like those picturesque scenes, there was scattered spookiness throughout, complete with ominous music, sound effects, and strange things happening in Scrooge's home. There was some element of spookiness to all three ghosts of the three Christmases, but the spookiest ghost of all, was, by far, Marley. I cringed when he appeared. Unless I blinked and missed it, he was not shown again at the end when Scrooge was a changed man. Seeing a "free" Marley would have brought me some closure.

I already knew that the actor who played Tiny Tim is not disabled in real life, so I won't dwell on that. I think by now you know how I feel about that. What I didn't know was that at the end of this version, Tiny Tim would suddenly be able to walk again with no crutch. How did that happen so quickly? It is entirely possible, but not likely in such a short period of time. It is the final scene in the movie and it left me feeling a bit perplexed.

Overall, this isn't a bad version of the classic. For the most part, it stays true to the original story with some changes to the details. George C. Scott did a good job playing Scrooge and I enjoyed watching all of the other characters as well. I just Scrooge had his nightcap!