My Christmas annual

My favorite holiday film, the one to revisit & cherish every year. Plug for the blood bank: at two hours it's the perfect length for a platelet donation.

Beautiful craftsmanship throughout, lots to look for in repeat viewings. A couple examples: (1) Roy Kinnear & Derek Francis receding in the background as SCROOGE launches into "I Hate People." (2) the bustling festive detail of "Christmas Children." The songs are variable but beautifully orchestrated, the lesser ones improve with familarity. I have the soundtrack on record, 8-track & reel-to-reel, but will we ever see a CD version?

Most critics, particularly Pauline Kael, doled out quick dismissives, tho' there were one or two dissenting voices of reason, and the film itself has gained in stature over the years (witness it's high average rating here.) Among it's other virtues, SCROOGE is a treasure-trove time capsule of British acting talent, much as the HARRY POTTER films will be decades from now.

SCROOGE has many terrific actors I know mostly from this movie, not all by name (without checking the credits.) Bob Collings as Bob Cratchit hits the perfect note of pragmatic deference without surrendering his dignity or good nature (he's my Alternate Universe Best Supporting Actor for 1970); Scrooge's nephew, an imperturbable sunbeam of optimism; Suzanne Neve's too-brief scenes as Isabel. The "Happiness" pleasure-outing sequence (bookended by slow-motion dancing) always hits me in a tender spot, as affecting as "Feed the Birds" in MARY POPPINS. "Thank You Very Much" is staged for exhilirating impact. Could go on & on, but want to be up early for the Rose Parade. Hope everyone's Christmas was merry.