A Christmas Carol (1951)

I will be watching this movie this week. It gets me in the mood for Christmas. Alastair Sim is such a pleasure to watch and he is why this is my favorite interpretation of  A Christmas Carol. 

There have been countless takes on A Christmas Carol, but the 1951 version is something special. It’s not just a holiday movie—it’s a haunting, moving, and uplifting journey that brings home the power of compassion and redemption. Whether it’s your first time watching or your fiftieth, this is the version that truly captures the heart of Dickens’ story. When I think of Scrooge…I think of Alastair Sim.

The movie is in black and white which turns some people off but it makes it that much better to me. They do have a color version but trust me…watch the black-and-white version. It gives the movie a darker feeling. The effects they use are obviously not CGI but they get the point across well and serve the story very well. I like the scene where the ghost of Jacob Marley is warning Ebenezer of being greedy…the two were not on the set at the same time…it looked really good for being 1951…or anytime for that matter.

The film feels like you are stepping into Victorian London…gritty, cold, and yet somehow magical. Scrooge’s transformation feels real, earned, and deeply satisfying. In 1971 Sim voiced the same character in an animated version of A Christmas Carol and it’s great as well. 

So get some hot butter rum, sit back, and watch this great movie. The recipe for Hot Buttered Rum is here, or you can go to the bottom of the post. I haven’t tried this recipe but I want to this year. When I was younger I would go to TGI Fridays…they had great hot buttered rum. 

From IMDB…spoilers

Ebenezer Scrooge (Alastair Sim) is a greedy businessman who thinks only of making money. For him, Christmas is, in his own words, a humbug. It has been seven years since his friend and partner, Jacob Marley (Sir Michael Hordern), died and on Christmas Eve. Marley’s ghost tells him he is to be visited during the night by three spirits. The Ghost of Christmas Past (Michael Dolan) revisits some of the main events in Scrooge’s life to date, including his unhappy childhood, his happy apprenticeship to Mr. Fezziwig (Roddy Hughes), who cared for his employees, and the end of his engagement to a pretty young woman due to a growing love of money. The Ghost of Christmas Present (Francis De Wolff) shows him how joyously is nephew Fred (Brian Worth) and his clerk, Bob Cratchit (Mervyn Johns), celebrate Christmas with those they love. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (Czeslaw Konarski) shows him what he will leave behind after he is gone. Scrooge awakens on Christmas morning, a new man intent on doing good and celebrating the season with all of those around him.

Cast

  • Alastair Sim (Ebenezer Scrooge)
  • Kathleen Harrison (Mrs. Dilber)
  • Mervyn Johns (Bob Cratchit)
  • Hermione Baddeley (Mrs. Cratchit)
  • Michael Hordern (Jacob Marley)
  • Glyn Dearman (Tiny Tim)

Ingredients

  • 2 quarts hot water

  • 2 cups brown sugar

  • ½ cup unsalted butter

  • 1 pinch salt

  • 6 whole cloves

  • 3 cinnamon sticks 

  • 2 cups rum

  • 1 cup sweetened whipped cream

  • ground nutmeg to taste

 
 
 
Directions

  1. Combine hot water, brown sugar, butter, and salt in a 5-quart slow cooker. Add cloves and cinnamon sticks.

     

  2. Cover slow cooker; cook on Low for 5 hours. Stir in rum.

     

  3. Ladle buttered rum into mugs. Top with whipped cream; dust with nutmeg.

 

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

28 thoughts on “A Christmas Carol (1951)”

  6. Great film no matter what season. Talk aboot setting a mood and bringing you in. Alistair is top notch. What an actor. All starts with Dickens. He’s a story teller second to none.
    I had a film recommended to me ‘The Man Who Invented Christmas’ Always a little leary about newer films but I was won over with this. Check it out Max. Worth a watch. Takes you on a ride just like the film you featured. Ties in beautifully.

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  7. I’m with you – the best movie version still, as low-fi as the special effects are. It used to be a Christmas tradition watching it with my mom for a lot of years, often on Christmas Eve, sometimes the Sunday before christmas. Here we watched the animated 2001 version two nights back – it’s quite good, the animation/effects are very good and even though there were a few unnecessary gag bits added in for kids, overall they kept to the story decently. But can’t touch Alistair and Co.

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