![]() When the guy playing Dick Wilkins outshines you, you know you’re the wrong guy to portray Nephew Fred. ![]() Sadly, though, Rees fades into the woodwork as possibly the least memorable Fred ever. NEPHEW FRED – Ironically THIS guy (Roger Rees) fits the stereotype of the timid Bob Cratchit! He and Warner might have been forced to switch roles under a less original production team. Wimpier Bob Cratchits play this scene as if they actually think Scrooge is a hell of a guy. His appeal to his wife to drink the toast to Scrooge’s health really seems to be for the sake of their observing children. Warner as Cratchit seems more stoic than browbeaten and appears to genuinely care about having his children see only tender emotions at Christmastime. On the plus side he has always appealed to me more than those Bob Cratchits who overdo the timidity. I promise.)īOB CRATCHIT – David Warner strikes me as jarringly old for Bob Cratchit but that’s a fairly minor quibble. ![]() (“When you put your hand into a pile of goo that a minute ago was the Artful Dodger’s face … You’ll know what to do.” That’s the last time I’ll do that. If you’ve seen him as Fagan in the 1982 adaptation of Oliver Twist you know what a bullet this Christmas Carol dodged. SCROOGE – Be thankful that George C Scott toned down his George C Scottishness for this role. ![]() My only complaints about this undeniable classic would be 1) the way it’s one of those Carols which unnecessarily add extra tension to the relationship between Scrooge and his father and 2) unnecessary magnification of why the poor and unemployed are sad at Christmas. No special reason, it’s just that so many excellent reviews have already covered this Carol that I wanted to hit the more obscure versions first.Ī CHRISTMAS CAROL (1984) – Let me kick off this review with my old, overused joke about wanting to hear George C Scott holler “Dickens, you magnificent bastard … I READ YER BOOOOOOOOK!” Readers are often surprised that I haven’t reviewed this one even though it’s one of my favorites. Balladeer’s Blog’s 9th Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues with this take on one of the perennial staples of Christmastime viewing. ![]()
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