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A Christmas Carol (Ultimate Collector's Edition)(B/W & Color) | 
 enlarge | Actors: Alastair Sim, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn Johns, Hermione Baddeley
Studio: VCI Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.99
Buy New: $10.49
You Save: $9.50 (48%)
New (38) Used (9) Collectible (1) from $10.49
Rating:  119 reviews
Format: Black & White, Color, Digital Sound, Full Screen, Subtitled, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 2
Running Time: 86 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5 x 4 x 1
MPN: 8500
UPC: 089859850028
EAN: 0089859850028
Theatrical Release Date: 1951
Release Date: October 23, 2007
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
Alastair Sim's tour-de-force performance as the ultimate miser Ebenezer Scrooge has almost single-handedly made this beloved version of Charles Dickens' story into one of the best-loved Christmas films of all time. Some of Britain's best filmmakers united behind Sim who was joined by a delightful cast of accomplished and acclaimed English actors; creating what many today believe to be the best and most faithful production of Dickens' immortal tale. Cranky and curmudgeonly Scrooge learns the error of his unkind ways and is taught the true meaning of the holidays when he is visited by the ghost of his late business partner and the spirits of Christmas past present and future. BONUS FEATURES: Original B&W 4x3 Version from an all new digital transfer Optional 16x9 Version Enhanced for Widescreen Monitors Bonus Colorized Version Scrooge (1935 Seymour Hicks Version) Audio Commentary by Marcus Hearn & George Cole "Spirit of Christmas Past" George Cole remembers Alastair Sim "Richard Gordon Remembers George Minter & Renown Pictures" "Charles Dickens His Life & Times" Original American Theatrical Trailer Original British Theatrical Trailer Before & After Restoration Comparison Optional English & Spanish Subtitles Optional Narrative for the Blind Photo & Press Book Gallery Cast Bios. SPECS: 2-DVD9s; Dolby Digital; 86 minutes; Color & B/W; 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio & Optional 4x3 & 16x9 Enhanced versions; Year - 1951. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 089859850028 Manufacturer No: 8500
Amazon.com
This is the desert-island choice of the many versions of A Christmas Carol, with a magnificent, full-bodied portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge by Alastair Sim that leaves everyone else in the dust. Lean and direct, this film's version of the story wastes no time trying to impress viewers with the magical nature of the spirits' visitations. Director Brian Desmond Hurst keeps the focus on Scrooge's life story, beautifully simplifying and underscoring the theme of lost women with a haunting musical refrain from the folk song "Barbara Allen." Sim's commitment to the role is at times astonishing; his Scrooge's Christmas-morning ecstasy is a marvel of giddy technique. Watch for Patrick Macnee (Steed in The Avengers) as the young Jacob Marley--the actor made his screen debut in this 1951 production. --Tom Keogh On the DVD
This ultimate collectors' edition is crammed with special features, on both discs.
Amazon exclusive video:
George Cole, who played the
young Ebenezer Scrooge, reflects.Watch here Find out what's new on
this restored version of A Christmas Carol. Watch here Never-before-seen U.S. and
U.K. trailers. Watch here | Film (and Charles Dickens) fans won't want to miss a single screen. The audio commentary by Marcus Hearn and George Cole adds depth and perspective to Sim's amazing performance, and the groundbreaking special effects for the time. Cole also gives a homey remembrance of working with Sim during World War II and living in the English countryside to avoid the Blitz. One of the most compelling extras is a short bio of George Mintner, the film's executive producer who would go on to found his own successful distribution company, Renown Pictures. An unlikely film mogul, the British Mintner was shy and bookish, but managed to build a reputable mini-studio in the '50s, out of the Hollywood limelight. He produced mostly B-movies, though after A Christmas Carol (originally titled Scrooge), he produced another Dickens adaptation, The Pickwick Papers. There's a great mini-bio of Dickens, who grew up in the poverty that later fascinated him in his writings. Other extras include the colorized version (what were people thinking back in the '80s?), cast bios, original trailers, and a features that more film companies might want to consider, an optional narration for the blind. Nothing is left out for film fans--God bless us, every one.--A.T. Hurley Beyond A Christmas Carol 
1938 version starring Reginald Owen | 
1984 version starring George C. Scott | 
1999 version starring Patrick Stewart | Stills from A Christmas Carol
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| Customer Reviews: Read 114 more reviews...
 YOU CAN'T TOP ALISTAIR SIM'S SCROOGE. November 21, 2008
Alan Beumann (Somewhere In America)
Ever since I can remember, Christmas hasn't been Christmas without at least one viewing of this film. Even waaaay back to the days before VCRs and 300 cable channels, living in a small Arkansas town, my brother and I would scour the TV guide that came in the Sunday paper to see if it was coming on one of the three channels we got. (How did we survive?)
I also have the 2002 disc, and comparing them on my setup it's obvious that alot of care has gone into the restoration efforts. However (here comes the nit-pick)...watch the scene where the door to Scrooge's sitting room flies open in advance of Marley's entrance. Scrooge leaps up from his chair and cowers against the wall...his mouth is opening BUT YOU CAN'T HEAR HIM UTTER HIS CRY OF FEAR! This, to me, is shoddy audio engineering...since of course it's loud and clear on the 2002 version. Someone apparently dropped the audio out when the transfer was being done. Yes, I know this is a very, very minor point, but it's still a point. So I actually give the disc creators 4 stars. If they were as dedicated to the full restoration of this film as the packaging would have us believe, they wouldn't have missed something so trivial.
 A Christmas Carol (Ultimate Collector's Edition)(B/W & Color) November 10, 2008
Terry Fedick (BC Canada)
I don't really have to write anything do I?????
The life of a Scrooge transformed by the Love of a friends. Watch both though I do really prefer the black & white one just being nostalgic.
Overall my favourite screen adaptation November 3, 2008
Irish Reader (Bastardstown, Republic of Ireland)
Over the decades there have been many screen adaptations of this timeless classic by Charles Dickens. The story is sometimes acted out with levity, as in "Black Adder's Christmas Carol" and Michael Caine's excellent 1992 production "The Muppet Christmas Carol", et al. When reviewing Alastair Sim's 1951 film I feel it's more appropriate to restrict my comparisons to the other 'serious' adaptations as well as to the original novel.
The 1984 George C. Scott production boasts some excellent acting but leaves out much of the storyline. The exact reverse is true of the 1999 Patrick Stuart version, where more of the original story is retained but Stuart is unconvincing as Scrooge. Overall, this 1951 Alastair Sim adaptation is the best I've seen yet - especially since it was 'colourised' in 1979. In fact, this DVD boxed-set contains both! It also includes a pretty dated 1936 effort called "Scrooge", starring Seymour Hicks. Cinema made enormous strides in those 15 years and Hicks's treatment can't hold a candle to Sim's 1951 classic.
There's one aspect of the Alastair Sim version that's worthy of mention. Scenes and dialogue not found in the original text are inserted in order to "flesh out" the story. In some cases, this can actually enhance the viewing experience (and I say that as something of a literary purist). For example, there's a scene where Scrooge & Marley - both aged thirty-something - offer to pay their employer's debts from personal savings. This is in exchange for an option to buy up 51% of the company's shares. Dickens's novel contained no such narrative, yet the scene helps to paint a picture of the partners' gradual descent from the benignity of honest ambition into the malignancy of personal greed.
But often with a classic novel, when you add something to it you take away. This is especially true of the farcical scene where Jacob Marley appears to be repenting on his death-bed. The fact that Marley died unrepentant is crucial to the storyline! A poor piece of directing in my view.
Overall, I still highly recommend this video. Were it not for the Marley death-bed anomaly I'd have awarded it the full 5 stars.
Dickens displaying his Craft October 7, 2008
James Leis (Virginia)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Perhaps this Christmas story is the most famous non-biblical one of all, written by one of the great authors in a poignant, heart rending tale guaranteed to entice your heart to overflowing.
The movie does the story justice, the actors seem born to their roles.
I love this story, and our family finds a reason to watch this movie every year. And what a joyous feast we have after we view it.
Sim the best of all September 3, 2008
A. Rodney Thorfinnson (Canada)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Although there are several versions of the Christmas Carol, this one by Sim is considered to be the very best. The absence of the technology we see today didn't hamper this production. One must remember the age of this presentation in order to really appreciate it.
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