Charles Dickens' The Christmas Carol

Some yrs back I began a collection of as many versions/pastiches of this Dickens classic as I could. I was delighted to find this rarity from radiola w/ the late great Vincent Price narrating this timeless classic. I also found a great deal on Stingiest man in Town from 1956 TV which starred the late actor Sir Basil Rathbone as Scrooge in an early Carol musical. It was not until 1970 when Al Finney's Scrooge the Musical that this tale had been musicalized. A few years ago Kelsey Grammar (The very first Geico gecko voicer) reprised the Scrooge role in another musical. In 2004 I myself wrote a dream sequence pastiche of Carol for one of my key characters in fanfictions (Kei's Dream Sequences from Xmas with the Dirty Pair. This year I wrote a new complete (5 Staves like Dickens) fanfiction tale Yuri Donovan's Xmas Carol- AD 2255. I believe mine is the only pastiche ever done with Scrooge as a female hired killer in the 23rd Century! In 1978 the late actor Jack Palance played in Ebenezer a TV film where Scrooge was a gunfighter in the old West. I was inspired by a fellow anime buff who made an anime video based on Carol with Gaara a Ninja from Naruto anime TV series as Scrooge. If anyone knows of any rare pastiches or films or TV specials of this old classic I'd appreciate a holler at [email protected] Oh and I am always open to suggestions for my writings. Jack McElwee/keimanzero Scion of Anime- Campbelltown PA USA PA- My pen name is keimanandkei or keiman and kei and I am aka Story Teller Guy 1 &c. online.

Go right away and don't watch this if you must gluttonously gorge upon thespian self-gratification and/or, worse, totally vacuous sfx and non-message-related elements. On the other hand, if intellectual and spiritual content means anything to you, then you will find it here to a degree lacking in almost all $million fairs of vanity.Accordingly, watching this evokes redemptive gratitude in the viewer (a spirit totally foreign to modern Scrooge-loving atheists) as Dickens intended and will motivate seeking guidance from the living Church as did Scrooge so that this world may be bettered.(Does anyone even care about corrupt Oscars anymore anyway? Nothing but Nietzschean accolades, ha!)

When I received my copy of this DVD, I was surprised to discover that neither the "jewel case" nor the DVD listed any member of the cast, except Vincent Price, the narrator. His portrait fills the front cover of the "jewel case," and there is a thumbnail of this portrait on the disc. Although Vincent Price was a famous actor, may he R.I.P., I thought it odd that he, being the narrator, rather than playing the protagonist, Scrooge, was the only member of the cast even mentioned on the cover, until I watched the movie.Vincent Price's performance is a stellar example of why his name and portrait are used to market this DVD. His narration, given intermittently as the camera cuts to and focuses on him, is the most spectacular part of this movie. It gave me the impression that he had memorized the entire novel.The only thing I remember about any of the other footage is that it's more abominable than Dr. Phibes! Except for the footage of Vincent Price narrating this tale, this movie screams, "Low budget, black and white!" The only version I've seen of "A Christmas Carol" that I consider worse is the version produced in 1910, which is not only black and white, but silent, as well.In the years to come, I will probably play this DVD over and over again just to show off Vincent Price's talent, fast-forwarding through the parts he doesn't appear in.I only recommend this version of "A Christmas Carol" to two groups of people:1) hardcore fans of Vincent Price, and2) collectors of various versions of "A Christmas Carol"

This 1949 version of Charles Dickens Christmas Carol is possibly one of the worst produced. (My favorite "oldie" is the one starring Alastair Simm. My favorite "newbie" is the one starring George C. Scott.) I love Vincent Price, but he just doesn't come across well as the story teller in this film. (Perhaps, because I am too likely to envision him in an Edgar A. Poe reading.) Taylor Holmes (E. Scrooge) did well in his role. The Ghosts were particularly awful. All the other actors were just okay. However, I found this version to be quirky in it's little 25 minute broadcast (for which I was grateful that it did only last 25 minutes.) So, I gave it 3 stars, which in reality it probably only deserved 1 star.

I loved adding this version of ‘A Christmas Carol’ to my Christmas Movie collection. I love that it’s narrated by Vincent Price.

This is a good account of The Christmas Carol. It is not always super clear as it is old but the acting was good. We chose to have our grand children watch it on Christmas day because it fit their attention span and the ghosts were not as "scary" as some in the longer versions.

In our family, The Christmas Carole is an annual read. We also watch multiple movie versions. This one was a first for me. I really enjoyed seeing such an old film - devoid of all the special effects of today. Vincent Price's narration was stellar. Research the man - he was much more than an actor.

While not HD clean and sharp, I found this version to be the cleanest, sharpest, and best transfer of this 60-year-old TV show thus far. I've seen several from public domain distributors. Sure, its production value is unsophisticated...after all, it's 1949. It's not fair to judge this television version of Dickens' Christmas Carol by the numerous film studio versions.It's historic and certainly worth owning, as an earlier reviewer noted.