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A Christmas Carol (2004 film)

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For other adaptations, see A Christmas Carol (disambiguation).
A Christmas Carol
DVD poster
Also known asA Christmas Carol: The Musical
Based on
Teleplay byLynn Ahrens
Directed byArthur Allan Seidelman
Starring
Music byAlan Menken
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producers
Producers
CinematographyHanania Baer
EditorBert Glatstein
Running time87 minutes
Production companyHallmark Entertainment
Budget$17 million
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseNovember 28, 2004 (2004-11-28)

A Christmas Carol: The Musical is a 2004 American musical television film based on the 1994 stage musical by Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens inspired by the 1843 novella of the same name by Charles Dickens.

Directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman and written by Ahrens, the film stars Kelsey Grammer, Jesse L. Martin, Jane Krakowski, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Geraldine Chaplin, and Jason Alexander. The film premiered on November 28, 2004, on the NBC television network.

Plot

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On Christmas Eve in London, Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly moneylender at a counting house, has settled his melancholy into an eternal bitterness towards Christmas and his fellow men. He declines an offer from recently widowed Mr. Smythe and his daughter Grace to pay for Mrs. Smythe's funeral, voicing his support for the prisons and workhouses for the poor, and reluctantly accepts his loyal but meek employee Bob Cratchit's (who is the constant target of his cruelty) request to have Christmas Day off since there will be no business for Scrooge on the day anyway.

As Scrooge leaves for home, he declines his nephew Fred's invitation to Christmas dinner, and encounters three individuals—a lamp-lighter, a newspaper seller, and an old blind woman—and declines their requests to help them or to give money for charity. In his house that night, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his deceased longtime friend and business partner, Jacob Marley, who warns Scrooge to mend his ways, lest he be condemned in the afterlife like he was, informing him that three spirits will visit him during the night to assist.

At one o'clock, Scrooge is visited by the fairy-like Ghost of Christmas Past, who takes him back in time to his childhood and early adult life. They visit the time when his father John William was sent to prison for failing to pay debts. Scrooge's mother died shortly afterwards and he and his sister Fan were separated. During his lonely days as a boot factory worker, he was never reunited with Fan who died giving birth to Fred. Scrooge is shown his time as an employee along with a young Marley under the cheerful Mr. Fezziwig who throws a Christmas party, where Scrooge proposes to a young woman named Emily. However, the Ghost shows Scrooge how he and Marley started to chose money over people and how Fezziwig—following a downturn in his business—approached Scrooge and Marley for a business loan. Scrooge refuses the request, stating that he and Marley would be throwing good money after bad. Emily leaves Scrooge, returning his ring, after realizing how hard-hearted he has become. The Ghost finally shows him when Marley dies after overworking himself. A devastated Scrooge dismisses the Ghost after he returns to his bed.

At two o'clock, Scrooge is visited by the merry Ghost of Christmas Present who shows him the joys and wonder of Christmas Day. Scrooge and the Ghost visit Bob Cratchit's house, learning his family is content with their small dinner and close bonds. Scrooge and the Ghost visit Fred's house, where Fred hopes that someday his uncle will join them as family. Scrooge feels pity for Bob's ill son, Tiny Tim. The Ghost shows him the evils of "Ignorance" and "Want" and warns Scrooge that Tiny Tim might not survive unless the future changes before he disappears.

At three o'clock, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Be appears to Scrooge, as a silent woman in ragged white robes. The Ghost takes Scrooge to a cemetery, where Scrooge sees his deceased self, as his housekeeper Mrs. Mopps trades his possessions to a rag-and-bone man. Scrooge then sees Tiny Tim has died and his family mourning him. When the Ghost points out his own grave, he vows to change his ways. Scrooge is surrounded by the Cratchits, Grace and the spirits of his mother and sister, which encourage him to feel love and compassion again; Scrooge's grave begins to crack, hinting that the future already has begun to change, and Scrooge, misunderstanding this to be a sign he is doomed, tries to run as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Be throws his bed curtains over him to return him to his bed.

Finding it is Christmas Day, a gleeful Scrooge decides to surprise Bob's family with a massive turkey dinner, and ventures out to spread happiness and joy throughout London. After paying off Mr. Smythe's debt, Scrooge once again encounters the lamp-lighter, newspaper seller, and blind woman—who are actually the three Ghosts in their human forms—and thanks them. Scrooge goes to the Cratchit house, at first putting on a stern demeanor, and then revealing he intends to raise Bob's salary and to help his struggling family. Scrooge then goes to Fred's home, to reconcile with him and accept his dinner invitation. Snow begins to fall as everyone celebrates Christmas with the neighborhood and the Cratchits.

Cast

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The adaptation

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Lyricist Lynn Ahrens wrote the teleplay, based on her and Mike Ockrent's book for the original Madison Square Garden stage musical. Filming took place in Budapest.[2] The score contains 22 songs, also adapted from the stage. The opening number, "Jolly Good Time", is a more jovial reworking of the first two numbers in the stage version, "The Years Are Passing By" and "Jolly, Rich, and Fat". In the next number, "Nothing to Do With Me", Scrooge first encounters the three ghosts of Christmas in their physical guises as a lamp-lighter (Christmas Past), a charity show-barker (Christmas Present), and a blind beggar woman (Christmas Future). The scene where Scrooge's long-suffering employee Bob Cratchit buys a Christmas chicken with his son Tiny Tim in the song "You Mean More to Me" appears as well.

The visit of the ghost of Jacob Marley becomes a large-scale production number ("Link By Link"), featuring a half-dozen singing, dancing spirits presented with various levels of makeup and special effects. One of these ghosts in this version is known to be an old colleague of Scrooge and Marley's, Mr. Haynes, who was said to be "mean to the bone", resulting in his charred skeleton. Other puns include a headless spirit who wanted to get ahead, a man with a safe full of coins in his chest who "never had a heart" and a man carrying a box that contains his arm because he "never lent a hand".

The Ghost of Christmas Past sings "The Lights of Long Ago", a number reinforcing her signature theme of illuminating Scrooge's worldview. One notable departure from Dickens' novella in this portion of the film is its depiction of Ebenezer Scrooge's father, John William Scrooge, being sentenced to debtors' prison while his helpless family looks on (a scene inspired by events from Dickens' own childhood).[3]

The Ghost of Christmas Present gets two numbers, "Abundance and Charity" and "Christmas Together", in which he makes his point that Christmas is a time for celebration, generosity, and fellowship. The former takes place at a fantastical version of the charity show he was seen promoting on Christmas Eve, and the latter whisks Scrooge on a tour of London that includes the homes of his nephew Fred, his clerk Bob Cratchit, and the innocent daughter of Smythe, a recently widowed client of Scrooge's lending house.

Unlike the faceless phantom that embodies Christmas Yet to Be in various versions of A Christmas Carol (from the book), this film depicts a mute sorceress figure clad in white (a transmogrification of the blind hag who appears on Christmas Eve). The entire sequence of Christmas Future plays out in song ("Dancing On Your Grave", "You Mean More to Me (Reprise)", and "Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Today"), culminating in Scrooge's awakening in his bedroom on Christmas Day.

"What a Day, What a Sky" serves as a musical bookend to "Nothing to Do With Me", dramatizing Scrooge's new outlook as he races through the streets of London making amends. The film concludes with a reprise of "Christmas Together" featuring the entire cast.

Reception

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Brian Lowry of Variety called the film the 37th-best production of A Christmas Carol, and the third-best musical version behind Albert Finney in Scrooge and Mr. Magoo. Lowry had a positive opinion of the visuals and special effects but was critical of musical numbers in the film. Despite his mixed feelings about the acting of Kelsey Grammer and Jason Alexander, Lowry praised the performances of Jane Krakowski and Jesse L. Martin.[2] Paul Brownfield of the Los Angeles Times praised Grammer's performance of Scrooge. He also said the actors performing in period costumes gave the film an air of silliness that he found enjoyable if unintended. In addition, Brownfield praised the special effects, the musical numbers and Geraldine Chaplin's acting.[4]

From the review in The Movie Scene: "whilst "A Christmas Carol: The Musical" is as times as cheesy as it sounds it is also very entertaining. It delivers the classic tale but adds some nice embellishments and of course plenty of musical numbers which occasionally become a bit too much. But it is fun, it will amuse whilst also uplift and thanks to some nice performances from the likes of Kelsey Grammer it will stay with you for a while unlike some other adaptations of "A Christmas Carol"."[5]

Michael Drucker offered a negative review, feeling that "the cast feels oddly underutilized. Ninety-seven minutes would seem just right for a musical, yet everything here feels a bit rushed. Songs are over far too quickly and as a result come off as unmemorable. The three ghosts come and go way too quickly, giving the viewer little time to accept the change in Scrooge. It almost feels as if they filmmakers cared more about getting a huge ensemble than properly using them. Great actors such as Jesse L. Martin and Jason Alexander don't get nearly enough stage time. And their musical scenes are beyond cheesy. It's a shame since both are such skilled theatrical performers" He is critical of Grammer's performance calling it, "a cartoon character...which makes the change from selfish into selfless unconvincing. Just plain disappointing considering Grammer would've been great if he played the role straight."[6] Another review states, "Kelsey Grammer’s Scrooge ends up being a stagy, theatrical performance. Jennifer Love Hewitt gets second billing behind Kelsey Grammer but it feels like her role as Scrooge’s love Emily has been stretched out of shape in order to cater to her presence. Jason Alexander seems miscast..."[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Jacob Moriarty - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  2. ^ a b Lowry, Brian (November 21, 2004). "A Christmas Carol: The Musical". Variety. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  3. ^ "The Spinning Image, Christmas Carol: The Musical". thespinningimage.co.uk. December 13, 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  4. ^ Brownfield, Paul (November 26, 2004). "Singing the bah humbug away". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  5. ^ "A Christmas Carol: The Musical (2004)". Themoviescene.co.uk.
  6. ^ "A Christmas Carol: The Musical". 10 November 2005.
  7. ^ "A Christmas Carol (2004)". moriareviews.com. 2004. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
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