A Christmas Carol (1999 film)

A Christmas Carol
Directed by	David Jones
Produced by	Dyson Lovell
Executive produced by	Robert Halmi, Sr. Patrick Stewart
Based on	A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Written by	Peter Barnes
Starring	Patrick Stewart Richard E. Grant Joel Grey
Music by	Stephen Warbeck
Cinematography	Ian Wilson
Editing by	David Martin
Production company(s)	TNT Productions Turner Television Hallmark Entertainment
Distributor	Warner Bros. Domestic Pay TV Cable & Network Features RHI Entertainment
Release date(s)	December 5, 1999 (USA)
Original network	TNT
Running time	95 minutes
Language	English
External links
IMDb page

A Christmas Carol is a 1999 British-American made-for-television film adaptation of Charles Dickens' famous 1843 novella A Christmas Carol that was first televised December 5, 1999 on TNT. It was directed by David Jones and stars Patrick Stewart as Ebenezer Scrooge and Richard E. Grant as Bob Cratchit. The film was produced after Patrick Stewart performed a series of successful one man shows of A Christmas Carol on Broadway and in London.

Plot

On Christmas Eve in 1843, Ebenezer Scrooge, a surly money-lender at a counting house for seven years after his business partner Jacob Marley passed away, does not share the merriment of Christmas. He declines his nephew Fred's invitation to join him for Christmas dinner and dismisses two gentlemen collecting money for charity. His loyal and low paid employee Bob Cratchit offers Scrooge to have Christmas off since there will be no business for Scrooge during the day and Scrooge accepts, but demands that Cratchit arrive "all the earlier" the following day. In his house, Scrooge encounters the ghost of his deceased business partner Jacob Marley, who warns him to repent his wicked ways or he will be condemned in the afterlife like he was, informing him that three spirits will visit him during the next three nights. Even though Scrooge was reluctantly declined their visits. Jacob Marley warned Scrooge, without their visit that he can't escape the path he took, expect the first one around midnight.

At midnight, Scrooge is visited by the childlike Ghost of Christmas Past who takes him back in time to his childhood and early adult life. They visit his lonely school days in boarding school where his friends were all going home for Christmas and he isn't allowed to come home because his father treated him badly after his mother died of giving birth to him. Scrooge sister Franny comes to Scrooge's school and their father is a lot nicer than he is now and he agreed that he could come home for Christmas. Franny died a young woman and had a nephew who also died of giving birth to him. Next Christmas, this time as an employee under Albert Fezziwig who had a good heart and treated Scrooge like a second father. Fezziwig throws a Christmas party, Scrooge attends and meets a young woman named Belle, whom he falls in love with and was engaged. However, the Ghost shows Scrooge how Belle left him when he chose money over her. A tearful Scrooge extinguishes the Ghost as he returns to the present.

At two o'clock, Scrooge meets the merry Ghost of Christmas Present, which shows Scrooge the joys and wonder of Christmas Day. Scrooge and the Ghost visit Cratchit's house, learning his family is content with their small dinner, Scrooge taking pity on Cratchit's ill son Tiny Tim. The Ghost eventually ages, commenting that Tiny Tim will likely not survive until next Christmas. As the Ghost dies, he warns Scrooge about the evils of "Ignorance" and "Want", who manifest themselves before Scrooge as two demonic children.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come arrives, appearing as a tall, silent cloaked figure, and takes Scrooge into the future. At the stock exchange, Scrooge's acquaintances discuss the death of an unnamed colleague, but would only attend the funeral if lunch is provided and no one would go since he wasn't nicest guy in the world. In a den, Scrooge recognizes his charwoman Mrs. Dilber, his laundress Mrs. Riggs, and the local undertaker trading several of the man's stolen possessions to a fence named Old Joe. Later, he sees a young couple who owed the man money are relieved he is dead, as they have more time to pay off their debt. The Ghost transports Scrooge to Cratchit's house, discovering Tiny Tim has died with his father still talking to him . The Ghost escorts Scrooge to a cemetery, where the Ghost points out his own grave, revealing Scrooge was the man who died. Realizing this, Scrooge vows to change his ways just as the Ghost disappears. The grave opens, and Scrooge sees his dead self lying in a coffin. He falls into the grave, then clings to his own dead body as he falls through the earth into Hell.

Awakening in his bedroom on Christmas Day, Scrooge finds the ghosts had visited him all in one night instead of three. Gleeful at having survived the spirits, Scrooge decides to surprise Bob's family with a turkey dinner, and ventures out with the charity workers and the citizens of London to spread happiness in the city. The following day, he gives Cratchit a raise and becomes like "a second father" to Tiny Tim, who escapes death. Scrooge and the Cratchits celebrate Christmas. and Tiny Tim has recovered from his illness

Cast

• Patrick Stewart – Ebenezer Scrooge
• Richard E. Grant – Bob Cratchit
• Joel Grey – Spirit of Christmas Past
• Ian McNeice – Albert Fezziwig
• Saskia Reeves – Mrs. Cratchit
• Desmond Barrit – Spirit of Christmas Present
• Bernard Lloyd – Jacob Marley's Ghost
• Dominic West – Fred
• Trevor Peacock – Old Joe
• Liz Smith – Mrs. Dilber (Charwoman)
• Elizabeth Spriggs – Mrs. Riggs (Laundress)
• Kenny Doughty – Young Ebenezer Scrooge
• Laura Fraser – Belle
• Celia Imrie – Mrs. Bennett
• John Franklyn-Robbins – Mister Crump (Undertaker)
• Claire Slater – Martha Cratchit
• Barnaby Francis – Young Boy Cratchit
• Tim Potter – Spirit of Christmas Future
• Jeremy Swift – Mr. Williams
• Rosie Wiggins – Fran (Scrooge's sister)
• Crispin Letts – Topper Haines
• Helen Coker – Betsy

Production

The film was produced after Patrick Stewart performed a series of successful one-man shows of A Christmas Carol on Broadway and in London.

Inspiration

Rather than deliberately trying to resemble either the 1938 MGM version or the 1984 made-for-TV version, this adaptation takes as its inspiration the 1951 film version in the grimness of some of its scenes and set design.

Liz Smith had previously played Mrs. Dilber in the 1984 adaptation. Ian McNeice would go onto play Edward Chapman in 2017's The Man Who Invented Christmas, which details the making of the book. Joel Grey had portrayed a spirit in the Dallas series finale "Conundrum".

Critical reception

In a positive review, Michael Speier of Variety praised the cast and direction, and wrote:

"Oft-told tales are difficult to pull off, but ... this one gets it right ... Director David Jones displays a smooth hand that adds mounds of style to the rendition, and his approach to Peter Barnes’ script is a tribute to delicate staging ... Stewart as Scrooge is such a perfect piece of casting that it will be hard to imagine anyone else as the sour ol’ tightwad in years to come."

The New York Times also gave the film a positive review.

Mary Ann Johanson praised Stewart's performance.

In 2019, Robert Keeling of Den of Geek called it a “steadfastly faithful adaptation, but it lacks any warmth, and while it does the darker stuff quite well, it doesn’t really exude Christmas spirit. It feels like we’re being lectured about Dickens’ story rather than being given an entertaining film. Marley’s ghost is pretty creepy, and the three ghosts are on the whole nicely done, though the scenes involving Christmas Yet To Come don’t feel spooky enough at all. Richard E. Grant is fine as the hard-done-by clerk Bob Cratchit, but his children are especially irritating, with Tiny Tim vying for the coveted ‘most irritating and poorly acted’ award with his fellow 1938 and 1984 Tiny Tims. The sets are impressive, and the attention to detail can’t be faulted, but it just lacks any sense of fun.”

Awards

Patrick Stewart was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2000.^{[citation needed]}

Ian Wilson was nominated for Outstanding Cinematography at the Emmy Awards in 2000.

See also

• List of Christmas films
• List of ghost films
• Adaptations of A Christmas Carol

External Links

• A Christmas Carol (1999 film) at Wikipedia

• A Christmas Carol at the Internet Movie Database
• A Christmas Carol at AllMovie
• A Christmas Carol at Rotten Tomatoes