This is the only musical version to date of Charles Dickens' classic Christmas tale. Ebenezer Scrooge (Finney) is the sole surviving partner of a London banking business. It is Christmas Eve in the later part of the 1800's. Scrooge is a cantankerous and miserable old man with no wife and no friends. He is a greedy jerk with no thought for the pain and suffering of the poor and unfortunate underclass. He begrudgingly closes his office for the holidays sending nephew Bob Cratchit (Collings) home after a couple, “Bah humbugs.” Eating only a thin broth for his supper, he starts having disturbing visions.
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The first apparition to haunt his mind is the ghost of his dead partner Jacob Marley (Guiness). He is warned that his fate will be like Marley's if he doesn't change his churlish and ill-tempered behavior. He is told that this is only the beginning of the haunts he is to receive over the course of the evening. Next to trouble Scrooge is the Ghost of Christmas Past (Evans). She is a youthful, luminescent, and attractive spirit. Scrooge is not really frightened of this corporeal vision, but is visibly moved by the memories of his happier past. The next ghost is the ebullient Ghost of Christmas Present (More) who shows Scrooge the impact of his ruthless tightfistedness on those in his life. Scrooge is amazed at the cheerfulness of those who have so little means to be happy.
The last and most ominous of the specters to appear is the most disturbing to Scrooge. Cloaked in black, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (Stone) takes him to the funeral arrangements of an unidentified corpse. The lone mourners are hardly sorrowful for the demise of the deceased as they dance and sing on the casket of the recently departed. He also sees Tiny Tim (Beaumont), the son of his employee Cratchit has perished as well. His nightmare shakes him to the core. When a relieved Scrooge awakens he becomes frantic to find out what day it is from a passing youth. He is overjoyed to learn it is indeed Christmas Day breaking into gleeful singing. He sends the youth to the butchers shop to fetch the large goose hanging in the window. Then Scrooge proceeds to get dressed for some surprise gift giving first picking up toys at a toy store. Now a changed man Scrooge sets about altering forever the selfish life he has led to this point.
The review of this Movie prepared by David Fletcher
