A Christmas Carol (1938)- coming to BD 11/11/14 (1 Viewer)

[Will Krupp]

the colour Judy Garland clip is still black-and-white.

Huh? I never heard of this being anything BUT black & white! I'm confused, are you saying it was shot in Technicolor??

 

[Rob_Ray]

Huh? I never heard of this being anything BUT black & white! I'm confused, are you saying it was shot in Technicolor??

It underwent an awful, muddy-looking colorization back the laserdisc days for some strange reason. Why would anyone want to see that again?

 

[davidmatychuk]

http://www.jgdb.com/silent.htm

 

[Will Krupp]

MGM, 1937 (Christmas Trailer, Color, 3 minutes)
In November 1937, Judy sang "Silent Night, Holy Night" with the St. Luke's Episcopal Church Choristers of Long Beach, California. MGM filmed the event in color for use in their 1937 Christmas trailer. The trailer opens with a shot of a small rural church in the snow, lighted up in the dark of night - a Christmas card effect. The camera then moves inside where we see Judy singing at the front of the choir.

Sorry but I don't buy it.

 

[Rob_Ray]

All I can tell you is that the color version on the old CHRISTMAS CAROL 1938 laserdisc from MGM/UA looked like it was sourced from a VHS tape in a bad colorization. I still have that laserdisc and watched it this morning before chiming into this thread. If it does exist in a true color source, I've never seen it.

 

[davidmatychuk]

https://books.google.ca/books?id=XxW2hEAKsbAC&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=silent+night+judy+garland+colorized&source=bl&ots=LmPfeo5T_h&sig=UT-tdw939dWR11BeBSE9YrrYDnE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LvSyVPqpEY3XoATD8oDgAg&ved=0CEcQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=silent%20night%20judy%20garland%20colorized&f=false


Here's another link to information that says Folger's used the [SIZE=14.4444446563721px]colorized [/SIZE]clip in an ad in the late 1990's. You can find all kinds of things on the Internet.

 

[davidmatychuk]

And here's a YouTube video of the Folger's Coffee ad. It's shorter, but I suppose they probably would colorize the whole thing before fashioning their commercial, unless they borrowed the colorized clip from elsewhere. I'm starting to wonder how the colorized version got onto a 1990 laserdisc. Who colorized it in the first place, and when? And why? And how did MGM Home Video get their hands on it? Truth is ever-elusive when it comes to Christmas.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I watched the '38 version on Christmas Eve this year. The past couple years I had done the '51 version on the Eve, so I thought it would be fun to mix it up a little bit. I had only seen this version once previously. My reaction was pretty much the same the second time around. The best part of this version is the Cratchit family; Gene Lockhart exudes warmth and you really feel the love that the family has for each other.

I don't think Owen is bad as Scrooge, but the script and brief running time doesn't give him enough time to transition from his miserly ways into newfound joy. During the "Christmas present" sequence, for instance, he's often giddy and even exclaims, "I love Christmas!" at one point. I don't fault Owen for this, but the production gives the impression that his Scrooge is a man who temporarily misplaced his manners, not a man who has banished love and light from his life for decades slowly realizing the error of his ways.

But I love, love, love the opening moments where we meet Fred, Bob Cratchit, and have the ice slipping and snowball throwing sequences. This is a great version to watch if you want to hit up the plot of the story and feel the joy of the holiday without feeling the full depth of despair that the story can invoke. (It's also great if it's after 2am and you need something to wind down with after hours of meal preparations.)

I will continue to revisit this one, though perhaps not as frequently as the '51 version.

 

[SAhmed]

This was on TCM earlier this week. I enjoyed watching it even though it’s probably the fifth time. Not sure where I would put it in my personal ranking of this great Dickens classic although it would have to be below 1

Regards

 

[Randy Korstick]

1938 version will always be my favorite. The best cratchit family and this one really captures the Christmas spirit.

 

[Robert Crawford]

1938 version will always be my favorite. The best cratchit family and this one really captures the Christmas spirit.

It will always be my favorite version too as it was the version I really grew up watching in my childhood. I've seen the 1951 version too in my childhood, but it doesn't have the warmth that the 1938 version has to my heart.

 

[SAhmed]

“A Christmas Carol” is such a good story and there are so many versions of it (non-musical, musical, animated etc...) that it’s not surprising that there is good spread of what is believed to be the best. Different aspects appeal to different people, maybe which one they saw first, perhaps with whom or circumstances etc...

Room for all at the inn although I am in the 51 camp.

As a side note possibly only Pride And Predijuce
Is in a similar position.

Regards,

 

[Josh Steinberg]

For every version I’ve seen so far, each has had something worthwhile. Sometimes it’s something major, sometimes it’s just a small moment, but I’ve yet to see a truly irredeemable version of it. Of course, I haven’t seen them all.

 

[Tony Bensley]

For every version I’ve seen so far, each has had something worthwhile. Sometimes it’s something major, sometimes it’s just a small moment, but I’ve yet to see a truly irredeemable version of it. Of course, I haven’t seen them all.

For a change of pace, I highly recommend BLACKADDER'S CHRISTMAS CAROL (1988). Basically, it's the redeeming tale in reverse.

CHEERS!