- Database
- Fanedit Listings
- FanMix
- Scrooge: The Literary Cut
Scrooge: The Literary Cut
Updated
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie Title:
Genre:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1951
Original Running Time:
86
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
69
Time Cut:
17
Subtitles Available?
Additional Links:
Brief Synopsis:
The classic 1951 version of A Christmas Carol rendered more faithful to its literary source via the removal of the events created specifically for the screen, and visually reshaped for a fresh viewing experience.
Intention:
The widely beloved 1951 movie starring Alastair Sim is the definitive adaptation of A Christmas Carol for many people, yet it felt the need to expand upon the book by adding new sequences that in my view damage the balance of the narration making it lean too much towards the Christmas Past segments in detriment of the rest. The intention with this edit is constructing a more balanced narrative by removing those additions. Furthermore, a new visual style (which I will not spoil here) has been implemented throughout, based on an old idea of mine from way before I knew about fanedits, on a style that I always thought would fit this story perfectly and is how I would have filmed it.
Additional Notes:
Not all changes from the book have been removed. Only those that felt like filler or hammered the point home.
Also, it must be pointed out that due to the particularities of this edit, it had to be created from an unrestored, unremastered source. As such, it looks somewhat battered and far from pristine HD. Hope you're forgiving about this aspect.
What is currently available is a version 2 that was done in 2013 but not released, except to a select few until 2021. If you have version 1, you might want to upgrade.
DISCLAIMER: In December 2021, an attempt was made to upscale this using Topaz, but since the source was not HQ enough, the software went insane and invented textures that weren't there. So unfortunately it has to stay as an SD edit. If a HD source that fits the edit's aesthetic intentions is ever released, I'll recreate it. Otherwise, if anyone wants to try to upscale it and manages to achieve good enough results, they're free to do so (and I'd appreciate a copy).
Special Thanks:
Ssj, for polishing the rather faulty English subtitles.
Release Information:
Digital
Cuts and Additions:
-Cut Tiny Tim at the toy shop window. This is Scrooge's story, and this is the one scene that he is neither present in, nor witnessing, nor affected by. Plus, I really detest the character of Tiny Tim, even in the book, and would have cut him back further if I could.
-Cut Mr Jorkin at Fezziwig's and meeting Scrooge. Mr. Jorkin, a character created for the movie, is completely removed from this edit.
-Cut Fan's death scene. All that's relevant from it is learnt from the Ghost of Christmas Past earlier in the story.
-Cut Scrooge meeting Marley for the first time. Can be taken for granted anyway.
-V2 CHANGE: Cut young Scrooge and Marley buying Fezziwig's business. With the previous cuts it kind of felt like it came out of nowhere.
-Cut the boardroom scene. The kind of businessman Scrooge is is clearly established from the very opening, no need to elaborate.
-Cut Jacob Marley's death scene. Not only is it unneeded, but I feel it works against the story in a way, as Marley delivering a warning to Scrooge before dying makes him coming back as a ghost much less poignant.
-Cut the Ghost of Christmas Present's talk of "the child born in Bethlehem". Too much Christian propaganda. No problem with human characters being depicted as very religious, but a spirit delivering a mini-sermon is a completely different subject.
-V2 CHANGE: Cut scene depicting Scrooge's lost love as a spinster. I initially left it in because the book did have a segment depicting her fate (she married another man), but decided to remove it because I heavily dislike the trope of having the hero's girlfriend decide that if she's not for the hero she has to be lonely.
-Cut Mr Jorkin at Fezziwig's and meeting Scrooge. Mr. Jorkin, a character created for the movie, is completely removed from this edit.
-Cut Fan's death scene. All that's relevant from it is learnt from the Ghost of Christmas Past earlier in the story.
-Cut Scrooge meeting Marley for the first time. Can be taken for granted anyway.
-V2 CHANGE: Cut young Scrooge and Marley buying Fezziwig's business. With the previous cuts it kind of felt like it came out of nowhere.
-Cut the boardroom scene. The kind of businessman Scrooge is is clearly established from the very opening, no need to elaborate.
-Cut Jacob Marley's death scene. Not only is it unneeded, but I feel it works against the story in a way, as Marley delivering a warning to Scrooge before dying makes him coming back as a ghost much less poignant.
-Cut the Ghost of Christmas Present's talk of "the child born in Bethlehem". Too much Christian propaganda. No problem with human characters being depicted as very religious, but a spirit delivering a mini-sermon is a completely different subject.
-V2 CHANGE: Cut scene depicting Scrooge's lost love as a spinster. I initially left it in because the book did have a segment depicting her fate (she married another man), but decided to remove it because I heavily dislike the trope of having the hero's girlfriend decide that if she's not for the hero she has to be lonely.
Cover art by Dwight Fry (DOWNLOAD HERE)
User reviews
4 reviews
Overall rating
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
9.8(4)
Audio Editing
10.0(4)
Visual Editing
9.8(4)
Narrative
10.0(4)
Enjoyment
9.5(4)
Overall rating
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
9.0
What a great edit. Scrooge is one of my favourite morality tales, and this edit brings out the best aspects of the tale. The use of colour was inspired and really helped tell the story in a unique and interesting way, and cutting out the unnecessary plot elements helped focus the narrative on the most important aspects of this classic story. And yes, the Tiny amount of Tim was also a good idea.
Well done!
Well done!
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
DVD
N
Overall rating
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
9.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
Dwight Fry gives us a leaner, brisker, smoother version of Scrooge by hosing away all sorts of extraneous crap.
Despite my distase for colorized films in general, I surprisingly found myself liking the strategic use of colorized sequences for certain parts of Scrooge's past and present journey. Dwight Fry chose just the right parts to inject warmth and color.
Some of the rapid-fire dialogue is difficult to follow, even if you're sober. I can't merely blame the British and their funny accents; the audio of older films is unavoidably muffled. I was therefore supermegathankful for Dwight's inclusion of subtitle files. However, I did notice a variety of punctuation and usage errors in the subs, e.g., "seven Christmas Eve's ago," "Are you the spirit who's forecoming was foretold," and others. [I'm tempted to make a minor project of correcting the subs for future Yuletide viewings.]
This is now my favorite screen version of A Christmas Carol. Thank you, Senor Fry.
Enjoyjoy: 10 pelvic aerothrusts.
Despite my distase for colorized films in general, I surprisingly found myself liking the strategic use of colorized sequences for certain parts of Scrooge's past and present journey. Dwight Fry chose just the right parts to inject warmth and color.
Some of the rapid-fire dialogue is difficult to follow, even if you're sober. I can't merely blame the British and their funny accents; the audio of older films is unavoidably muffled. I was therefore supermegathankful for Dwight's inclusion of subtitle files. However, I did notice a variety of punctuation and usage errors in the subs, e.g., "seven Christmas Eve's ago," "Are you the spirit who's forecoming was foretold," and others. [I'm tempted to make a minor project of correcting the subs for future Yuletide viewings.]
This is now my favorite screen version of A Christmas Carol. Thank you, Senor Fry.
Enjoyjoy: 10 pelvic aerothrusts.
S
(Updated: February 20, 2013)
Overall rating
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
9.0
This is another fantastic edit from Dwight Fry. The use of the color footage is quite inspired and the film feels much more balanced and easier to rewatch. I don't love the film as much as Dwight does (I especially think the colorized version looks like garbage) but this was immensely enjoyable.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
DVD
N
(Updated: December 25, 2012)
Overall rating
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
I watched this with my family on Christmas Day. It's been a couple years since I've seen the film, and much longer since I've read the book. Because of that I'm a little fuzzy on the original and what was cut, but suffice it to say there were no jarring cuts that brought attention to changes.
Picture quality is what you'd expect from a 1951 film that hasn't been remastered. The transfer itself is fine for a standard release from this period.
I did notice one video glitch where a black frame was missed between two cuts. Not major but it was there. I'm torn about some of the imperfect transitions and/or cuts that could have easily been corrected with today's software, but I assume Dwight Fry wanted to leave the film as much intact so I'm not marking off points for this as the imperfections weren't his doing but the original source. If I had been editing I probably would have corrected those jump frames at transitions. Again, personal choice.
Audio editing was fine. Nothing noticeable.
Overall enjoyment was 10. The edit moves along at a nice pace and nothing that was cut is missed. Nicely done!
AMENDMENT: Dwight has confirmed the black frame mentioned above is actually in the source material and not due to something he cut.
I also forgot to mention that I was a bit surprised to see both the black and white version as well as the colorized version is used. I see what Dwight was trying to do, but I'm generally against colorization. That said I think he pulled it off although it take a bit for me to warm to it. (Other than me, no one in my family seemed to notice or care.)
Picture quality is what you'd expect from a 1951 film that hasn't been remastered. The transfer itself is fine for a standard release from this period.
I did notice one video glitch where a black frame was missed between two cuts. Not major but it was there. I'm torn about some of the imperfect transitions and/or cuts that could have easily been corrected with today's software, but I assume Dwight Fry wanted to leave the film as much intact so I'm not marking off points for this as the imperfections weren't his doing but the original source. If I had been editing I probably would have corrected those jump frames at transitions. Again, personal choice.
Audio editing was fine. Nothing noticeable.
Overall enjoyment was 10. The edit moves along at a nice pace and nothing that was cut is missed. Nicely done!
AMENDMENT: Dwight has confirmed the black frame mentioned above is actually in the source material and not due to something he cut.
I also forgot to mention that I was a bit surprised to see both the black and white version as well as the colorized version is used. I see what Dwight was trying to do, but I'm generally against colorization. That said I think he pulled it off although it take a bit for me to warm to it. (Other than me, no one in my family seemed to notice or care.)
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes