By Lee Pfeiffer
VCI Entertainment, which has traditionally specialized in quality video releases of public domain films, is aggressively moving into the realm of Blu-ray with some prestigious releases. The top of the list is the Blu-ray debut of the 1951 version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol starring Alastair Sim in what is considered to
be the definitive screen interpretation of Scrooge. It's hard to argue
with that assessment, but I would give equal rank to George C. Scott's
superb performance in the 1980s TV movie. VCI has pulled out all the
stops with this release, offering the best print I've seen to date.
After decades of being shown in TV syndication, many of the prints
we've literally grown up with look as milky as Marley's ghost. This
digitally remastered print was struck "from a new 1080p, 24fps high
definition transfer master produced from the 35mm negative and fie
grain." The resulting release isn't flawless...some nitpickers have pointed out there are visible defects in certain aspects of the print, but the average person won't be a humbug and will applaud VCI for its efforts.
The film retains its appeal as a timeless classic, though it's rather sad that the director/producer, Brian Desmond Hurst, never enjoyed another major success and his name has largely been obscured by the attention paid to Sim's remarkable performance. This Blu-ray edition contains an audio commentary track with actor George Cole, who played young Scrooge in the film, pop-up trivia, and the original trailers for the American and British versions (which is titled
Scrooge). VCI has also generously included a separate DVD in the standard
format. In all, a very auspicious debut for VCI's Blu-ray line- a
release that even old Ebeneezer would spring for.
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