Rating: 
Summary: Great film, good DVD.
Review: No question, this is the quintessential Christmas Carol! The copy of the film is very good, but not Criterion level. Another reviewer discusses an intro, cartoon, and colorized version. None of these were included on the DVD I received, but they were not missed. There is a written bio on Sim that mentions he has a teenage daughter and enjoys tennis. Perhaps Jacob Marley is his doubles parter?
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie-- B+W and Colorized!
Review: I just received this DVD and am impressed with the quality of this version. The source is from the original British print ("Scrooge") and for a film 50+ yrs. old is in very nice shape. There are a few speckles and a scratch or two on the original source film, but I am very pleased overall. The opening and closing by Patrick Macnee is nice but dated, he states that this 1951 movie is only 38 yrs old. My biggest complaint is that the DVD option screens are difficult to read as the green lettering is hard to read on the backgrounds. Also the white type used in the CAST/ PRODUCTION NOTES section is tiny and hard to read as well. The Max Fleischer cartoon is OK, but not great- scratches, sound dropoffs. Max Fleischer's Superman cartoons are much better. Overall, I'm very happy with this DVD. It's great to have the option of colorized or B+W with a beautiful copy of this holiday classic.
Rating:
Summary: No doubt, by far, the BEST Christmas Carol made!
Review: I cannot stop watching this oddly amazing older version of The Christmas Carol. Sim is incredibly funny, and the cast is incredible. But he seems to be more generous in this version than in any other version. He becomes exhilerated come Christmas morning after the 4 ghosts give Scrooge a visit. They take him through time, and everything fits. I especially like the ghost of Christmas Future. He is the most haunting and scary. He doesn't talk and has no face and show Scrooge of his death soon if he doesn't bring his act together. After waking up from his dream, he evn raises the salary of his maid. Plus, he gives his employee Christmas day off, unlike any other version. Tiny Tim and his family, Scrooge's nephew and niece, and Marley also all add a great touch in this film highly thought of by me. So buy it!
Rating:
Summary: A Christmas Carol
Review: This is my favorite all time holiday movie. It's the first one I watch during the X-mas season and the last one before I go to bed X-mas night...not to mention the other numorous times during the entire month of December. I just love it. Alastair Sim's facial expressions during each new enlightenments and preparing to go out the window with The Ghost of X-mas Past are just priceless.
Rating:
Summary: Alastair Sim give the best performance as Scrooge
Review: I have seen most versions of the Christmas Carol and by far Alastair Sim gives the best performance. Mr. Sim is sincere in both aspects of Scrooge - that being the worst and the "changed for the better".
Rating: 
Summary: Not the one I thought it was
Review: I have very happy memories of watching A Christmas Carol every Christmas Eve morning with my father. I knew that it was an older version, with the really obvious colorization, but I wasn't sure which edition it was, so I bought this one. It isn't the right one.This video just doesn't do anything for me. Alastair Sim does a good job as Ebeneezer Scrooge, and of course the story is a classic, but if you're going to get a version of A Christmas Carol that you remember from childhood, make sure it's the right one.
Rating:
Summary: Definitive Film Version of Charles Dickens' Timeless Classic
Review: Simply the definitive version of Charles Dickens' beloved classic "A Christmas Carol". Alastair Sim delivers a delicious, flawless, once in lifetime performance as that pitiful old piker, Ebenezer Scrooge, injecting the vital element of dimensionality into the character, an element scarcely seen in other versions. The primary motivation for Scrooge's unsavory demeanor is not something as superficial as the thirst for wealth. No, Scrooge's hatred is the result of something deeper, more intrinsic, more human. Sim masterfully establishes this fact with acute understanding of the character. Everything from the manner in which he walks to the way he forms his words is given the proper nuance, yielding an entirely convincing and empathic performance. I have often thought Alastair must have been temporarily possessed by Dickens' mind to have pulled it off! If Alastair's performance were all there was to offer, it would be enough to make this an instant classic. But this version of "A Christmas Carol" is blessed with superb performances from the entire cast. Everyone from the Ghost of Jacob Marley to Tiny Tim seem to have been personally handpicked by Dickens' himself! The period detail is flavorful, the score fitting. With all due respect to Charles, even the liberties taken with the story are an improvement on the book! Charles Dickens would be proud! "A Christmas Carol" and its message are something we all can believe in and enjoy, regardless of religion. It is truly a tale that should not be enjoyed one day of the year, but all 365! Oh... I almost forgot! "Bah, humbug!"... "God bless us, everyone." Couldn't resist!
Rating:
Summary: Seeing's Believing!!
Review: I know this version of Scrooge is considered by most to be the best, so why should I write a review? Because I can't help it---it really is THE BEST!! One reviewer said Sim's acting was "over-the-top" and so "hammy" that it made him "squirm." I know we are all entitled to our opinions, but I can't let that comment pass without saying this: Most versions, such as Patrick Stewart's, leave me thinking as I watch. "this is only a movie." But Alastair Sim's "over-the-top" acting makes me feel that I am actually peeking in on the real life of a man in 19th century England. A man who has truly been given the opportunity to see himself as he is, and who after being shown this, although reluctantly, still allows the experience to gender true repentance within him. And the absolute JOY that comes with his heartfelt repentance is tangible to the viewer! Perhaps that's why that one reviewer felt like squirming. This is the giddy happiness that one would truly feel upon being given that "new lease on life" that true repentance brings. Sim captures it so BELIEVABLY that you can easily forget it's a movie. From the moment his maid asks him if he's himself today and he answers distractedly, "I don't think so. I hope not!" to the moment he feels that he must stand on his head, to the moment he laughs at Mrs. Dilber's, "to keep me mouth shut?", to the moment he decides to send a huge turkey to the Cratchitt's and scurries around giddily looking for a label, "Label, label, label, label," Sim's performance is a masterpiece of REALITY!! I admit his acting IS "over-the-top"---in believability! Although the whole movie is well done and the supporting actors are superb as well, still the whole movie takes us to the jewel of all scenes---Christmas morning. I've seen 9 or 10 versions---and this one is NOT over-rated! However, almost any movie may seem so if a person is expecting too much. Lots of hype does damage to the way in which we see something, if we are expecting TOO MUCH from it. But even having said that, I still say---the 1951 Scrooge with Alastair Sim is the best SCROOGE out there and ONE of the best FILMS of all time!
Rating:
Summary: One of, if not THE Best
Review: There are a lot of good Christmas Carol movies out there, but this 1951 version has to be the best. Alastair Sim provides the best acting of Scrooge period. Unlike other actors, Sim showed the most dramatic change as miserly Scrooge became the "as good a man the ever town knew". Another good thing is that this version provides a clever way of showing how the young Scrooge changed into his miserly condition. It may not be part of the book, but we see Fred's birth, how Scrooge met Marley, and how Scrooge got so rich. All of the actors did a fine job in this great (and in my opinion) the best Christmas Carol.
Rating:
Summary: A Low-Tech Masterpiece; Wish The Surviving Print Was Better!
Review: This version of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" is absolutely superior to all other attempts. Due courtesy to George C. Scott and Mickey Mouse, to name but two renditions that come up lame compared to this classic- but what arrogance to think their slick and silly remakes could stand in for this calssic? The bummer for us all, and I truly mean a real bummer- this wonderful 1951 Alastair Sim version was shot in black and white. Worse, it was shot in BAD black and white. I heard it was actually made for English TV. Adding insult to our cinematic injury, the surviving print doesn't seem to be very good either. Perhaps it was a second or third generation copy that survived from that time? Given all that, however, this version is so spectacular, so real, and so emotionally and spiritually true and authentic, that it still gets aired regularly each Christmas season. It is still thrilling to behold, even in its blurry splendor! Again, compared with this, all other versions are poor shadows. They can even seem annoying! Watching Alastair Sim's Scrooge in the years 2001+ will just have to be one of those profound disappointments of history-- like finding a newly discovered Shakespeare play with some of the pages missing. If this had been a pristine, crystal clear color print, no one would even dare to remake the story. As it is, we can only tsk-tsk at the wannabes, and marvel at the artistic magic that manages to filter through from 1951's bad print to us all in the present day.
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