[[quoteright:315:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scrooge_1951_alastair_sim.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:315:Creator/AlastairSim as Scrooge.]]

''Scrooge'' is a 1951 British film adaptation of Creator/CharlesDickens' ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', written by Noel Langley (''Film/TheWizardOfOz'') and directed by Brian Desmond Hurst. It's regarded by many as the definitive screen version of the story.

Heading the cast are Creator/AlastairSim as Ebenezer Scrooge and Creator/MichaelHordern as Jacob Marley, both of whom would reprise their respective roles for the 1971 animated film ''WesternAnimation/{{A Christmas Carol|1971}}''. Mervyn Johns plays Bob Cratchit, while a young Creator/PatrickMacnee is seen as the younger, living version of Marley.

Clive Donner, who worked as an editor on this film, directed his own made-for-TV version [[Film/AChristmasCarol1984 in 1984]].

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!!''Scrooge'' provides examples of the following tropes:
* AdaptationalVillainy: In the novel, while Scrooge is heartless and unpleasant, it's never even suggested that he's corrupt or dishonest in any way (just the opposite: the novel's narrator clearly states that Scrooge's word on a contract was always his bond). In this film version, the young Scrooge is apprenticed to a corrupt and dishonest money lender and broker who embezzles funds, and it's strongly implied that Scrooge and Marley went on to adopt the same business practices.
* AdaptationDistillation: In this version, the BadFuture starts with the Cratchits mourning Tiny Tim's death, then moves on to the thieves selling Scrooge's belongings, then saves the men talking about Scrooge's death for last. In the book, these happen in the opposite order. This makes our realization that Scrooge is the despised, robbed dead man more gradual, instead of it being fairly obvious from the start.
* AdaptationExpansion:
** This film makes a change very common to adaptations of the story, by including a scene where Belle (here "Alice") and Scrooge fall in love.
** Adds an extended StartOfDarkness sequence depicting how Scrooge was corrupted by an unscrupulous mentor, the CanonForeigner Mr. Jorkin, luring him from Fezziwig's good influence.
** This film shows Marley's death seven years earlier.
** Then there is the touching scene where Scrooge comes to Fred's house to accept his invitation for Christmas dinner at last, fearful that he would be rejected, only to find he needn't have doubted Fred's love.
** This movie covers Fan's DeathByChildbirth, as well as her final moments with her brother.
** Mrs. Dilber's presence was expanded in the movie as the first witness to the changed Scrooge.
* AdaptationNameChange: Love interest Belle becomes Alice instead.
* AdaptedOut: The Cratchits have five children instead of six: three girls and two boys instead of three of each.
* AgeLift: Fan in the original novel is Ebenezer's younger sister. Here she is the older sibling, with their father [[MaternalDeathBlameTheChild blaming Ebenezer]] for the mother's DeathByChildbirth. Also, both are in their late teens/early 20s in the scene where she comes to bring him home from boarding school, whereas in the book they're children at that point.
* AlmostDeadGuy:
** Young Scrooge, thinking his sister has died, bitterly storms from the room, and misses her dying request to him.
** Later, much older Scrooge has Marley delivering a warning with his last breaths, but it's over his head. Scrooge even waits until business is over to bother visiting him; his maid incredulously declares "I'll see if I can get him to hold out, I'm sure!"
* AscendedExtra: Mrs Dilber receives more screen time; in the book she's only seen in the future pawning off Scrooge's items.
* BookEnds: At the beginning of the movie, Scrooge walks down a darkened street, ignoring everyone (and vice versa) and a blind man's dog actually pulls the man away from him, as if [[EvilDetectingDog sensing that he's a bad person]] (this is a MythologyGag straight out of the book). At the end, he walks down a well lit street, happily greeting everyone. This time he approaches the man, gives him a little money, and stoops to pet the dog, who happily accepts.
* CanonForeigner: The PredatoryBusiness which buys out Fezziwig is personified by Mr. Jorkin, adapted from Mr. Jorkins, a character from ''Literature/DavidCopperfield''. Jorkin serves as an EvilMentor to Scrooge and Marley both, pairing them up in an ominous scene. He is later caught embezzling from his own banking house; Scrooge and Marley bail him out in return for 51% of the stock share, effectively a hostile takeover.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: This exchange on Scrooge's staircase after he catches up with Mrs. Dilber and gives her a guinea.
-->'''Mrs. Dilber:''' A guinea? For me? What for?\\
'''Ebenezer:''' I'll give you a guess!\\
'''Mrs. Dilber:''' ''[[[{{Beat}} pause]]]'' To keep me mouth shut?
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Mr. Jorkin; during Scrooge's past at the Amalgamated Mercantile Society, the ledger registers a liability of 3200 pounds, 8 shillings and 10 pence (£3200, 8 / 10 d), with assets of 11 pounds, 8 shillings and 10 pence (£11, 8 / 10d), resulting in a deficit of £3189.
-->'''Jorkin:''' At least the 10 pences cancel each other out.\\
'''Rosehed:''' How much of this is the company's capital?\\
'''Snedrig:''' All of it, Mr. Rosehed.\\
'''Rosehed:''' In short, sir, you're not only a bankrupt, you're also an embezzler of the company's funds.
* CorruptTheCutie: The Christmas Past sequence shows this happening to Ebenezer, along with him developing his JadeColoredGlasses.
* CreepyChild: Ignorance and Want.
* DeadpanSnarker: Pre-reformation Scrooge is full of snark, as is the corrupt businessman Mr. Jorkin.
* DeathByChildbirth:
** Scrooge's mother died giving birth to him, leading to a troubled relationship between him and his father. This wasn't in the book, and is presumably the reason Fan is now Scrooge's older sister instead of the DeadLittleSister she was originally.
** Scrooge's sister Fan. Which leads to a troubled relationship between him and his nephew Fred. [[HistoryRepeats Much like his father's relationship with him]].
* DeathOfAChild: In the BadFuture, Tiny Tim. Ultimately averted, however; see ThrowingOffTheDisability below.
* DramaticUnmask: Marley removing the bandage around his head is framed as this, instead of removing it and causing his jaw to drop after his identity has been established.
* EmpathicEnvironment: {{Jerkass}} Scrooge walks down a darkened street. At the end of the movie, a reformed Scrooge walks down the same street in broad daylight.
* {{Expy}}: Mr. Jorkin is more-or-less Mr. Jorkins from ''Literature/DavidCopperfield'' transposed into ''A Christmas Carol''.
* GilliganCut: Though not played for comic effect, it is implied that despite the board of directors refusing outright to accept Scrooge & Marley's offer to take over the company that is on the brink of liquidation, due to Mr Jorkin's embezzlement, the directors reluctantly accept the offer. Obviously the board of directors were in a catch 22 situation. Either accept the offer or loss of jobs. And as seen in the next scene with Mrs Dilber warning Bob Cratchit on Marley dying, she enters the offices once Fezziwigs now known as Scrooge and Marley.
* HeelFaceDoorSlam: By the time Jacob Marley finally realizes how wrong his and Scrooge’s actions were, he’s already on his deathbed. All he can do is warn Ebenezer that he must change his ways - a warning that, at that moment in time, goes unheeded.
* HeelRealization: When Scrooge describes how much fun it was working for his old boss Fezziwig, he stops, noting that he wishes he could talk to his clerk, Bob Cratchit, and apologize.
* HonoraryUncle: In the epilogue, Tiny Tim calls Scrooge "Uncle Scrooge."
* IWasQuiteALooker: Scrooge and Marley were quite handsome in their younger days. Oddly enough when we see Alice in the present day, [[BeautyIsNeverTarnished she still looks the same, just with slightly grayer hair]]. See TimeshiftedActor below.
* InformedAttribute: Tiny Tim is supposed to be very ill, but he looks perfectly healthy barring the crutch.
* JawDrop: A notable aversion, since this version of Marley's ghost does not need the bandage around his jaw to keep it shut, removing it within moments of appearing so that Scrooge is able to recognize him and seemingly having no problems talking either way.
* KilledMidSentence: Marley dies while attempting to warn Scrooge of his fate and telling him to save himself.
* LargeHam: Marley is a big one, and Scrooge is one after his reformation.
* LaughingMad: When Scrooge wakes up on Christmas morning and can't stop laughing out of joy, his housekeeper thinks, justifiably, that he's gone quite mad.
* {{Leitmotif}}: During the two scenes that feature Scrooge's sister Fan, and in Scrooge's first scene with Alice, the folk song "Barbara Allen" is playing in the background. When Scrooge goes to Fred's party at the end of the movie, Fred and his friends are all singing the same song, and it continues (presumably non-diegetically) when Scrooge finally meets Fred's wife and accepts that they're actually a great match for each other. The implication is that Scrooge has at last reconnected with the part of himself that loved Fan and Alice and that is able have fun with other people and see value in the idea of romantic love. Apt, for a song about a man who dies of unrequited love.
* MajorityShareDictator: Scrooge and Marley obtain their wealth by offering to cover the expenses of their owner's embezzlement scandal in return for the right to buy up to 51% of the company's shares. Naturally this gives them absolute power over the day-to-day business of the company.
* MarketBasedTitle: Was released simply as ''A Christmas Carol'' in some markets, including the US.
* MaternalDeathBlameTheChild: Why Scrooge's father abandoned him at boarding school. This is a change from the book where Fan is expressly stated to be Scrooge's younger sister. Scrooge unfortunately grows up to be too much like his father, and blames his nephew Fred for his sister Fan's death just as his father blamed him for his mother's.
* MaybeEverAfter: In contrast to the novel where she has a family of her own, Alice/Belle's romantic situation isn't addressed. She's also shown in the Christmas Present sequence, where she isn't in the novel. Although it isn't explicitly stated, this does leave things open for Scrooge to reconcile with her if she isn't married.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When he gets a better look at Fan's death, Scrooge realizes that she asked him to look after Fred. He begins to feel very contrite, as he has gone out of his way to ''avoid'' Fred.
--> '''Scrooge:''' Forgive me, Fan!
* MythologyGag: The blind man's dog hurriedly pulling him away from Scrooge is something explicitly described in the novella.
* {{Oireland}}: The homeless lady Alice is seen feeding during the Christmas Present sequence has a very broad, almost comical Irish accent - not out of place for a work set in the aftermath of the UsefulNotes/IrishPotatoFamine.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: In the scene at the rag and bone man's shack, Mrs. Dilber explains that helping themselves to Scrooge's things is punishment for the grasping and unfeeling life he led.
* SarcasticConfession: Mr. Jorkin, when confronted on charges of embezzlement.
-->'''Rosehed:''' In short, sir, you're not only a bankrupt, you're an embezzler of the company's funds.\\
'''Jorkin:''' I also beat my wife and skewer innocent babies when in my cups.
* SentencedToDownUnder: Averted. When Mr. Jorkin is found to have embezzled over £3,000 from the company, and subsequently spent it all, he points out that trying him for his crimes would expose the rest of the board to...undue financial risk:
--> '''Mr. Jorkin:''' And what would you gain to prosecute me? All you would get out of it is about eleven pounds-odd. And to pack me off to Botany Bay would be poor compensation for the panic that would arise among the shareholders.
* ShownTheirWork:
** The tune that Mr Jorkin is whistling when he offers Scrooge a job is "The Lincolnshire Poacher", about a poacher who enjoys unlawfully entering property and trapping game there.
** After Marley's death scene, Christmas Past calls Scrooge a "squeezing, wrenching, grasping, covetous old sinner" -- exactly as Charles Dickens describes him in the novel.
** At Fred's party, Flora chides Mr. Tupper for flirting with her - but the motion she makes with her fan is Victorian code for "[[{{Tsundere}} I am pleased and interested in you]]".
* StartOfDarkness: The Christmas Past sequence explores this in more detail than the book.
* StepfordSmiler: When Bob Cratchit comes home in the Christmas Yet To Come part, he tries to pretend that he's happy about an imagined goodbye from Tiny Tim's spirit. But he quickly collapses into his wife's arms in tears.
* StorybookOpening: The film opens with an unseen person's hand pulling ''A Christmas Carol'' from a bookshelf containing several other Dickens works, then opening it to reveal the credits therein.
* TakingYouWithMe: Mr. Jorkin's threat to the rest of the board members. See SentencedToDownUnder above.
* ThrowingOffTheDisability: The epilogue shows a fully healthy, crutch-free Tiny Tim running to greet Scrooge in the street.
* TimeshiftedActor: [[Series/{{Minder}} George Cole]] as Young Ebenezer Scrooge and Creator/PatrickMacnee as Young Jacob Marley. Averted with Alice, who is played by a single actress across the entire timeframe, presumably to show how her honest living and loving demeanour have aged her more gracefully.
* TruerToTheText: Even though this movie takes its own set of liberties that other adaptations don't, it still includes quite a bit of dialogue from the book that often tends to be left out. For example, it includes the sequence where Scrooge threatens to swallow a toothpick while talking with Marley, something very few film adaptations do.
* TwoOfYourEarthMinutes: "What does this party cost in your mortal money?", says the Ghost of Christmas Past at Fezziwig's party. The point, of course, is to show how little money counts in the spirit life.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In the original novel the Christmas Past sequence shows that Belle married someone else and had a family, which is the last we see of her. This adaptation shows her counterpart Alice in the Christmas Present, helping feed the poor on Christmas Day, but whether she had a family is unaddressed. It's also unknown what happened to Mr Jorkin, although it is safely assumed like Marley, he is deceased and is likely suffering the same punishment as Marley by being fettered in chains for his crimes.
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