Let's go to the movies!

Christmas Eve is a week from today. I have a ton of stuff to do, and it will all get done even if I am still driving around next Monday for the last, final thing I need. Because life has been so hectic, I have not been able to do something I love at this time of year, watch my collection of Christmas movies. I have caught a some bits and pieces of a few standards on television, and actually made a point to sit down to watch one, but there are some that I never miss, and so I thought in this last week I would pass on a pick a day to you. So, pop a big bowl of popcorn and settle in front of the TV and try to see some of these before the holiday is over.

DAY 1: SCROOGE

It is no secret that there are countless renditions of Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" out there on film. They run the gamut from Silent film to Cartoon animation. This 1970 musical version starring Albert Finney in the title role is one of, if not the best! I first saw this in the theater at the age of 7. I had been invited to a classmate's Christmas birthday party, and we were all taken to the movie. I remember sitting in the theater alongside my other second grade friends with a scarf I had worn to the party strategically placed near my eyes so I could cover them during the particularly scary scenes. As I grew older, I would catch it on television occasionally, and then the invention of the VCR and videotape. I was able to find a copy several years ago on VHS. I hope I can soon find one on DVD as I am sure my VHS will wear thin with time, and this is one I want to preserve. The score is amazing with songs like Father Christmas, December the 25th, and Thank You Very Much, but what makes this version of the classic tale so enthralling is Albert Finney's portrayal of Ebeneezer Scrooge. When this film was released he was only 34. You would never believe the Scrooge you are watching is a man in his early 30's. I remember watching the film years later and realizing that the actor playing the dashing young Ebeneezer in Fezziwig's shop was actually Albert Finney, the same actor playing Scrooge. He won the Golden Globe that year, and deservedly so. 

If you've never seen it, you are missing out. Don't write this one off as just another rendition of "A Christmas Carol". It's not. And after you've seen it, don't blame me if you find yourself singing, Thank You Very Much while you're wrapping your Christmas presents.