An American Christmas Carol
In Depression-era New England, a miserly businessman named Benedict Slade receives a long-overdue attitude adjustment one Christmas Eve when he is visited by three ghostly figures who resemble three of the people whose possessions Slade had seized to collect on unpaid loans. Assuming the roles of the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future from Charles Dickens' classic story, the three apparitions force Slade to face the consequences of his skinflint ways, and he becomes a caring, generous, amiable man.
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- Cast：
- Henry Winkler , David Wayne , Chris Wiggins , R. H. Thomson , Ken Pogue , Gerard Parkes , Susan Hogan
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Reviews
Sick Product of a Sick System
A Masterpiece!
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama
I saw An American Christmas Carol when it was first broadcast in 1979, and thought it amazing, as good an any other Christmas movie out there. As a young teenager, I had no idea at the time of its poor reception, and was incredibly disappointed to find it did not become a tradition, and faded out of memory. Thanks to modern technology I was able to get the film of DVD and have seen it every Xmas for the last decade, and enjoy it more with each viewing. I still think it is as good as anything out there, and considering it an American Christmas classic, along with A Christmas without Snow, The Gathering, and -- the much more famous -- A Christmas Story. All of these films capture the Christmas spirit with a very unique old-fashioned American charm, and are as important to my Christmas celebrations as Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
I have always loved the story A Christmas Carol though I have to admit its been done one too many times. However with this one staring Henry Winkler playing a Scroge type character and was a refreshing angle on an old story. It takes place in 1933 during the Great Depression and Mr. Slade (Scroge) is the only man in town who has any money and seems to be the most unhappy, which is typical of Scroge characters.He has a old warehouse filled with furniture, an old piano, wine glasses, books and other things he repossess from his customers who could not pay their debts to him. Anyway, he is approached by one of his employees asking if he would be willing to re-open an old rock quarry to bring some work to the town. Mr. Slade rips into his employee (Mr. Thatcher)and fires him. The story from here is pretty much the same as the English version with the ghosts of past, present and future coming to him and explaining he better change his ways. He does and at the end of the film he goes to Mr. Thatcher's house and hires him back and offers to send Mr. Thatcher's crippled son to a hospital to be cured.The only issue I have with this film is how Mr. Slade (Winkler) is portrayed. You never really feel that he was ever a good guy unlike scrooge who was friendly as a young man and then become an old mean hermit. Slade just always seemed willing to use people to get ahead even before he was an old man. In any case still an interesting take on a old story.
WOW! I thought I was the only one who had ever seen or heard of this movie? Thanks so much for having a link to buy a copy. I will do so before next Christmas.It is not really an americanized version of the Dicken's Clssic, I guess, but it takes place in 1930's New England, rather than Victorian England? MR Slade is not as mean as Mr Scrooge, he is just out of touch and seems to have forgotten all the people who made him what he is? He shows his cluelessness when he gives the hungry boys a book (I think it was a Horatio Alger book?) instead of giving them a meal? One of the striking things about it is the way he goes back to the orphanage and finds someone just like him and takes him to the now-ruined furniture factory. You hope that he inspires him, but you wonder if this boy will end up repeating Mr Slade's life? Of course, Mr. Slade did was not married, nor did he have a lovely daughter? i hope that Turner or AMC re-discover this little gem!
"A Christmas Carol" may well be the most-adapted Christmas story in literature, with version ranging from whimsical to musical to deadly serious. This particular version, starring Henry Winkler as Benedict Slade (a.k.a. Scrooge) is my favorite.The movie translates Dickens' classic story from 19th century England to Depression-era New England. The result is very effective. For me, an American born to parents who grew up in the Depression, the 20th century setting made the story feel very real. The writers and director made excellent decisions in their choice of sets. Three notable examples were the New England furniture factory as the setting for Slade's youth, the newly-conceived idea of consumer credit as the source of his subsequent wealth and avarice, and the choice of an African-American as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come ("You must be Future," Slade declares, cowering before him).Winkler's performance is brilliant. He captures the essence of Slade perfectly, and makes the gradual transformation from miser to redeemed man seem natural and believable. The scene at the Thatcher (a.k.a. Cratchit) household at the end of the film never fails to bring tears to my eyes and those of my family. The supporting cast performs ably as well, making this a Christmas classic that one can watch every year."An American Christmas Carol" debuted in 1979, midway through Winkler's popular "Happy Days" television series run. After a few years of reruns, it disappeared from view until recently, when it became available on DVD and video. I heartily recommend it for your holiday DVD collection.