5 Things You Didn’t Know About 1984’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ With George C. Scott
A Christmas Carol is among the earliest books adapted to film — it first showed up on screens as the 1901 silent movie, Scrooge; or, Marley’s Ghost, and has been remade dozens of times since. But among the many adaptations, George C. Scott‘s 1984 made-for-TV version stands out.
This isn’t just because it’s the rare adaptation that stars an Oscar-winner as Ebenezer Scrooge (Scott won Best Actor for 1971’s Patton). It’s also because of Scott’s passionate, multi-layered performance of Scrooge as a miserable, lonely man, rather than a simple miser. The role landed him an Emmy nomination, which led to a new career focused on made-for-TV dramas — one that culminated in a Best Supporting Actor Emmy win for 1997’s 12 Angry Men, shortly before his death from an aortic aneurysm in 1999.
What else don’t you know about this beloved film? Gather around the Christmas goose and get ready to learn.
1Scrooge wears a unique outfit (not his jammies)
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In almost every other adaptation of A Christmas Carol, Scrooge goes through his terrifying ordeal in, essentially, his pajamas — a nightshirt, sleeping cap, and slippers. But in the 1984 adaptation, Scrooge sports a dress shirt, vest, smoking jacket and dress pants, slippers, and cap instead. Though this is much closer to the outfit Dickens described in his original book, rumor has it that Scrooge’s style was all Scott’s doing — he hated the idea of wearing a nightshirt for the entire length of filming, especially in the frosty British winter.
2The director had a long history with Ebenezer
Everett Collection
Director Clive Donner was in his late 50s when he filmed the movie, and had a long history in the British film industry, directing everything from Peter Sellers’ 1965 What’s New, Pussycat? to a 1982 made-for-TV version of The Scarlet Pimpernel with Ian McKellan. But early on, he worked as a film editor at the UK’s famed Pinewood Studios. One of the first movies he edited? A 1951 film called Scrooge.
3It’s the only classic adaptation to show Scrooge Sr.
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In traditional adaptations of A Christmas Carol, Scrooge’s father is left out of the picture. But in this adaptation, his father (played by Nigel Davenport) shows up briefly yet powerfully. He’s seen outside a schoolhouse with young Ebenezer, acting unconcerned about his son and giving further backstory about why Scrooge is so cruel.
4The movie was filmed on location (and left behind a prop that became a tourist attraction)
© 20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved./Courtesy Everett Collection
The movie was filmed on location in the UK village of Shrewsbury, with hundreds of extras from the town used in filming. The town remains a tourist spot for fans, as a few locations of the film still exist. The Cratchit family home scenes were filmed in a wine merchant’s building that still exists, and the crew left behind one piece of set decor that became a major tourist attraction: Ebenezer Scrooge’s gravestone, which resides at St Chad’s Church. The gravestone was smashed into pieces by unknown vandals this past November, but masons have repaired the famous slab just in time for the town’s Christmas festivities.
5Casting kept it all in the family
©CBS/courtesy Everett Collection
Two of the Cratchit children were the actual children of the actress playing Mrs. Cratchit, Susannah York.
You can catch the 1984 A Christmas Carol five different times between now and Christmas evening:
Dec. 24, 5:20pm, FX Movie Channel
Dec. 24, 8pm, MGM
Dec. 25, 7:20am, MGM
Dec. 25, 2:30pm, MGM
Dec. 25, 3pm, FX Movie Channel
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