George C. Scottas Ebenezer ScroogeThe story
About A Christmas Carol
On Christmas Eve a miserly Victorian moneylender who despises the season is visited by the ghost of his late business partner, who warns him that three spirits will come that night. Shown his lonely past, the hardship around him in the present and the bleak future his meanness is building, he wakes on Christmas morning determined to change. George C. Scott plays the old man as sharp and formidable rather than a caricature.
The CineClaus verdict
George C.
Scott plays the old miser as a clever man who has chosen to be cold, and that choice carries the whole film. He argues with the spirits instead of cowering, so the change of heart feels earned rather than inevitable. Around him sits a fine bench of British character actors, and Shrewsbury makes a handsome Victorian city.
It was made for American television and sometimes looks it. For a household that wants the Dickens story told straight, with a proper lead at its centre, this is the version to pick.
The family desk
Can the kids watch?
Our take: rated U for infrequent mild scary scenes and language. The night-time graveyard and the hooded final spirit can unsettle under-sevens, but nothing is gory and the Christmas-morning ending puts everything right.
BBFC advice: Contains infrequent mild scary scenes and language.
Content advice & accessibility
- Where the advice comes from
- The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).
- Our age guidance
- Editorial, separate from the official U certificate, and never looser than it.
- Subtitles
- Check your chosen service and edition for supported tracks.
