On a cold Christmas Eve, while all of London celebrates the holiday with family and friends, hostile businessman Ebenezer Scrooge (Seymour Hicks), is visited by the spirit of his late business partner, Jacob Marley.
“It is required of everyone that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow men, and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death,” says Marley.
Marley warns Scrooge that their fixation on money during his life cost him the ability to rest eternally, but Scrooge does not have to face the same fate. Through the visits of three spirits—the Spirit of Christmas Past, the Spirit of Christmas Present and the Spirit of Christmas Future—Scrooge sees how his harsh actions have affected others in the past, how they are affecting others in the present and how his own life will turn out if he continues on the same path.
A Christmas Carol in Color! does a wonderful job showing viewers the importance of living a life of kindness toward others. The key theme of the story, the principle of reaping what you sow, is made clear through the vision of Scrooge’s future. If he continues to be harsh and unyielding, then he will die alone, hated by others.
Scrooge experiences a positive shift in attitude when he realizes the effects that his actions are having on those around him.
While the moral of the movie is well displayed and Christian themes are present through the celebration of Christmas and an occasional “God bless you,” Scrooge is visited by “spirits” in the night. All of the “spirits” have one common goal: to show Scrooge the consequences of his hostile actions and attitude. The idea of “spirits” who are condemned to walk the earth after death, however, contradicts the crucial Biblical theme of spending eternity in heaven or hell.
Because it was initially released in 1935, the cinematic attributes seen in A Christmas Carol in Color! are not what we would see in a movie created in 2019. The coloring of the film is dark and grainy, the camera is a bit unsteady, and the dialogue seems distant, making it hard to understand at times. The movie itself, however, is considered to be the best adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, according to Amazon.com.
A Christmas Carol in Color! is Dove-approved for all ages.
The Dove Take:
A Christmas Carol in Color! provides an accurate theatrical presentation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel, A Christmas Carol, by showing viewers the principle of reaping what you sow through the example of Ebenezer Scrooge.
