Which Scrooge and which of the tv versions did you like better? I personally felt Stewart was a perfect Scrooge, along with Sim. George C. Scott was good, but just didn'f fit the role as much as they did. I do believe the Scott version though had a better production, better scenary, and better music. Acting from the supporting castwas probably a little bit better in the Stewart version. To me, they are about the same.
shareThese two kind of tie with me for second place after my favourite, the 1951 Alastair Sim version.
As to who is the best Scrooge, they both have their merits. Scott cuts a fine figure of a Scrooge with his sideburns though seems at times to be enjoying himself a wee bit too much playing the role! Stewart certainly plays the meanest Scrooge. I wouldn't want to be carolling under his Scrooge's window!
I love the setting and music in the Scott version but the Stewart one also has its merits. It does the best of all the versions at depicting Christmas among the miners, at sea, in prison etc. -- some truly moving scenes. Most versions don't bother much with this aspect at all.
I loved the nephew Fred in the Stewart version, finding him among the jolliest of all the nephew portrayals. Roger Reese from the Scott version gives an emotional portrayal of the nephew which many like but he's simply not anything like as jolly and hearty as cast in the book. I find him far too solemn.
The Stewart version is definitely best at portraying the poverty of the Cratchits, perhaps to too great an extreme as I don't find Mrs. Cratchit to be 'brave in ribbons' as cast in the book. I really liked David Warner as Bob Cratchit in the Scott version but the Stewart Bob wins the prize for best capturing Scrooge's hard working, long suffering, haggard clerk.
Both Tiny Tims were cute but the Scott Tim triumphs with me as I found he had a definite sickly look, dark circles around his eyes!
As to the spirits, the Spirit of Christmas Past stands out in the Stewart version as an excellent portrayal. Of course there are the special effects but, true to the book, it's difficult to tell whether this spirit is very old or very young.
Both are great versions, IMO, lots of good points for each. But if you want the real Scrooge, it's Alastair Sim. The other actors merely play him!
I've seen the 1984 & 1999 versions, and I agree that they both have their merits and that Stewart is the more genuinely mean scrooge. I have a tough time picking one because they played the role so differently. Haven't yet seen the Alastair Sim version. From all of the praise it's given, it looks like I better give it a viewing.
shareI like Muppet Christmas Carol....he he he....and this one, this is my favorite "non-muppet" version. Yeah I'm dumb because I havn't seen the George C Scott one or the Sim one....better get on that before this chirstmas (looks like I have 11 months to do that, better get crackin'!)
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I prefer the George C. Scott performance. I like Patrick Stewart a lot, and do enjoy watching him as an actor. But for me, Scott presented the Scrooge that I imagine in Dicken's classic! Stewart did a good job in his performance of Scrooge, but I have to go with Scott who may not have been the "meanest" Scrooge, but certainly he made the character very real for me!
I would give A's to both interpretations, but have to give the 1994 version with Scott an A+. I have seen Scott in other films.....Patton, The Changeling, The Flim Flam Man, Anatomy of a Murder, List of the Adrian Messenger, and others and I was always impressed with his ability to convey the character the played so well.
I have to agree with arcturus. Stewart is great, Scott is perfect. Scott has things going for him - his voice and facial expressions - that are spot-on and can't be duplicated.
shareI prefer the Patrick Stewart version. I even watch it in the middle of the year I like it so much.
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For me Scott will always be the definitive Scrooge. I saw the movie as a child and it terrified me. He was so mean and the portrayal of Marley was quite horrific to a 5 y/o. I'm actually watching the Stewart version right now on TNT and it's good but it's not "great".
shareI finally saw the Stewart version last night. I thought that Stewart was better because he was very natural. Scott, on the other hand, was using a fake accent throughout the film which I found very annoying. On the other hand, the Scott version was a better production. I especially enjoyed David Warner as poor Bob Cratchitt.
shareYes, I definitely like Stewart more than Scott as Scrooge. After all, Stewart had been been performing his stage version in New York for a number of years with praise, so he was quite ready to play Scrooge when he accepted this movie role. Stewart was also the executive producer, which shows how involved he was.
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I think they're both great in different ways. Stewart's Scrooge comes of much more meaner and cold than Scott's Scrooge. But then there are a couple of times when Stewart is a little wooden and over the top in the role.
Scott was always believable.
Scott is by far the most relaistic Scrooge put on film.. sheer perfection. He never seems to be playing a caracature the way Stewart does several times.The person who said Scott used a fake accent has no clue what he was talking about..EVERYTHING about Scotts's Scrooge is naturalistic. He makes te roel real in a way no one else has been able to. Albert Finney is my 2nd faorite, for different reasons. Alister Sim also gets props in my book. I like Stewart's Scrooge well enough but it doesnt touch me the way Scott's did.
shareI disagree.
I like Scott's performance but it does differ from the text in that he is quite smug and laughs at his own jokes when denouncing Christmas to his nephew Fred. It also falls into the trap of having Scrooge repeating "humbug" when it has no meaning.
The book conveys that Scrooge had no such sense of humour. Mean or otherwise.
It's significant, I think, that Stewart's performance in this filmed version is quite different from his one-man audio version of the book(you can download it I'm sure). In the audio version he plays an older, more recognisable Dickensian caricature with a thin lipped and whiny voice. In the filmed version he plays it pretty much naturalistically, especially in the closing scenes.
One problem I have with Scott's version is Marley's ghost when he removes his scarf, I mean huh? His mouth pops open and scrooge cringes...at what? They don't reveal why Marley's jaw drops down like Dicken's did in the novel. It's a rather goofy scene.
I also didn't like a middle-aged woman portraying the Ghost Of Christmas Past, in the novel the spirit was described as an old man with child-like features and that was captured nicely by the actor who took the role in Stewart's version.
Lastly, the Ghost Of Christmas Present seemed kind of one-dimensional and honestly, that part was basically slow-moving. But in Stewart's version, I like how the spirit is not too preachy as he is in other portrayals. He is just a sort of messenger who hopes Scrooge will change. Then the traveling to ships, mines, and prisons was captivating also.
For these valid reasons, I rank Stewart's version a few notches above Scott's.
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You are correct, the scene with Marley's jaw dropping appears in both versions. Although the jaw hanging open is a lot more pronounced, and Marley makes some louder moaning sounds in the Stewart version. Perhaps that's why it comes off as a bit more comical than the one in Scott's version.
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