8mm Forum: "Scrooge" (1935)

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Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on April 21, 2012, 01:42 PM:

I may have asked this before, but was the 1935 version of a Christmas Carol, entitled "Scrooge", ever released on super 8 and, if so, was it in it's full version of 78 minutes, or the shortened version of 61 minutes?

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on April 21, 2012, 02:42 PM:

Hi Osi,as far as I know,the version you're speaking of has been
"knocking about" on 9.5 & 16mm for years but I've not heard
of it on the 8mm gauges,unless someone knows different.It was
broadcast on tv over here some years ago over the Christmas
period and that was the first time I ever saw it,and it comes
over as a very "gritty" telling of the Dickens tale,but as for it's
availability on 8mm it might be in a foreign language version!

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on April 21, 2012, 03:00 PM:

I have this on 16mm - the edited version. As far as I know, the full version is quite rare.
It's a nice film though my favourite version is the MGM version with Reginald Owen.

Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on April 22, 2012, 01:58 AM:

Osi. It is on 9.5mm sound although abridged down to a six reels, and it does turn up full length on 16mm from time to time. The dvd side of things is a bit more complicated as several versions are available the most complete being the Image Entertainment dvd which runs for 78 minutes but the quality is not so hot sorry to say. Like you I have a weakness for this particular version of Dickens story and a film which features some popular actors of the day such as Garry Marsh and Sir Seymour Hicks. My favourite line from the film is ‘Can you hear the pudding singing in the pot Peter’.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on April 22, 2012, 05:47 PM:

I personally like this version for it's photogrphy. There are a lot of neat moments. For instance, during the ghost of Christmas future, you see Scrooges face superimposed on his shadow! Nice shot. It also has an almost German impressionistic (or is that expressionistic? I get that confused) way with the photography at times.

It's a darker version of the tale, as a general rule, but then, that's why I like it.

Your right about the DVD/Blu-ray versions. There is restord version, and it does look pretty darned good for a film that has largely not aged well, but the problem is that they only used the 60 minute version and not the 78 minute version, which was a "reel" letdown for me.

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on April 22, 2012, 10:20 PM:

I have the 60 minute version on 16mm. I'm curious about what's missing.

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on April 23, 2012, 02:52 AM:

Brad,
The missing scenes include such scenes as the two gentlemen collecting for charity, a short scene with the lighthouse keeper, the Cratchits dinner is longer, Scrooge and the boy at the end waking up the poulterer, a party at his nephews watched by Scrooge and one of the Spirits. The shorter version also has new, shorter titles.
As far as I know the shorter version was released specifically for 16mm in the US.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on April 23, 2012, 01:15 PM:

Most correct Micheal!

It was released in the US for educational purposes. This is true with the silent classic "Lost World" which was shortened somewhat for classrooms.

I'd love to see the people who released the restoration at 60 minutes, go back at it, get a decent 35MM of the full length print, and restore those 18 or so minutes! THEN, I'll buy it.

By the way, for those who would like to, this 78 minute version can be downloaded off of the "Internet Archive" to your computer! Just type in "ask.com" ...

Scrooge (1935) internet archive download

... and it'll take you right to the site, (it should) and it has various levels of digital quality, from a couple hundred Megabyte Mpeg4 version, to a Mpeg2 3 gigabyte version!

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on April 23, 2012, 01:40 PM:

quote:
I'd love to see the people who released the restoration at 60 minutes, go back at it, get a decent 35MM of the full length print, and restore those 18 or so minutes! THEN, I'll buy it.

But, Osi...the full version DOES exist in 16mm. It's just not as common as the shorter one.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on April 23, 2012, 01:46 PM:

Hey! extra, most curious info!

I looked up on the internet to see which is the best or most preferred version. I ended up with the "Image Entertainment" version.

However, when I read up on the info down below, this was a collaboration of Image Entertainment and the BLACKHAWK film collection!

So, apparantly, the Blackhawk Film collection has this print in thier collection, which then leads me to wonder if, at some point in they're history, Blackhawk films DID release this, in either Standard 8mm or super 8mm?

I would hope that it might have made it onto standard 8mm from Blackhawk, as thye're standard 8mm feature prints tend to be of a better quality than most of they're super 8 fe4ature prints.

So now, an additional question, (if someone might be paying attention to this post other than us three or four), did Blackhawk in fact release this on super 8 or standard 8mm? Would someone per chance have a copy of an old Blackhawk catalogue listing it?

This would certainly be an advatageous release for Blackhawk to have done at some point, being that it is a part of thier collection.

Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on April 24, 2012, 04:16 AM:

Osi. Being a long time fan of the films Scrooge/Christmas Carol I have never come across any 8mm feature of the 1935 version. As Michael indicates the 16mm edited version is quite common and the full version does crop up as well.

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on April 24, 2012, 10:04 AM:

I have Blackhawk catalogs going back to the early 70's and it doesn't appear before the early 1980's and only as a video cassette release. Blackhawk probably had a duplication agreement with Image, but probably negated doing a film print version being that, at the time, film was pretty much being superceded by VHS & BETA and on its way out.

Posted by Ken Finch (Member # 2768) on April 29, 2012, 10:23 AM:

Hi, I also have this on 9.5mm sound, as well as the longer version on VHS which I recorded off the TV many years ago, and agree with Michael regarding the extra shots/scenes he mentioned. To me it has always been the one which portrays the story and characters as Dickens intended.Many of the scenes are remeniscent of the illustrations in the book by "Boz"? who I believe illustrated many of the Dickens stories when originally published. I have seen most of the other film versions and still regard this as the best. Ken Finch.

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