Media Essays: A Humbug Comparison (Live Action) Part 2

Written by Captain Conroy

Continued from Part 1.

Candidate 3:

Name: Michael Caine (Born Maurice Micklewhite)

Nationality: British

Height: 6’2

First Played Scrooge: The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Birthdate: 14th March 1933 Aged 91 Years at the time of writing

There came a time when The Muppets did their own comedic takes on classical stories – naturally A Christmas Carol was one of them. The Muppets are no strangers to getting celebrities in their productions so it was inevitable that Scrooge would be played by a celebrity. The question was, who could they possibly get who had all the right credentials? Getting a celebrity is one thing but the right man is another as we’ll cover more on once we get to the animated ones – however they certainly chose right here as Scrooge was played by none other than Sir Michael Caine. Many actors to play Scrooge are great but Caine is in a league of his own, this especially shows when we first see him in the story.

This alone showcases the menace of Scrooge. There he is shrouded in the shadows as if he’s a vampire. My absolute favourite part of the Scrooge song however is that while you can sort of see it there – we don’t get a particularly good look at his face until he turns around and thus the song ends. This is just the way to make an entrance which really builds up the character of Scrooge as he’s just walking through London not talking to anyone and with no clear shot of his face. And when we do see him, how quickly the unpleasantness folds as he throws out a client who was unable to pay a mortgage on time, he is quick to threaten to fire the book-keepers for only wanting more coal for the fire and he is quick to turn away Fred’s offer for Christmas dinner and the Charity workers. But hey as the song says, if they gave a prize for being mean, the winner would be him. Especially as this Scrooge is a hard rock as he replies that Bob Cratchit may gift wrap the eviction notices despite his claims about what tomorrow is.

And there certainly is a lot. And his meanness is certainly emphasised through sarcastic and deadpan deliveries within his words and through his actions. After the charity workers leave, he starts tearing into the wreath that Fred left and then throws it at a poor innocent carol singer after turning him away. And if that’s not enough, Bob Cratchit as played by Kermit the Frog has to talk him into allowing him the day off and when they cheer about it, he barks at them to stop it. Makes one have to wonder how long has Bob been working for Scrooge in this place for and depending how long, has it happened before where he has to talk Scrooge into giving him the day off? We don’t know for sure.

And from the moment Scrooge sees Jacob Marley’s face in the door-knocker, he is quick to turn into one of the more on-edge Scrooges as it were when as Charles Dickens, otherwise known as Gonzo tells us that Scrooge likes the darkness as it’s cheap but yet he lights the lamps to conduct a proper search and seeing his best dressing gown hanging up in the corner of his eye is enough to make him attack until he realises what he’s attacking. I have to say though by the time he’s calm again and he’s having supper, I love how while some Scrooges have gruel, or porridge or some similar sort of meal to that, this one has bread and cheese and it looks like a particularly strong cheese too, which would indicate that he is very much an old stinker as strong cheeses tend to be the stinky ones.

See what I mean? And Jacob and Robert Marley played by Statler and Waldorf respectively are quick to point out through their usual trademark humour what an old stinker he is and after their visit and song number is done, it puts Scrooge back on edge as he seriously takes the fire-poker to bed with him. And now for the ghostly visits - I find it very interesting how this Scrooge is shown to have never cared much for Christmas – even at a young age. Instead he used this time and opportunities for more reading, studying and getting extra work done. Nothing is mentioned about his father nor do we see his sister Fan. Even by the time we get to Fozziwig’s party (yes you read correctly, Fozziwig – not Fezziwig as it’s Fozzie Bear playing the part) the first thing he’s concerned about is how much money is being spent on the party.

Bit of a workaholic isn’t he? Hey-ho – that’s nothing new as Scrooge is always known for working hard, some versions just show it more than others. Either way young Scrooge in this case is played by Ray Coulthard. He’s a decent actor but he doesn’t entirely sell me as a young Scrooge as well as the others do – probably mostly because of his lack of a cockney accent to match Caine’s more than anything. But he’s not a bad actor by any means. Anyway, once we get to Scrooge’s breakup – this is when we start to see some remorse for his actions as he relives this moment and is quick to ask the ghost why she delights in tormenting him. Once he meets Christmas Present though, things get interesting here. Usually Scrooge is humourless around the ghosts but still manages to come up with a wise-quip, but here he manages to have a laugh or two with Christmas Present and even gets honest with him when Christmas Present asks him if he ever noticed how wonderful things seem at Christmas time.

“Er, in all honesty Spirit, no. Perhaps I’ve never understood about Christmas.”

You see from that? He doesn’t even try to make up any kind of excuse or justifications for himself or anything, he outright told him the truth. Certainly makes him a fairly honest incarnation of this classic character doesn’t it? He even starts to see more of a positive side to Christmas during Christmas Present’s song number. But he does quickly lose it again once he realises he was the answer to Fred’s Yes or No game, but he doesn’t stop realising other things as well like how little he had paid Bob the whole time by observing the Cratchits’ Christmas dinner. And how masterful it’s done when it shows Scrooge beginning to well up at Tiny Tim’s song number and how he begs Present to stay as he’s learned so much from him.

Come Christmas Yet To Come, he shows towards the end before rubbing the snow of the gravestone that he’s fairly optimistic about his redemption as he says to Yet To Come how a life can be made right – which is interesting to compare to Alastair Sim’s version from earlier when he begged the ghosts to find a younger man than him with a stronger chance of redemption. Scrooge in this case doesn’t care how old he is, he is ready to make his change and he does. Age is only a number to him and it even shows when he notices his grey hair in the mirror on Christmas morning but he just dismisses it as he has clearly had it for some time plus how his head is swimming with thoughts.

   “Gah! I’m grey!”                                   “Of course I am, never mind!”

And his change is once again visually symbolised by when he steps out into the street, he sports a brighter colour once he is given a red scarf by one of the charity workers as a sign of gratitude for his generosity and notice how he does not don the cape. Naturally we’ll come to that more later on.

And what with being a musical, it was only going to be a matter of time before Scrooge got his own musical number – Thankful Heart and I honestly think Michael Caine sings very well. As well as that, he gets to sing along with The Love We Found as well as singing some of When Love Is Gone with Belle in the deleted song number. And each time he does sing, he does it quite well. But during thankful heart – I love how a shop behind him says Micklewhite’s as an Easter Egg to Caine’s real name which is Maurice Micklewhite.

Like so. But like I said earlier, Caine is in a league of his own as far as Scrooges go. He does so fantastically at everything here, the coldness and meanness of Scrooge, the warmth of him once he redeems and the craziness as he doesn’t know what to do. Plus all the other interesting things which makes him stand out from other Scrooges like the honest side to him. But my absolute favourite thing is that he is in a setting where a lot of the cast are puppets but yet, he just rolls with it. He never once comments that his book-keepers are a frog and a pack of rats and that Bob is married to a pig. He just works with them like he would any other actor and that was Caine’s greatest strength here – heck, this was even his idea and I’m certainly glad they rolled with it.

As far as presentation is concerned, I would definitely say his Scrooge is the best dressed one.

Again it’s mostly black but we have some visually appealing details about it like the shape of the collar and lapels on his tailcoat, a waistcoat looks like a sort of navy blue to break things up a little and of course the cape massively helps with this as it adds to his appearance and makes him look more intimidating with it when he’s walking through the streets to work while he’s a cold, cruel old loner. The leather gloves don’t hurt either. So yes, this Scrooge certainly wins it for me in presentation and to go along with this, Michael Caine has certainly left a long-lasting impact as Ebenezer Scrooge and will always be remembered as the Scrooge who worked alongside Kermit the Frog. It’s no wonder that this is one of many films that has added to his long-lasting legacy, and this was even the first Christmas movie I put on in 2023 to honour his incredible legacy after he had announced his retirement – and I hope he’s having a very comfortable one too – the man deserves it.

Candidate 4:

Name: Patrick Stewart

Nationality: British

Height: 5’10

First Played Scrooge: A Christmas Carol (1999)

Birthdate: 13th July 1940 Aged 84 Years at the time of writing

Even televised movies would be sure to adapt A Christmas Carol as well and even they would need the correct person to play Scrooge. This is one of these productions where it does show its age a little due to the special effects but they still spared no expense with their cast with names like Richard E. Grant, Dominic West, Ian McNeice, Liz Smith and Elizabeth Spriggs amongst them and naturally they got a particularly big name for Scrooge - one of Britain’s best, Sir Patrick Stewart. He was certainly a man with all the right credentials as he performed a series of one-man plays on A Christmas Carol on Broadway and in London prior to this production. It shouldn’t come as any surprise that he does it so well and that’s what we’ll go into now.

This adaptation starts with Marley’s funeral and Scrooge is there amongst the attendees and already a lot is sold without him even having to speak. He is so obviously melancholy about his old partner passing away and even expresses no belief in the afterlife dismissing the claim that he’s at peace just saying that he’s dead as a doornail.

Going forward after taking a private moment to grieve for him, you see how people say to him Merry Christmas as he walks through the streets of London to his work but he does not answer back and even after seven years he does not remove Marley’s name from the sign outside with his reason being that time will erase it at no cost to him. And if that’s not enough for Scrooge’s cheapness, he only tells Bob to poke the fire when it’s on the verge of going out. And as we know Scrooge was never close to Fred and this version really shows as he answers yes when Fred asks him about him not coming to see him because he’s married to which Fred retorts with Scrooge not coming to see him even when he wasn’t married.

But for all his cheapness and for how unpleasant he is, he does at least have some decency to try and ignore a carol singer outside of his door and keep working – of course that doesn’t justify him threatening to beat him but at least he tried to ignore him.

And it does have to raise some questions as that stick he just had it lying on his desk, does he keep that stick for such a reason? If so then that is pretty chilling about this Scrooge isn’t it? Be it man, woman or child he’ll swing it at them nevertheless. Like most others he becomes uneasy about Jacob Marley appearing in his door-knocker and in a couple of cases around his home, but I love how quick he is to dismiss it as indigestion. Even when Marley’s there he tries to carry on with his supper like he’s not there while feebly coming up with excuses to doubt his senses. He’s all for carrying on isn’t he? First he tries to carry on and ignore the carol singer and now he tries carrying on while Marley is about.

But as quick as he is to come to the realisation that Marley is really there, he still seems rather dismissive as it draws closer to the hour and just thinks that nothing’s happened until of course it actually does. I have to wonder though why he has what looks like a newspaper with him, did people back then really read newspapers at one in the morning? Ah well, that’s not important, what is, is when he is brought back to his past and of course he happily watches his friends go by and is quick to reflect on hardship as he talks to Christmas Past about why he didn’t go home for Christmas. I especially love the way he says “Life is hard.” when Past says that it was hard that his father didn’t want him. He’ll also not deny that Fran (not Fan) in this case had a large heart and during Fezziwig’s party, it says a lot about how nostalgic he is feeling when his feet are moving along to the music.

Yep, we saw that Scrooge – don’t pretend that we didn’t. But my favourite thing about this is the way he wears a serious face and doesn’t look like he’s moving at all until the camera pans down onto his feet. This is a masterful shot and shows the two sides to Scrooge.

All the while of watching a scene of merriment and reminiscing and talking to Christmas Past, young Scrooge is portrayed by Kenny Doughty who does a good job at being a young Patrick Stewart. Let alone is anyone amused by the fact Scrooge had hair back then? However even after reliving his breakup with Belle, he still remains relatively unbroken until later on during Christmas Present’s visit showing this Scrooge is a relatively tough nut to crack. Only after seeing Tiny Tim does he contemplate how he didn’t know Bob had a crippled son to which Present retorts with “Why didn’t you ask?” and after visiting Fred does he agree with Present that he should accept Fred’s invitation to dine on Fran’s behalf. Along the way we get a few hints which shows that he’s not completely in denial and isn’t afraid to show like he openly admits the Cratchit’s goose smells good and openly wants to stay when Fred and his company are playing games and enjoys watching them. This does keep in with the usual theme that Christmas Present seems to be the least haunting out of all of them.

And during Christmas Yet To Come’s visit, even if he is not completely redeemed yet, he is at least capable of showing human decency. We have the usual where he wonders if the men he knows have no respect for the dead. But while George C. Scott’s Scrooge was quick to recognise his belongings, like some of the other Scrooges he doesn’t seem to recognise any of them. But the best part is after Old Joe is told by Mrs. Riggs that she took the shirt of him, he makes the ultimate face of disgust.

That is the ultimate face which says “No, they did not just say that.” Goodness knows how he would have felt if this was the first thing he was shown rather than his past, but I would at least like to imagine relatively unchanged like he still has good deep down in him somewhere which certainly comes out after he has been dropped off back home. Before then we get one of the most haunting revelations when Scrooge realises it was him they were talking about, the grave cracks open and he sees himself as a dead man and falls in before getting transported back. But with what I was just talking about, here’s where it shows – at first it sounds like Scrooge is choking, but then it turns to laughter. Really does show the good deep down in him ready to come back out.

Yep, gone full circle, he can join the X-Men now. Yeah, I said it – obvious joke out the way, happy now? O.K cool. Anyhow, he goes out into the world after having the turkey paid for and he has even grown joyful enough to throw a snowball at some children when they start throwing snowballs at him. He joins in at church and it’s not surprising that Patrick sings as well as he does for that one moment given the kind of voice he has. But my favourite part is that even though he has now changed, he still can’t help but feel nervous outside of Fred’s house before mustering the courage to knock on the door.

Couldn’t be any more fitting that they’re singing a song about being shy right now huh? But this really completes Scrooge’s redemption here how despite how nervous he feels, he still manages to build the courage up and even presenting himself to Fred and his wife, the nervousness still shows but yet he pulled through, it really makes you feel glad for him that he managed it and it makes his redemption more well-earned. But after this, I love how once he surprises Bob, Bob initially thinks he’s gone mad and arms himself with a fire poker until Scrooge makes it clear he’s not mad and takes the poker back from him as he orders him to build the fires up and buy another coal scuttle.

And now this brings us down to performance, well – what less is to be expected of that of Mr. Stewart? Patrick gave a masterful performance as Scrooge and the best part for me is that as recognisable as he looks, you can still genuinely see Ebenezer Scrooge as he plays the part that well. And given he had had some experience beforehand with that series of one-man plays, I guess this was a help to him prior to taking the role on for this production, not that it would have made much difference without them as he is just that damn good. Deep voice, commanding presence, Stewart had all the makings of a great Scrooge, and you will not be disappointed by his performance should you watch the 1999 version for yourself.

And to go along with a masterful performance, as much as I love Caine’s Scrooge costume, Stewart’s is certainly very well presented with his Scrooge being so dark that the only speck of colour about him is the tiny bit of his shirt collar you can see and much like Caine he goes for the tailcoat instead of a frockcoat. He has his long black overcoat and top hat for the outdoors and once again he dons lighter colours once his redemption is complete. I find it interesting the tailcoat is a similar colour to the coat he had during his breakup. More interesting still is that on the DVD covers and some promotional material is that he has his cane raised high as if he’s ready to hit someone, but the only time Scrooge carried a cane with him was during his stroll through London and going to Fred’s house which was later on in this movie. Goodness knows why this is, but hey – it doesn’t matter too much.

And on the whole – all four of these candidates were fine Scrooges, each in their own way and I have nothing but glowing praise for each of them. Do you have a particular favourite live-action Scrooge? If so, please do say in the comments, I’d love to see who you say and why. And until next time, I hope you enjoyed looking at this list and that you’ll join me next week as I look at some of the animated ones. Until then, I’m off to watch these Scrooges again and again.