This film is part of Free
Scrooge; Or, Marley's Ghost
Debut film outing for Dickens' Yuletide classic
Overview
This first filmed version of Dickens' beloved story is packed with charm. In common with other filmed literary works or this time, it's a heavily condensed 'scenes from the book' tableau rather than a full-scale adaptation. For contemporary audiences, the pleasures lay in seeing familiar scenes and characters brought to life, and from the ingenuity of the visualisations. Sadly, the only known surviving copy, preserved by the BFI National Archive, is missing its ending, leaving us to fall back on our memory of the villain's contrition.
There's some neat double-exposure effects - particularly when the head of Jacob Marley, Scrooge's late business partner, appears on the miser's door knocker - courtesy of director Walter Booth, a former stage magician and 'trick film' specialist. In Booth's version, a be-sheeted ghost of Marley replaces Dickens' three Christmas ghosts - an approach probably borrowed from a popular stage adaptation of the day. This was long believed to be the earliest filmed adaptation of a Dickens work, until the 2011 rediscovery of the Bleak House-inspired The Death of Poor Joe (c.1900).
Related
Blackfriars Bridge Blackfriars Bridge
Non-Fiction 1896 1 mins Silent Location: Blackfriars Br
Top-hatted pedestrians and horse-drawn traffic pass over Blackfriars Bridge in London
Aberdeen University Quarter Centenary Celebrations Aberdeen University Quarter Centenary Celebrations
Non-Fiction 1906 32 mins Silent Location: Aberdeen
Edward VII and Queen Alexandra open new buildings at Marischal College, Aberdeen
Drat That Boy! Drat That Boy!
Comedy 1904 2 mins Silent
A boy being supervised by his grandmother sees a chance for mischief
The "?" Motorist The "?" Motorist
Science Fiction 1906 3 mins Silent
The lengths that some people will go to, just to avoid a speeding ticket… in this case to Saturn and back.
Extraordinary Cab Accident Extraordinary Cab Accident
Trick film 1903 1 mins Silent
A comic traffic incident
China O'Brien: The Reunion China O'Brien: The Reunion
Documentary 2024 60 mins
Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton and Keith Cooke reunite three decades on from the groundbreaking martial arts classic.
Women in Action Panel Discussion Women in Action Panel Discussion
Inside Film 2024 28 mins
Action Xtreme - the UK's leading action film studio - hosts this panel discussion with four leading women in action cinema - Soo Cole, Jo Rolison, Jadey Duffield and Ioanna Karavela.
Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 24 mins
Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 30 mins
Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.
Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell
Documentary 2024 42 mins
Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels
Short documentary 2024 12 mins
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.