Ebenezer

This was a very good re-telling of the "Christmas Carol" story. I really liked the slight changes in the end and think others will as well if, like me, they take every opportunity to watch Scrooge! Take a chance on this one and live a little.

Although Dickens' tale is "Westernized" (it's hard to imagine Scrooge getting into fistfights and high noon shootouts as he does in this movie), it works here, thanks to the performance of Jack Palance. He also does a decent tale of playing the redeemed and transformed Scrooge. Some versions have Scrooge convert too readily, or the folks he previously screwed over accepting him too easily.

Palance's Scrooge "converts" just slowly enough that it's believable. Also, the townsfolk are at least initially reluctant to accept his transformed version.

There are also some interesting variations. Scrooge actually gets to see his future self's last few actions in life (most versions just kill him off-screen, leaving Scrooge to face his corpse or hear people talk about how he died).

Weak spots include some really bad dialogue ("You're my favorite nephew" - "I'm your only nephew!") and mediocre casting of the first two Spirits. There's also a subplot with the last person Scrooge ripped off, Sam Benson, which awkwardly interrupts the Spirits' visits.

Overall, though, the movie's strength lies in Palance's performance, and it's a great one. I'd say he's the best Scrooge (albeit an American/Western one) since Sim.

I have a feeling that people who trash this movie are doing so out of a deep seeded love for the Alistair Sim classic, and a refusal to enjoy any other version. This is an interesting adaptation and worth watching.

I especially enjoy the fact that the story continues after Scrooges transformation, showing how people deal with an overnight change in someone they have long feared and stopped trusting.

Hey, I like the 1951 version too, watch them both for Christmas!

I caught this umpteenth reformulation of the Dicken's tale quite by accident--and it was truly like watching an accident happen. Awful does not capture the turgidity of this misbegotten project--"A Christmas Carol" set in the Klondike. True, it does have Jack Palance as the Scrooge character; but even Mr. Palance needs a script and a director--both of which are missing here. His performance, over the top and nasty though it is, is the only thing worth watching. The script captures none of the detail / feeling of the original story and Scrooge isn't very interesting--just mean and nasty. No original innocence. The actors, as in alot of made for TV movies all have a cookie cutter sameness--like they were mostly gotten from modeling agencies. The idea "might" have been workable if a little humanity and humor been present in the script and few decent actors been hired. Watch Alastair Sim, George C. Scott for great Scrooges--or Michael Caine (no slouch) in "A Muppet Christmas Carol" if you are in a more whimsical vein--but pass this one by.

Do not compare this with any of the "traditional" "Christmas Carol" movies. This one stand all alone and is unique in that it is the same story, character names etc., but from an old western type aspect. Jack Palance (Ebenezer Scrooge) is quite convincing as the greedy miser who gets "redeemed" by the visit of three ghosts. What's cute is they use an Indian for the past, a Canadian Mounty for the present and a different take on the future guy, you'll have to see it to know who that is. It is well done, great acting and western sets. Nothing questionable, no nudity, no foul language at all. Great for the whole family if you want a totally "different" approach to the Dickens Classic. Enjoy.