"The Personal History of David Copperfield" / Searchlight Pictures
AWARDS BEAT
You might think that Charles Dickens would be resistant to the Armando Iannucci treatment, which so far has resulted in a string of vicious political satires that raised the insult to the level of art: the British TV show “The Thick of It” and subsequent movie “In the Loop”; its American cousin “Veep,” which he created and ran for four seasons; and most recently “The Death of Stalin,” with the vicious and inept Russian politicians of the 1950s seemingly every bit as Iannuccian as Selina Meyer or the blowhards from “In the Loop.”
But Dickens’ “David Copperfield,” the novel on which Iannucci’s “The Personal History if David Copperfield” is based? How can that work in the hands of the delightfully profane Scottish writer-director?
Judging by “The Personal History of David Copperfield,” which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, you’d pretty much be right to think that Dickens and Iannucci aren’t the most seamless fit. Iannucci has fun with the classic serial-turned-novel and throws in a bit of defiant color-blind casting for kicks, but it takes some getting used to a gentler, less biting Iannucci.
Just as Dickens’ original work was a blend of reality and fiction, Iannucci and co-writer Simon Blackwell play around with the idea of Copperfield the character as a writer who is himself writing his story as he goes along. He pulls some characters from his life, alters others and drops them into situations where they don’t belong to the point where one of them finally turns to Copperfield and tells him he really needs to write her out of the story.
This is Dickens slightly reimagined and then pushed to extremes in deliciously over-the-top performances by the likes of Hugh Laurie, Tilda Swinton, Gwendoline Christie, Peter Capaldi and Ben Whishaw. It’s set in a 19th-century London where nobody notices anything odd if the accountant is Asian, his daughter is black and the hoity-toity private boy’s school is a lot more racially diverse than any of them probably were in that time.
As we were with the mélange of accents (none of them Russian) in “The Death of Stalin,” we’re meant to have fun with Iannucci’s mildly transgressive take on the wild cast of characters that surrounds our hero, who is himself played by Dev Patel. Forget about race and ethnicity and have fun with these people (while knowing full well that it isn’t really like this, as much as it should be).
This is Copperfield’s journey and Patel acquits himself honorably, but it’s the wacky people around him — from the perpetually broke Mr. Micawber (Capaldi) to the eccentric aunt Betsey Trotwood (Swinton) to the glowering Uriah Heep (Whishaw) that make it a trip worth taking.
Yes, you can sniff some contemporary resonance in the story of class divisions and the rich preying on the less fortunate, but mostly Dickens allows Iannucci and Blackwell to riff on the theme of an artist’s creation. It’s not as pointed or as hysterically funny as the director’s past work, and the “did he really say that?” moments are scarcer even if many of the words did originate from the pen of a rather substantial author.
But “The Personal History of David Copperfield” is never less than entertaining; there’s a reason why this story and these characters started as a newspaper serial before being turned into a novel. The story was born out of the original version of pulp fiction, and Iannucci and his cast relish every bit of the pulp.
And then, after two hours of misfortune and hilarity, we get to the real point, which is an open-hearted embrace of humanity in all its glorious strangeness and diversity. At this point, you could almost think that Armando Iannucci has a heart after all — or, perhaps, that he borrowed one from Dickens for a couple of hours.
20 Essential Movie and TV Scrooges Through the Years, From Alastair Sim to Bill Murray (Photos)
In 2018, Charles Dickens' classic novella "A Christmas Carol" turned 175, but its utility as a springboard for movie and TV adaptations shows no signs of slowing down. It's a classic story of regret and redemption, and its lead character Ebenezer Scrooge offers an arc from misery and cruelty to love and kindness that's catnip for any actor or actress. (I watched a sleighful of Scrooges for my book "Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas" and am doing you the service of keeping the Barbie and "All Dogs Go to Heaven" versions off this list.) Here's a look at 20 performers who have put their own unique spin on "Bah! Humbug!"
Seymour Hicks, "Scrooge" (1935) There were a few silent versions, but this was the screen's first talking Scrooge, in a version that's early-talkie through and through, from the technical limitations (the camera doesn't move much, and there's not even an attempt to show Marley's ghost) to the big, theatrical performances, Hicks' included.
Paramount Pictures
Reginald Owen, "A Christmas Carol" (1938) Owen was best known for comedy, so there's a sprightliness to his take on the role, even though his Ebenezer is certainly a crabby old skinflint for much of the film. This 69-minute feature from MGM is a good non-animated starter version for kids.
MGM
Alastair Sim, "A Christmas Carol" (U.S.)/"Scrooge" (U.K.) (1951) Generally acknowledged to be the greatest of the screen Scrooges, and he deserves the reputation. There's a real commitment to the role's extremes of both wickedness and joy, and Sim is never less that magnetic in the role. (It helps that this is, overall, a terrific adaptation.)
United Artists
Basil Rathbone, "The Stingiest Man in Town" (1956) This made-for-TV musical version rarely surfaces these days, and that's a pity, particularly since Rathbone's patented brand of hammy villainy suits the character so well. If you can't find this one, check out Rathbone's equally Scrooge-y turn in the Christmas-set comedy "We're No Angels" (1955).
NBC
Mister Magoo (voiced by Jim Backus), "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol" (1962) Even though the character of Mister Magoo was kindly (if terribly near-sighted), the producers of the very first animated holiday program produced for TV wanted his name value, so the set-up is that Magoo is playing Scrooge on stage in a Broadway musical (with songs by the legendary Jule Styne); the results are delightful.
NBC
Albert Finney, "Scrooge" (1970) A personal favorite, at least partly because Finney is one of the only actors to play the character both as a young man and as the craggy old coot he later becomes. Seeing him start out full of vitality before becoming stooped with greed makes the story all the more poignant.
National General Pictures/Twentieth Century Fox
Henry Winkler, "An American Christmas Carol" (1979) This version transposes the story from Victorian England to Depression-era America, and while the old-age makeup isn't the most convincing, Winkler successfully puts a Yankee stamp on this most British of characters. (Not to be confused with the dreadful 2008 right-wing propaganda piece, "An American Carol.")
ABC
Scrooge McDuck (voiced by Alan Young), "Mickey's Christmas Carol" (1983) Well, talk about a performer who was born to play the role. McDuck works his trademark Scottish-cheapskate-isms into what has become a favorite version for generations of kids who grew up watching it.
Disney
George C. Scott, "A Christmas Carol" (1984) This lush made-for-TV version (directed by Clive Donner, who edited the Alastair Sim version) is anchored by a fearsome and funny turn by Scott, who seems to delight in Scrooge's penny-pinchery more than most. Where other performers shout, he traffics more in quiet menace.
CBS
Bill Murray, "Scrooged" (1988) As network exec Frank Cross, Murray oversees vulgar and idiotic holiday-themed programming while ignoring his family and overworking his put-upon assistant (played by Alfre Woodard). There's no middle ground on this broad performance; either it works for you -- and for many, it does -- or you'll change channels.
Paramount Pictures
Michael Caine, "The Muppet Christmas Carol" (1992) Caine makes for a fearsome old skinflint, and what makes the performance work is that he never behaves as though there's anything strange about the fact that his co-stars are a frog and several mice and a bear and a pig and a...whatever Gonzo is.
Disney
Susan Lucci, "Ebbie" (1995) The "Scrooge is a ruthless career woman" sub-genre begins here, and Lucci is one of the best at playing a heartless climber faced with learning some hard lessons at Christmastime. Her performance as a cold-hearted department-store magnate is one of the TV movie's strongest assets.
Lifetime
Cicely Tyson, "Ms. Scrooge" (1997) You would think that an actress as formidable as Tyson would take to the role of cruel moneylender Ebenita Scrooge like a goose to stuffing, particularly since she's reteamed with John Korty, who directed her in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman." Alas, she overplays (and sounds jarringly like W.C. Fields).
USA
Patrick Stewart, "A Christmas Carol" (1999) On stage, Stewart played all the roles, but in this made-for-cable film he's a younger (but no less mean) Scrooge than usual. His delight in rolling Dickens' original dialogue around in his mouth is infectious.
TNT
Vanessa Williams, "A Diva's Christmas Carol" (2000) This playful transposition of the story into the world of turn-of-the-21st-century pop -- the Ghost of Christmas Future is an unflattering episode of VH1's "Behind the Music" -- benefits greatly from Williams' delightful hauteur as the titular diva.
VH1/Viacom
Tori Spelling, "A Carol Christmas" (2003) You might be shocked to learn that Spelling is surprisingly effective as the host of a tacky daytime talk show who gets knocked down a peg after visits from ghosts played by William Shatner and Gary Coleman. This movie's tongue may be firmly in cheek, but its heart is in the right place.
The Hallmark Channel
Kelsey Grammer, "A Christmas Carol: The Musical" (2004) This made-for-TV production must have looked good on paper, between Grammer's mellifluous hambonery to a talented supporting cast (Jane Krakowski, Jason Alexander, Jesse L. Martin) to original songs by Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens, but it never coalesces. And neither does Grammer's performance.
NBC
Jim Carrey, "Disney's A Christmas Carol" (2009) The rubbery faces and dead eyes of director Robert Zemeckis' motion-capture characters don't help matters, but Carrey overacts as broadly here as he did playing another iconic holiday villain in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." (Too much to be contained by just one character, Carrey also plays the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.)
Disney
Emmanuelle Vaugier, "It's Christmas, Carol!" (2012) The phrase, "Well, she's no Tori Spelling" isn't uttered too often, but it's a fair critique of Vaugier's featureless performance in a TV-movie so low-budget that the late Carrie Fisher's Marley-esque character has to take on all the ghost duties single-handedly.
The Hallmark Channel
Christopher Plummer, "The Man Who Invented Christmas" (2017) In this fairly tedious movie about the writing of "A Christmas Carol," Scrooge mainly hangs around to harangue Dickens (Dan Stevens) about how long it's taking him to finish the story. But Plummer is so delectably diabolical that you'll wish someone would just build a straightforward adaptation around him.
Kerry Brown/Bleecker Street
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The immortal Charles Dickens character has Bah-Humbugged his (and her) way into dozens of films and TV movies
In 2018, Charles Dickens' classic novella "A Christmas Carol" turned 175, but its utility as a springboard for movie and TV adaptations shows no signs of slowing down. It's a classic story of regret and redemption, and its lead character Ebenezer Scrooge offers an arc from misery and cruelty to love and kindness that's catnip for any actor or actress. (I watched a sleighful of Scrooges for my book "Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas" and am doing you the service of keeping the Barbie and "All Dogs Go to Heaven" versions off this list.) Here's a look at 20 performers who have put their own unique spin on "Bah! Humbug!"
Paramount Pictures
