1951's A Christmas Carol (originally, Scrooge) is considered the definitive adaptation of Dickens' work, and it must be. There are so many scenes here, the other adaptations I remember feel like CliffsNotes! But then, some of the material, especially Scrooge's rise in business, expands away from the original story (and there are other, slight deviations). The overall effect is to better justify Scrooge's eventual turn, show exactly where he went wrong, where he was corrupted, where he lost faith in people. So Alastair Sim is a more sympathetic Scrooge than most and when he does turn, he gives a giddy, infectious, even touching performance. The heart swells because most of the film reads more like a spooky horror story than a Christmas fable (indeed, it was originally released in the States on Halloween, which seems perfect), so when Scrooge wakes up, the world really has changed... which is the Christmas promise, after all.

Alastair Sim gives a fantastic performance as a frugal scrooge, arguably the best on film. Though he definitely goes OTT for the kind scrooge section.

I thought I'd give this film a go based on the glowing reviews here but all in all I found the film to be just ok, with a lot of odd changes from the book.

This is definitely the best version of a classic! Great Christmas film.