Christmas Countdown: Film #4 - White Christmas & Film #5 - Scrooge

Cold, wet and gale force winds kept us indoors on Saturday, so we had a small Christmas film binge.
We started with that old classic: White Christmas, for me it's not Christmas unless I've watched that film. There's nothing particularly new about watching this film. I practically know it off by heart, I certainly know most of the songs off by heart!

I think each year I watch this film, I love it a little bit more. It was especially interesting to watch it so soon after watching Holiday Inn, because it meant that I was able to pick out the bits of music that had been reused.

It's just so well constructed and I have to admit, I love all the outfits, especially the dresses at the end of the film. If I'd had an unlimited budget for my wedding, I would've worn a dress like that!
Later in the day we watched Scrooge, the first film of the bunch that I hadn't seen before. It was made in 1970 and starred Albert Finney as Scrooge.

I wasn't entirely sure what to make of this film, not having heard of it before, and I'll admit that for the first song I was still wondering what I had let myself in for. By the Ghost of Christmas Present I was well into it though, and this was a nice start to the first of seven versions of A Christmas Carol that we'll be watching this month.

Albert Finney seemed like an unusual choice to play Scrooge, especially considering the fact that he was only 34-years-old at the time. While we were watching it I couldn't help but be reminded of Rex Harrison in Doctor Doolittle, so it was interesting to learn today that he had been considered for the role of Scrooge - in some respects the songs were very similar to those in Doctor Doolittle.

I liked the fact that, despite the singing and dancing, it remained very faithful to the book. And it was wonderfully creepy in places, what with the ghouls and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. All in all, I enjoyed it and I'm quite looking forward to adding it to our collection of films for the run up to Christmas.
Next up on the DVD player will be The Snowman which I don't think I've actually seen since I was at primary school.