Name: A Christmas Carol
Genre: Drama, Short
Released: 1914-11-10
Duration: 22 min
Rating: 5.7
Cast: George Bellamy, Charles Rock, Edna Flugrath

It's pretty nigh impossible to condense this Dickens story into twenty minutes, but I think that they have made quite a decent fist of it here as Charles Rock takes on the role of the miserly "Scrooge". It's a bitterly cold Christmas Eve and poor old "Cratchit" (George Bellamy) can't even enjoy the carol singers outside of the window but his curmudgeonly boss chases them away. His journey home, via the inn for some unseasonal victuals, takes "Scrooge" to his chilly house where he encounters an apparition. The first of four, as it happens, with the others reminding him of his past, suggesting he appreciates his present and finally foretelling his future. Now on this point I'll admit to being no cinema historian, but I thought the way the production presented their ghostly presences on screen was really quite impressive for 1914! Thereafter, we heavily abridge the remainder of the story - which suited me as I have always (I know, bah humbug!) found the "Tiny Tim" sentiment just a little on the nauseating side. Bellamy makes for a decent Cratchit and Mary Brough a jolly wife for him, but it's really all down to Rock who manages to effectively deliver a myriad of emotions in a short space of time and hopefully encourage us to find a longer version. I felt a bit sorry for the butcher at the conclusion. He seemed to have an awful lot of unsold turkeys in his shop on Christmas morning!

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)

The short form refers to creative works characterized by their brevity and concise storytelling. Unlike full-length feature films, short films have a running time of less than 45 minutes, while TV shorts have a running time of less than 22 minutes.

Benedict Cumberbatch in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)

A miser is reformed by visions of past, present and future.

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood's perfect pairs.

Hollywood Power Couples

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s perfect pairs.

"The Gentlemen" and "Slow Horses" return this fall, while the "Reacher" spin-off series "Neagley" makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

2026 Fall TV and Streaming Watch Guide

&quot;The Gentlemen&quot; and &quot;Slow Horses&quot; return this fall, while the &quot;Reacher&quot; spin-off series &quot;Neagley&quot; makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Streaming Stars, Then and Now

Peter Hawkins and Peter Sallis in Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers (1993)

Peter Hawkins and Peter Sallis in Wallace & Gromit: A Close Shave (1995)

Peter Hawkins and Peter Sallis in Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out (1989)

A Christmas Carol

Photos1

Top Cast9

User reviews3

More like this

Related interests

Storyline

Did you know

Top picks

Details

Tech specs

Contribute to this page

More to explore

Recently viewed