Here we go a-’Carol’ing
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“It’s the most wonderful time ...”
Come on, everybody!
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year! With the kids jingle belling and everyone telling you, ‘Be of good ... “
Wait, wait, stop. That was awful. Forget the singing.
But one thing we should never ever forget is our holiday traditions. Where would we be without them?
In the middle of March, that’s where.
Two of the longest-running winter-solstice- slash-yuletide traditions in this corner of the universe -- the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade and South Coast Repertory’s “A Christmas Carol” -- are upon us. Wednesday marks the 97th iteration of the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade, albeit with a tweaked name this year. And at SCR, for the 26th year running, “A Christmas Carol” is in full, lovable, cranky bloom until Dec. 24, as Hal Landon’s Ebenezer Scrooge proves once again that being an old poop can cause severe sleep deprivation.
Don’t you hate it when people ask you, “What’s your favorite movie?” or “What’s your favorite music?” Like June Allyson said, it all depends.
But if someone asks me, “What’s your favorite story?” I don’t miss a breath or a beat or a step: “A Christmas Carol.” There may be bigger fans of Dickens’ classic Christmas tale out there, but if there are, I want names, numbers and e-mail addresses.
With the exception of the Bible, “A Christmas Carol” is the most printed, translated, interpreted and presented work ever written. We’ll get to exactly how much of each later.
What is it about this story of a mean old man and a poor family in Victorian England that continues to captivate hearts and minds around the world 180 years after it was written? Universal truths, for one thing, that are as old as time, which is really old.
There is the classic story of redemption, in this case, the mean old grump who no one can stand to be around but whose heart is eventually melted by a small and adorable child. There is the story of a family struggling to survive, with no one but each other to lean on. And there is one of the oldest dramatic devices in the book -- divine intervention. Add to that Dickens’ beautifully drawn characters, plenty of wit, some really spooky scenes and the happiest of happy endings on a snowy Christmas morning and you’re there, dude.
What you may not know is that none of those elements were accidental. When it came to writing about the wolf at the door on a cold winter’s night, Charles Dickens wasn’t just whistling Dixie, although whatever Dickens whistled I’ll bet it wasn’t Dixie -- and that’s if he whistled at all.
Dickens’ father, John, was a lowly clerk in the Royal Navy Pay Office who was always struggling to put food on the table. In 1824, John Dickens was tossed into debtor’s prison, and 12-year-old Charles was yanked out of school and put to work in a boot-blacking factory to help his family survive.
I don’t know what a boot-blacking factory is, but it can’t be good.
By the time he wrote “A Christmas Carol” in 1843, Dickens had already established himself as a voice for social justice in England and the U.S. But ironically, when he wrote “A Christmas Carol,” he wasn’t trying to make a point about poverty and social injustice.
He was trying to make money.
He had slipped into some serious debt -- something Dickens promised himself he would never do -- and set out to write the ultimate feel-good holiday story, with all the thrills and tears and laughs he could muster, all of which he knew would sell like chestnuts roasting on an open fire. He wrote it, they bought it, and they haven’t stopped since -- in print, on stage, on the screen, on the telly and every other which way.
The original title of the piece, oddly enough, was “The Sledgehammer.” Not quite the same yuletide feel, is it?
Now then, exactly how many renditions of “A Christmas Carol” have there been?
You might as well count the snowflakes. In addition to an endless supply of stage Scrooges, there have been at least 20 film and television versions. Even casual “A Christmas Carol” fans can cite the 1951 British film with Alastair Sim and the 1938 film with Reginald Owen as the respective Scrooges.
I am hopelessly prejudiced toward the 1951 Alastair Sim version, and most critics will back me on that. It is not only the best acted, but it’s truest to Charlie’s story.
Interestingly, a short of “A Christmas Carol” was one of the earliest commercially made films, way back in 1910. Some notable others were “Scrooge”, the 1970 musical adaptation with Albert Finney as the old buzzard and Alec Guinness as Jacob Marley; the 1984 television film with George C. Scott as Scrooge; and the 1999 television film with Patrick Stewart, the most resonant Scrooge ever, of course.
Not only the funniest “Christmas Carol” but one of the funniest films ever was “Scrooged” in 1988, with Bill Murray absolutely brilliant as a network-executive Scrooge. The most clever adaptation, I think, was a 2003 novel by Louis Bayard called “Mister Timothy,” in which Tiny Tim is a 23-year-old living in a present-day London slum who gets caught up in a murder mystery.
For those who like their redemption animated, there was “Bugs Bunny’s Christmas Carol” (1979); “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” (1983); “The Muppets Christmas Carol” (1992) and the 1962 version for which we all owe Charles Dickens the deepest of apologies, “Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol.”
Finally, there is an interesting connection between my all-time favorite story and one of my all-time favorite movies, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” directed by my all-time favorite director, Frank Capra, and that’s a lot of all-time favorites. Even though Capra never acknowledged it, more than a few critics noticed that if you lay the two stories out side-by-side, “It’s a Wonderful Life” is “A Christmas Carol” in reverse.
Jimmy Stewart’s George Bailey is a very good man everyone loves who turns cranky when trouble knocks on his door, but then a spirit appears to show him the true meaning of life. Each on a snowy winter’s night but on slightly different paths, Ebenezer Scrooge and George Bailey arrive at exactly the same place.
Interesting, no?
So there you have it. Ebenezer Scrooge, redemption, and Mr. Magoo. It’s what the holidays are all about.
I gotta go.
* PETER BUFFA is a former Costa Mesa mayor. His column runs Sundays. He may be reached by e-mail at [email protected].
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