Thank
You Very Much is most likely the song every fan will be singing
now that Paramount has brought the 1970 musical SCROOGE ($15) to
DVD. This delightful Holiday favorite is a fine adaptation of Charles
Dickens’ novel A Christmas Carol, with music and lyrics by
Leslie Bricusse. With a bit of old age makeup, Albert Finney makes an
absolutely wonderful Ebenezer Scrooge, plus he is also able to portray the
younger versions of the character when visited by Ghost of Christmas Past.
Finney perfectly embodies the requisite nastiness of the miserly Scrooge,
but gives a heartfelt quality to the performance when Scrooge’s humanity
finally begins to emerge. The delightful cast of SCROOGE also
features Edith Evans, Kenneth More, Paddy Stone, Michael Medwin, Mary
Peach, David Collings, Richard Beaumont, Anton Rodgers and Alec Guinness
as Jacob Marley's Ghost.
Paramount
Home Entertainment has made SCROOGE available on DVD in a
positively terrific looking 2.35:1 wide screen presentation that has been
enhanced for playback on 16:9 displays. I marveled at the cleanness of the
presentation, which only betrayed the occasional errant blemish- not bad
for a film that is more than three decades old. The transfer itself
produces an image that is almost always sharp and nicely defined. Some
sequences appear a slightly softer than other, but it all depends upon the
film’s original cinematography. Colors appear strongly rendered, with
the vibrancy and the quality of the hues seemingly a result of SCROOGE
being produced at a time when Technicolor was still manufacturing IB
prints. Neither chroma noise nor smearing is present to mar the fine color
reproduction of this DVD. Blacks appear accurate, as do the whites, plus
the image produces smooth contrast. Film grain in occasionally noticeable,
but never becomes excessive. Overall, Paramount has produced a marvelous
rendering of Oswald Morris’ warm and lovely cinematography. Digital
compression artifacts maintain a low profile throughout.
For
this release, SCROOGE has been upgraded to a Dolby Digital 5.1
channel soundtrack. The mix isn’t aggressive or particularly enveloping,
but it is quite good for this particular type of musical material.
Surround usage would seem to be primarily relegated to enhancing the
musical numbers, by adding modest amounts of orchestral fill to the rear
channels. The forward soundstage has a nice broad quality, with fine
stereo separations for the musical component. Fidelity isn’t at modern
levels, but the music always sounds very pleasant and takes amplification
without any problems. Dialogue is crisply rendered and always completely
understandable. An English Dolby Surround track is also encoded onto the
DVD, as are English subtitles. The basic interactive menus allow one
access to the standard scene selection and set up features, as well as the
option of viewing the movie with overture and exit music.
The
DVD release of SCROOGE is something that its many fans have been
eagerly anticipating since the early days of the format. Paramount has
done a truly fine job with the disc, delivering both a terrific looking
and fine sounding presentation. If you are a fan, this is a must own DVD.
If you have never seen SCROOGE, I still highly recommend picking up
the DVD, especially since its bargain price won’t make any significant
dents in the holiday budget.
Thank
You Very Much is most likely the song every fan will be singing
now that Paramount has brought the 1970 musical SCROOGE ($15) to
DVD. This delightful Holiday favorite is a fine adaptation of Charles
Dickens’ novel A Christmas Carol, with music and lyrics by
Leslie Bricusse. With a bit of old age makeup, Albert Finney makes an
absolutely wonderful Ebenezer Scrooge, plus he is also able to portray the
younger versions of the character when visited by Ghost of Christmas Past.
Finney perfectly embodies the requisite nastiness of the miserly Scrooge,
but gives a heartfelt quality to the performance when Scrooge’s humanity
finally begins to emerge. The delightful cast of SCROOGE also
features Edith Evans, Kenneth More, Paddy Stone, Michael Medwin, Mary
Peach, David Collings, Richard Beaumont, Anton Rodgers and Alec Guinness
as Jacob Marley's Ghost.
Paramount
Home Entertainment has made SCROOGE available on DVD in a
positively terrific looking 2.35:1 wide screen presentation that has been
enhanced for playback on 16:9 displays. I marveled at the cleanness of the
presentation, which only betrayed the occasional errant blemish- not bad
for a film that is more than three decades old. The transfer itself
produces an image that is almost always sharp and nicely defined. Some
sequences appear a slightly softer than other, but it all depends upon the
film’s original cinematography. Colors appear strongly rendered, with
the vibrancy and the quality of the hues seemingly a result of SCROOGE
being produced at a time when Technicolor was still manufacturing IB
prints. Neither chroma noise nor smearing is present to mar the fine color
reproduction of this DVD. Blacks appear accurate, as do the whites, plus
the image produces smooth contrast. Film grain in occasionally noticeable,
but never becomes excessive. Overall, Paramount has produced a marvelous
rendering of Oswald Morris’ warm and lovely cinematography. Digital
compression artifacts maintain a low profile throughout.
For
this release, SCROOGE has been upgraded to a Dolby Digital 5.1
channel soundtrack. The mix isn’t aggressive or particularly enveloping,
but it is quite good for this particular type of musical material.
Surround usage would seem to be primarily relegated to enhancing the
musical numbers, by adding modest amounts of orchestral fill to the rear
channels. The forward soundstage has a nice broad quality, with fine
stereo separations for the musical component. Fidelity isn’t at modern
levels, but the music always sounds very pleasant and takes amplification
without any problems. Dialogue is crisply rendered and always completely
understandable. An English Dolby Surround track is also encoded onto the
DVD, as are English subtitles. The basic interactive menus allow one
access to the standard scene selection and set up features, as well as the
option of viewing the movie with overture and exit music.
The
DVD release of SCROOGE is something that its many fans have been
eagerly anticipating since the early days of the format. Paramount has
done a truly fine job with the disc, delivering both a terrific looking
and fine sounding presentation. If you are a fan, this is a must own DVD.
If you have never seen SCROOGE, I still highly recommend picking up
the DVD, especially since its bargain price won’t make any significant
dents in the holiday budget.
