A Christmas Carol (1910)

Once again, we have the original version of an old classic.  A Christmas Carol was directed by J. Searle Dawley and stars Marc McDermott as Scrooge.  The movie plays more like a highlight reel of the classic Dickens story than a fully realized film.  Still, it hits all of the high points of the tale and relies on the viewer's familiarity with the plot to fill in the details.  Alas, no Tiny Tim to be found here.

The movie sports some impressive special effects for the time.  I particularly liked the appearance of Marley's ghost through Scrooge's door.  All of the ghost effects were simple but very effective.  All in all, this is not as good as The Unchanging Sea, but still a fun film to view.

As a special treat, here's a second review from my 8 year-old son:

He really liked "the ghost parts."  He like the "haunting."  He did not like "pretty much none of it."  Sounds like a solid recommendation!

The movie is just under 11 minutes and is available at YouTube.

Image from silentera.com