A Christmas Carol DVD160 years ago (1843), Charles Dickens (1812-1870) wrote one of his most beloved short stories of all time, “A Christmas Carol”. After the born of film early in the twentieth century, several different directors have attempted to capture this famous story written by Charles Dickens, and various actors have portrayed and played the role of the story’s protagonist, Ebenezer Scrooge.

Such was the case in 1999 when director David Hugh Jones directed a new updated version of these classic story “A Christmas Carol” for television, which stared the venerable Shakespearean-trained actor Patrick Stewart who is well known for his portrayal of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the 7-year TV-series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and 4 “Star Trek” feature films. He has always used his Shakespearean training to create a very realistic performance in the screen and his portrayal of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge was no different.

Though some movie viewers have commented that the 1999 version of “A Christmas Carol” is joyless and that they haven’t enjoyed while watching because the reality is that that the movie was created more closely resembles the environment of Charles Dickens’ original story. Hence, Patrick Stewart created a very realistic embodiment of what Charles Dickens envisioned for Ebenezer Scrooge who is a joyless miser and has completely forgotten what it means to live and to love. Also, these same viewers neglect the amount of detail present in this rendition of the film that has often been absent in previous big-screen film versions, such as young Ebenezer’s (Kenny Doughty) work for his first employer Mr. Albert Fezziwig (Ian McNeice) and the old women (played by Liz Smith and Elizabeth Spriggs) who were fighting over a deceased man’s belongings.

Other memorable performances in the film include Jacob Marley (Bernard Lloyd), Ebenezer’s sister Fran (Rosie Wiggins), Tiny Tim Cratchit (Ben Tibber), Ebenezer’s nephew Fred (Dominic West), Mrs. Fezziwig (Annette Badland), Bob Cratchit (Richard E. Grant), Mrs. Cratchit (Saskia Reeves), the Ghost of Christmas Past (Joel Grey), the Ghost of Christmas Present (Desmond Barrit), The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (Tim Potter) and Belle (Laura Fraser). Of the many actors who have portrayed Ebenezer Scrooge over the past century (Reginald Owen in 1938, Alastair Sim in 1951, Albert Finney in 1970 and George C. Scott in 1984 to name a few), I am glad to see Patrick Stewart numbered among them.

Overall, We rated the 1999 version of “A Christmas Carol” with 5 out of 5 stars and highly recommend it. Sadly, since the film was produced for television, it was not filmed in widescreen format (which is my only complaint about the film), but that does not take away from this film’s splendid portrayal of Charles Dickens’ classic short story.

Watch this “A Christmas Carol” Trailer: