Supposing it to be a another repacking of the perennial favorite A Christmas Carol (1951) starring Alastair Sim, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that VCI's latest version of the Christmas classic has all-new bonus features.
Released earlier this month, A Christmas Carol - 60th Anniversary Diamond Edition is now available on both standard DVD and Blu-Ray. And as a special this Black Friday, we have a super-low price of $7.98 on the Standard DVD until Monday the 28th.
NOTE: For the sake of clarity, we don't normally carry two DVD releases of the same film, but as this new release differs greatly from the previous Ultimate Collector's Edition, we will carry both. The previous U.C.E. not only has the many wonderful bonus features, but has the 1951 version in color, as well as a black and white presentation of the 1935 version. This new release is not colorized.
Additionally, we replaced the old Blu-Ray release with this new one as the bonus features on the previous one were scant.
With an authentic, dramatic script by later-director Noel Langley, a superb performance by Alastair Sim and company, and under the careful direction of Brian Desmond Hurst, the 1951 filmed version of "A Christmas Carol" emerges as an outstanding cinematic presentation.
Alastair Sim's tour-de-force performance as the ultimate miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, has almost single-handedly made this beloved version of Charles Dickens' story into one of the best-loved Christmas films of all time. Some of Britain's best filmmakers united behind Sim, who was joined by a delightful cast of accomplished and acclaimed English actors; creating what many today believe to be the best and most faithful production of Dickens' immortal tale. Cranky and curmudgeonly Scrooge learns the error of his unkind ways and is taught the true meaning of the holidays when he is visited by the ghost of his late business partner and the spirits of Christmas past, present and future.
BONUS FEATURES:
- Introduction by Leonard Maltin
- Dead to Begin With: The Darker Side of A Classic - An all-new documentary exploring the films bleaker themes and how they rivaled London of the 1950's. Featuring British film historian and culturalist Sir Christopher Frayling.
- Scrooge by Another Name: Distributing A Christmas Carol - An all-new featurette detailing the American release of this British holiday classic. Featuring US distributor Richard Gordon, in his final on-camera interview.
- The Human Blarney Stone: Life and Films of Brian Desmond Hurst - An all-new documentary chronicling the awe-inspiring life of Ireland's most prolific filmmaker. Featuring Allan Esler Smith, the great, great nephew and biographer of Hurst.
- Alastair Sim Version: Too Good to Be Shown at Christmastime
- Silent Dickens - A Collection of Early Examples of Dickens on Film
- Campbell Playhouse: A Christmas Carol - Original 1939 Radio Drama narrated by Orson Welles and Starring Lionel Barrymore**
- Bibliographic Essay by Fred Guida**
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