''Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost'' is a 1901 British silent

trick film In the early history of cinema, trick films were short silent films designed to feature innovative special effects. History The trick film genre was developed by Georges Méliès in some of his first cinematic experiments, and his works remain ...

directed by Walter R. Booth, featuring the miserly

Ebenezer Scrooge Ebenezer Scrooge () is a fictional character and the protagonist of Charles Dickens's 1843 novel, ''A Christmas Carol''. Initially a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas, his redemption by visits from the ghost of Jacob Marley, the G ...

(played by Daniel Smith) confronted by

Jacob Marley Jacob Marley is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol''. Marley has died seven years ago, and was a former business partner of the miser Ebenezer Scrooge, the novella's protagonist.Hawes, Donal''Who's Who i ...

's ghost and given visions of Christmas past, present, and future. It is the earliest film adaptation of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

's 1843

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

''. It was also believed to be the earliest filmed adaptation of a Dickens work, until the 2012 discovery of the ''

Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode Serial (literature), serial between 12 March 1852 and 12 September 1853. The novel has many characters and several subplots, and is told partly by th ...

''-inspired '' The Death of Poor Joe''. The film, "although somewhat flat and stage-bound to modern eyes," according to Ewan Davidson of

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

's Screenonline, "was an ambitious undertaking at the time," as, "not only did it attempt to tell an 80 page story in five minutes, but it featured impressive trick effects, superimposing Marley's face over the door knocker and the scenes from his youth over a black curtain in Scrooge's bedroom."

The film

Filmed in 35mm and in black and white, this short

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

was produced by the English film pioneer R. W. Paul, and directed by Walter R. Booth and was filmed at Paul's Animatograph Works. It was released in November 1901. As was common in cinema's early days, the filmmakers chose to adapt an already well-known story, in this case ''

'' by

, in the belief that the audience's familiarity with the story would result in the need for fewer

intertitles In films and videos, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (hence, ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred ...

.''Scrooge; or Marley's Ghost''
on the

website It was presented in 'Twelve Tableaux' or scenes. The film contains the first use of intertitles in a film. Evidence suggests that Paul's version of ''A Christmas Carol'' was based as much on J. C. Buckstone's popular stage adaptation ''Scrooge'' as on Dickens' original story. Like the play, the film dispenses with the different ghosts that visit Scrooge, instead relying upon the figure of

, draped in a white sheet, to point out the error of Scrooge's ways. The film featured impressive trick effects by 1901 standards, superimposing Marley's face over the door knocker, and displaying the scenes from his youth on a black curtain in Scrooge's bedroom. R. W. Paul was a

specialist; Walter Booth, credited as the film's director, was a well-known magician as well as a trick and comic film specialist. The film makes early use of dissolving between scenes. Some scenes are tinted.

Content

The only known surviving footage, about 3 minutes and 26 seconds in length, is preserved by the

.''Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost''
on the

website This footage starts with Bob Cratchit showing someone out of Scrooge's office on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

, just before he and Scrooge leave for the night, and ends at a scene where Scrooge is shown his own grave. The film does not show the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, or Christmas Yet to Come, instead relying on the ghost of Marley to present the visions to Scrooge.Fred Guida
''A Christmas Carol and its Adaptations: a Critical Examination of Dickens's Story on Screen and Television''
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers (2000) pgs 66-67

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

Cast

* Daniel Smith as Ebenezer Scrooge

References

External links

* *
''Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost''
on the

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost 1901 films 1900s English-language films 1901 short films 1900s British films 1900s ghost films British Christmas drama films British black-and-white films Films based on A Christmas Carol British silent short films Articles containing video clips Films directed by Walter R. Booth 1900s Christmas drama films Silent British drama films Silent British horror films Trick films English-language short films 1950 and before films about time travel English-language Christmas drama films

The film

Content

Cast

See also

References

External links