THE PLOT THUS FAR
It is Christmas Eve 1933, and the townspeople of Concord, NH are trying to hold onto their holiday spirit in the face of the Great Depression. But old Mr. Benedict Slade (Henry Winkler) is ruining what hope they have left by mercilessly repossessing their prized goods. Alone in his apartment, Slade is visited by three ghosts–Christmas Past, Present and Future–who take him on a fantastic journey through time that will show him the tragic consequences of his actions if he doesn’t mend his ways forever.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“An American Christmas Carol” transports Dickens’ classic story from 19th century England to Depression-era New England. The result is very effective. For me, an American born to parents who grew up in the Depression, the 20th century setting made the story feel very real. The writers and director made excellent decisions in their choice of sets. Three notable examples were the New England furniture factory as the setting for Slade’s youth, the newly-conceived idea of consumer credit as the source of his subsequent wealth and avarice, and the choice of an African-American as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
I was never a big fan of “A Christmas Carol” outside of “Scrooged”. That being said…I can stomach this release. While I’ve seen my fair share of television movies, I had only heard about this release through movie sites and my random visits to Happy Days fan boards. Henry Winkler is a talent and he makes the most out of his time as the Scrooge stand-in. That being said, it’s not an amazing movie.
The Blu-Ray comes with an interview with Henry Winkler as its sole special feature. The Dolby 2.0 mono track is representative of the era in which the track was recorded. However, the transfer shows a lot of distortion that was typical from TV movie products from that era. I’m not sure what they could’ve done to make it cleaner. The HD transfer keeps the proper framing, but the distortion issues are pushed to the corners of the frame. However, I still find that the audio track is a lossy Dolby while I would’ve preferred a PCM style track. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase.
UPDATE: Apparently, it was a PCM 2.0 track. I had to do a firmware update on my receiver to get it to register properly. Still, not an impressive audio track.
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!
