A Christmas Carol
“A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas.” by Charles Dickens
“A Christmas Carol” – a story by Charles Dickens is one of the classics of the literature. The original title was “A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas.”.
Genres: Fiction, Fairy tale, Victorian literature, Novella, Ghost story, Morality play
Ghost Story of Christmas
The book was first published in London by Chapman & Hall on the 19th December 1843 and illustrated by John Leech.
On the website of The Project Gutenberg, you can find a few versions of the book to read for free:
- original first edition cover; 1843 original illustrations in colour by John Leech
- published in 1905; illustrations in black and white by G. A. Williams
- published in 1915; illustrations in black and white and colour by By Arthur Rackham
- first edition with original hand written pages; black and white illustrations.
“A Christmas Carol” for kids
“A Christmas Carol” was retold by Tony Mitton, which made the story relevant for children age 3 and over.
In London Town there lived a man.
His fortune, it was huge.
But he was mean and miserly,
old Ebenezer Scrooge.
Tony Mitton from “A Christmas Story”
“A Christmas Carol” audiobooks for free
Full story audio
A beautiful act of love
YouTube user Abelhawk recorded his own version of the book for his mum: “I made this as a Christmas gift for my mom in 2016, and now it’s available for all to hear“. What a beautiful act of love was that! Enjoy!
Radio drama (1965)
Top 10 “A Christmas Carol” movies
The popular streaming services give you the opportunity to buy or rent “A Christmas Carol” movies. In some cases you can still buy DVD.
1. Directed by David Hugh Jones (1999)
Runtime: 95 min
Stars: Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant, Joel Grey, Ian McNeice
2. “Scrooge” directed by Brian Desmond Hurst (1951)
The movie from 1951 directed by Brian Desmond Hurst.
Starring: Alastair Sim, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison
3. Directed by Moira Armstrong (1977)
The movie from 1977, directed by Moira Armstrong.
Starring: Michael Hordern, John Le Mesurier, Bernard Lee
4. Directed by Clive Donner from 1984
“A Christmas Carol” movie from 1984, directed by Clive Donner.
It is just wonderful Christmas movie.
Stars: George C. Scott, Frank Finlay, Angela Pleasence, Edward Woodward.
5. Directed by Edwin L. Marin (1938)
The movie from 1938, directed by Edwin L. Marin.
Stars: Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart.
6. Directed by Tom Cairns (2018)
Runtime: 81 min
If you like the old British way of telling stories, you will fall in love with this one! It will give you a feeling that you are watching a very good play in the theatre.
Star: Simon Callow (what a great actor!)
If you will want more of this amazing actor, you may want to know that he is also a write. Check a book “Dickens’ Christmas” by Simon Callow.
7. Directed by Robert Zemeckis (2009)
Runtime: 91 min
Animation from 2009 directed by Robert Zemeckis with Jim Carrey as Scrooge.
or here:
Starring: Jim Carrey, Fionnula Flanagan, Gary Oldman
8. “Bah, Humbug!: The Story of Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol'” directed by Derek Bailey (1994)
Runtime: 58min
Wonderful reading of the Dickens’ book. It was performed live at the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York. Definitely worth watching.
Stars: James Earl Jones, Martin Sheen, Robert MacNeil
9. “Scrooge” musical from 1970 directed by Ronald Neame
Runtime: 61 min
“Scrooge” by Ronald Neame. This movie has a lovely climate and music is just beautiful.
Starring: Albert Finney, Alec Guinness, Edith Evans
10. “Scrooge” (1935) directed by Henry Edward
Runtime: 61 min
The movie from 1935, directed by Henry Edwards. It is available in colour.
Starring: Seymour Hicks, Donald Calthrop, Robert Cochran
There are many other film adaptations of the Dickens’ story. Musicals are quite popular.
Musicals based on Dickens’ story
There were some good musicals based on the Charles Dickens’ story. One of them, titled “Scrooge” (1970), was mentioned above.
Animated Musical (1997)
An animated musical by Stan Philips from 1997.
“A Christmas Carol” musical (2012)
The musical from 2012, was directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman
“A Christmas Carol” Quotes
The most popular quotes.
“It’s all humbug, I tell you.”
Ebenezer Scrooge
“God bless us everyone.“
Tiny Tim
“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.”
“No space of regret can make amends for one life’s opportunity misused”
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on 7th February 1812 in Landport, Hampshire, England.
There is a lovely movie for the whole family, directed by Bharat Nalluri called “The Man who invented Christmas”. It is a movie about the genius behind the most popular Christmas story.
His other popular books were: “Oliver Twist”, “The Old Curiosity Shop”, “David Copperfield”, “Great Expectations”, “Hard Times”.
He died 9 June 1870 (aged 58) in Higham, Kent, England.
Related Topics:
The Muppet Christmas Carol
The Muppet Christmas Carol inspired by the Charles Dickens’ story.
The Grinch
