December 2025

The Best Christmas Carol

December’s meeting was chaired by Joe Halton, who took the festive spirit to mean everyone must suffer equally. Instead of the usual book discussion, he decreed that we’d all watch six versions of A Christmas Carol and then debate which was best. (Somewhere, Charles Dickens is rattling his chains.)

The contenders:

1. 1951 – Alastair Sim (for: Alfred Bushwell)
2. 1970 – Albert Finney (for: Constance Dilmore)
3. 1984 – George C. Scott (for: Sonia Featherstone)
4. 1988 – Bill Murray (for: Eleanora Reingold)
5. 1992 – The Muppets (for: Gerard Savin)
6. 2009 – Jim Carrey (for: Remy Corvin)

Alfred Bushwell arrived armed with notes, a thermos, and an expression that suggested he’d already lost faith in modern cinema. He thanked Joe for reminding him to bring his notes (‘I’d have remembered eventually’) and declared that Alastair Sim’s Scrooge was the most authentic of all — ‘before the Americans got hold of him.’

Constance Dilmore spent her turn trying to sound positive about Scrooge (1970), but her loathing for musicals leaked out in every syllable. ‘Dickens,’ she sniffed, ‘never intended tap numbers.’

Sonia Featherstone struggled to see George C. Scott as Scrooge, having only recently watched him in Patton. ‘It’s hard to sympathise with Scrooge after I watched Patton slap a crying soldier with battle stress and call him a coward,’ she confessed.

Eleanora Reingold’s ordeal was Scrooged — a fact she made sure everyone knew. She opened her remarks with, “I hated it,” and spent the rest of the evening trying to rescind her nomination on procedural grounds. Joe refused.

Gerard Savin, meanwhile, declared The Muppet Christmas Carol to be “a masterpiece of emotional truth.” He then proposed that the Muppets be put in charge of Westminster, to general murmurs of approval.

As for my own pick — Disney’s A Christmas Carol — I tried to swap with Gerard but failed. (A small bribe was offered; ethics prevailed.) In the end, I enjoyed it far more than expected. Jim Carrey as Scrooge, Past, Present, and Future  was an unsettling trinity, but surprisingly effective.

Joe took copious notes throughout, then awarded the evening’s debating prize — an M&S Florentine Collection — to Gerard for his passionate defence of the Muppets. Everyone else helped themselves to the M&S Belgian Chocolate Biscuits as consolation, which soothed even Eleanora’s procedural grievances.

In conclusion: no one agreed on the definitive Scrooge, but everyone agreed that six films was too many. Next month, the club returns to books, or so Sonia swears.