Canada, USA, 16 December 1979
98m
35mm film, colour, 4:3
mono, English
Reviewed at The EOFFTV Review
An American fantasy television film directed by Eric Till.
Plot Summary
During the Great Depression, miserly New England businessman Benedict Slade is visited on Christmas Eve by the three ghosts of people whose possessions Slade had taken to pay back loans. Slade is forced to rethink his ways…
Credits
Crew
Directed by: Eric Till
© MCMLXXIX [1979] Scrooge Productions Inc.
An Edgar J. Scherick, Stanley Chase, Jon Slan production in association with Smith-Hemien Productions
Executive Producers: Gary Smith and Edgar J. Scherick
Produced by: Jon Slan and Stanley Chase
Written by: Jerome Coopersmith
Inspired by the Charles Dickens classic
Director of Photography: Richard Ciupka
Editor: Ron Wisman
Music by: Hagood Hardy
Location Recording: Douglas Ganton
Costume Designer: Julie Ganton
Make-up: Valli
Hair Design: James Brown
Mr Winkler’s Make Up Created by: Greg Cannom
Special Make Up Consultant: Rick Baker
Special Effects: Martin Malivoire
Production Designer: Jack McAdam
Cast
Henry Winkler (Benedict Slade)
David Wayne (Mr Merrivale/Ghost of Christmas Past)
Chris Wiggins (Mr Brewster)
R.H. Thomson (Thatcher)
Kenneth Pogue (Jack Latham)
Gerard Parkes (Jessup/Ghost of Christmas Present)
Susan Hogan as Helen Brewster
Dorian Harewood (Matt Reeves/Ghost of Christmas Future)
Tammy Bourne (Sarah Thatcher)
Chris Crabb (Jonathan Thatcher)
James B. Douglas (Sam Perkins)
Arlene Duncan (Jennie Reeves)
Linda Goranson (Mrs Thatcher)
Derrick Jones (Harry Barnes)
Cec Linder (auctioneer)
Sylvia Llewellyn (Latham’s secretary)
Jefferson Mappin (Joe)
Mary Pirie (Mrs Brewster)
Sammy Snyders (young Slade)
Ruth Springford (Mrs Tydings)
Press
1984
Sunday Telegraph 9 December 1984
The tale translates rather well to the Depression year of 1933 in New Hampshire. Marley wears a Homburg and talks real estate; the other spirits are members of the supporting cast bereft of special make-up. Mountains of this is reserved for a monumental piece of miscasting as Scrooge (or Slade, as he here becomes). It is Henry Winkler, the Fonz of “Happy Days.” – from a review by David Castell
References
Newspapers
The Sun 19 November 1984 p.15 – review
Sunday Telegraph 9 December 1984 – review (by David Castell)
Books
A Christmas Carol and Its Adaptations: A Critical Examination of Dickens’s Story and Its Productions on Screen and Television by Fred Guida pp.204-205 – credits
