A Christmas Carol Blu-ray

A Christmas Carol

 (1951)

A Christmas Carol Blu-ray delivers great video and solid audio in this exceptional Blu-ray release
Ebenezer Scrooge (Alastair Sim) contentedly meanders through his life as a cruel miser until one fateful Christmas Eve when he is visited by three ghosts. The spirits show him how his behavior has degenerated over the years as his heart has become colder. Using events from Scrooge's idealistic past, dreary present, and dismal future, the apparitions try their best to melt his steely soul. Will Scrooge see the error of his ways and learn the true meaning of Christmas? Check out this hailed classic and find out! Many critics widely consider this the definitive film version of Charles Dickens' cherished novel.

For more about A Christmas Carol and the A Christmas Carol Blu-ray release, see the A Christmas Carol Blu-ray Review

Starring: Alastair Sim, Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn Johns, Michael Hordern, Hermione Baddeley
Director: Brian Desmond Hurst

A Christmas Carol Blu-ray Review

Don't hesitate to double (or even triple) dip.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, November 10, 2011

Blu-ray may still be a relatively new phenomenon in the annals of home video entertainment, but we're far enough into the high definition era now that we're fairly regularly being "treated" to re-releases and/or repackagings of previously released titles. Sometimes studios and distributors simply gussy up their covers and hope for the best, but occasionally at least they understand that consumers' patience with these kinds of marketing tactics is not going to last forever, and they actually do the right thing, offering at least something new to ameliorate the pain of having to shell out more bucks for a beloved title. Niche label VCI has had a somewhat bumpy road into the Blu-ray market, with a couple of problematic early releases that either had authoring errors or didn't quite come up to the minimum standards home theater aficionados demand of their products (especially with regard to lossless audio). But to give credit where credit is due, VCI has really been improving all around since their early releases and as the label's catalog continues to expand with such new product as several titles from the Rank Organisation, lovers of classic films can only hope that future releases will have the same loving care that VCI's A Christmas Carol has received on this second Blu-ray release by the company, this one subtitled a 60th anniversary "Diamond Edition." VCI's first Blu-ray A Christmas Carol may have in fact been the label's first ever Blu-ray release, and I reviewed it for Blu-ray.com here. That release sported a generally superior video transfer, albeit one with a few issues, but it had only lossy Dolby audio. VCI also decided not to port over all of the copious extras on its excellent 2 DVD release of a few years prior and really included next to no other supplements on its first Blu-ray other than a great commentary track and a couple of trailers, as well as a bonus DVD of the film repurposed to 1.78:1. The good news is this new release rectifies a number of these issues and should delight fans of the film who want to get into the Christmas spirit with one of the most beloved, if not the most beloved, versions of Dickens' venerable tale of the miser Ebenezer Scrooge and his redemptive visit by three spirits on Christmas Eve.



Since my first review of the initial VCI Blu-ray release of A Christmas Carol (linked above) attempted to give some thoughts on the film itself, this review is going to concentrate mostly on the differences between the two releases and the technical aspects of this new Blu-ray release. The bulk of the additional information will therefore be found in the sections below.

A Christmas Carol Blu-ray, Video Quality

 

Wow! What a difference a few years makes. VCI's first Blu-ray release of A Christmas Carol was rendered via the even then relatively "ancient" MPEG-2 codec, but for the most part the film looked fantastic in high definition. This entirely new transfer is delivered via VC-1 in 1080p and 1.33:1 and the improvement is rather amazing. VCI's press releases touting this latest Blu-ray state that the transfer was sourced from "the 35mm negative and fine grain", by which I assume they may mean an interpositive (which begs the question as to why both elements were needed, but perhaps the negative had damage). I no longer have press material on the first Blu-ray release, but I'm wondering if perhaps that was sourced from a 35mm print. Right off the bat, there's increased clarity, depth and especially contrast in the opening titles and that continues on into the opening scenes, where black levels are beyond gorgeous. The first transfer of A Christmas Carol most likely had some judicious DNR applied (VCI's transfers still tend to overuse noise reduction), and this transfer probably did, too, but the fact that I state "probably" is as good an indication as any that it's not egregious. The film retains suitable but never overwhelming grain structure and looks very cinematic throughout its presentation. Clarity, sharpness and fine detail are outstanding, and contrast is markedly improved. There are still some niggling issues, including a few missing frames (see the audio section below for a bit more information with regard to this), as well as softness and contrast issues in the opticals, which are to be expected. But this is a major image quality upgrade from even the excellence of VCI's first release, and the label is to be soundly congratulated for having taken the time and trouble (not to mention the expense) to so thoroughly reinvigorate what may well be the crown jewel in their current catalog.

A Christmas Carol Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 

VCI still has some issues with audio, but thankfully this time they mostly have to do with labeling, something which has plagued several previous VCI Blu-ray releases. Both the cover and the Main Menu advertise Dolby tracks, but what is actually offered here are two uncompressed LPCM tracks, the original mono delivered via LPCM 2.0 and rather artful LPCM 5.1 repurposing. (In the unintentionally humorous department, the Main Menu hilariously transposes two letters, advertising a Dobly track, perhaps an homage to June Chadwick's character of Jeanine in This is Spinal Tap, the meddling girlfriend of David St. Hubbins who can never quite pronounce the word correctly). While some of the damage that was more than evident on VCI's first Blu-ray release of A Christmas Carol is still apparent, the new lossless audio offerings considerably open up both the high end and low end of the film's soundtrack. That presents both good and bad results. Hiss is more readily audible than it was before, and a couple of the film's flaws, notably some missing frames (something I was hesitant to ascribe to that problem) now have audible skips in the soundtrack where before the lossy Dolby tracks muffled those moments. While pops, cracks and the occasional flutter are still audible, overall this track is clearer and fuller sounding, albeit still with the same prevalent "boxiness" that is no doubt endemic to the source elements (I doubt VCI had access to whatever original stems might still be lurking in some archive and most likely sourced this from a 35mm print). The 5.1 track isn't overly immersive, and indeed it's mostly the lovely Richard Addinsell score which populates the surrounds, though there are a few moments of discrete sound effects placed appropriately around the soundfield. Generally what's been done here is to simply reproduce sounds in more than one channel, which creates a slight phasing-like sound at times, especially with regard to the closing narration, but overall this is a decent 5.1 repurposing that doesn't gimmick up the original mono track to the point where it's unlistenable.

A Christmas Carol Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras

 

• Introduction by Leonard Maltin (1080i; 5:06). Maltin talks about what an impression this film made on him as a kid, and also gives some background on the film. The Introduction is not "skippable" (though you can chapter skip several times to get through it).
• Dead to Begin With: The Darker Side of a Classic (HD; 26:31) is a really interesting piece featuring commentary by Sir Christopher Frayling, British Film Culturalist (whatever that means), who puts the film into the context of Britain and the British film industry in the hardscrabble post-World War II era.
• Distributing A Christmas Carol (HD; 9:47) is a reminiscence by Richard Gordan, the distributor for Renown Pictures' United States offerings.
• Life and Films of Brian Desmond Hurst (HD; 41:14) is a great retrospective of one of the really underappreciated talents of British film.
• Scrooge (Silent) (HD; 10:17) is a Master Film production from 1922 with Henry Vernon Esmond as Scrooge.
• Bleak House (Silent) (HD; 10:14) is another Master Film offering from 1922 with Sybil Thorndike as Lady Dedlock.
• Original British Theatrical Trailer (HD; 1:43)
• Amerian Trailer (HD; 1:42)
• Scrooge Revisited (HD; 2:29) is a tour of locations used for the film.
• Commentary by Marcus Hearn and George Cole is ported over from the previous VCI release and is a great listen, if occasionally a little slow.
• Reproduction of the American Pressbook (Abridged, folded as the insert booklet).

The DVD offers a standard definition presentation of A Christmas Carol as well as:

• Campbell Playhouse: A Christmas Carol (59:22) is an Orson Welles radio production with Lionel Barrymore as Scrooge.
• Bibliographic Essay by Fred Guida (15:08) gives a great generalist background into Dickens and the Sim version of A Christmas Carol. Guida gives the viewer a number of published sources to do further research. The video offers covers of these sources so that interested people can track them down.

A Christmas Carol Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation

 

My appreciation for this version of A Christmas Carol was perhaps heightened by this luminous new presentation. But even putting aside reactions to this version (as I've stated, for personal reasons, my favorite will always be the Albert Finney musical Scrooge), there's absolutely no question that this new VCI release represents a substantial upgrade from their first Blu-ray release, and the label deserves major kudos for going back to the drawing board and giving this film the loving care it so richly deserves. While some of the excellent extras from VCI's 2 DVD release are still missing in action, this new Blu-ray offers some extremely appealing and well produced supplements spread over the BD and the DVD, and the upgrade in video and audio quality is palpable. Highly recommended, even if you're double (or triple) dipping.

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