Redemption

December 11, 2020

Ron

Redemption

Since I've recently written about Ford's Theatre and John Wilkes Booth in a newsletter, and kicked around the memories of "A Christmas Carol" a bit in the exploration, I am reminded why that particular play was so powerful to me in that building (and kind of why that Booth story was just so odd): Redemption. I guess old John's worried spirit somehow felt his mummy should be shipped around town-to-town to be ogled at for absolution as the assassin of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States. Maybe that was his final redemption. But "A Christmas Carol" is chiefly a tale of redemption. And there is more Dickens afoot in all of these proceedings that one might imagine, on the face of it.

For my money, the best version of the movie is the superior black-and-white 1951 Alastair Sim version. But if you must, here's a colorized version.

There's also a highly entertaining 2017 movie called "The Man Who Invented Christmas" which has to do with the maddening, madcap, spirit-filled adventure Dickens had attempting to commit Scrooge to the page. [Short featurette.] Put this movie on your list for holiday viewing a little later on. It's a very good time.