You're a mean one

Scrooge

(1951)

I watch this every Christmas Eve, but only after watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and this year I noticed something about that shorter version of A Christmas Carol that I'd never gotten before: for someone who presumably avoids this society he finds noxious, the Grinch knows an awful lot about the Whos' Christmas celebrations, even down the the games and musical instruments they receive as gifts and the foods served at their banquet. Does that not suggest that he has always subconsciously yearned to join the festivities? Which makes this a significantly different story from that of Scrooge, who has apparently been content for years to confine himself to his mercantile world.

Anyway, "perfect": big word. It's not a word I'd apply to my favorite film of all time, much as I love it. But it's hard to find anything about this film to cavil about. OK, here's one thing: I'm a little uncomfortable when the redeemed Ebeneezer teases Bob Crachit on Boxing Day, pretending that he's about to sack the poor guy before revealing that, no, in fact everything is going to be better. For the underclass, jokes about unemployment are distinctly unfunny. But otherwise, I can't think offhand of a single moment I'd change. And it sure cleans our my tearducts!