Scrooge (or Marley's Ghost) (1901) "A Christmas Carol" First Film

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► http://XmasFLIX.com ► http://facebook.com/XmasFLIX MP3s ► http://XmasTRAX.com ► Mobile ► http://iXmas.mobi Scrooge (or Marley's Ghost) (1901) SILENT First film of "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost is a 1901 British short silent drama film, produced by Robert W. Paul and directed by Walter R. Booth, featuring the miserly Ebeneezer Scrooge confronted by Marley's ghost and given by visions of Christmas Past, Present and Future, which is the oldest known film adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1843 novel A Christmas Carol. The film, "although somewhat flat and stage-bound to modern eyes," according to Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "was an ambitious undertaking at the time," as, "not only did it attempt to tell an 80 page story in five minutes, but it featured impressive trick effects, superimposing Marley's face over the door knocker and the scenes from his youth over a black curtain in Scrooge's bedroom." Filmed in 35mm and in black and white, only 620 feet of this silent film's footage survives today. It was produced by the English film pioneer R.W. Paul, and directed by Walter R. Booth (1869 - 1938) and was filmed at Paul's Animatograph Works. It was released in November 1901. As was common in cinema's early days, the filmmakers chose to adapt an already well-known story, in this case A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, in the belief that the audience's familiarity with the story would result in the need for fewer intertitles. It was presented in 'Twelve Tableaux' or scenes. Evidence suggests that Paul's version of A Christmas Carol was based as much on J. C. Buckstone's popular stage adaptation Scrooge as on Dickens' original story. Like the play, the film dispenses with the different ghosts that visit Scrooge, instead relying upon the figure of Jacob Marley, draped in a white sheet, to point out the error of Scrooge's ways. The film featured impressive trick effects by 1901 standards, superimposing Marley's face over the door knocker, and displaying the scenes from his youth on a black curtain in Scrooge's bedroom. R.W. Paul was a trick film specialist; Walter Booth, credited as the film's director, was a well-known magician as well as a trick and comic film specialist. The film makes early use of dissolving between scenes. The film was shown to King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra at Sandringham House in December 1901 in a Royal Command Performance. This is the only known surviving footage. The film starts with Bob Cratchit showing some one out of Scrooge's office on Christmas Eve, just before he and Scrooge leave for the night, and ends at a scene showing the death of Tiny Tim. The film shows Scrooge walking back to his home, where the doorknocker changes into the face of Jacob Marley before he falls asleep in his chambers, leading to the suggestion that all that happens after is a dream. The film does not show the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present or Christmas Yet to Come, instead relying on the ghost of Marley to present the visions to Scrooge. Robert W. Paul (3 October 1869 -- 28 March 1943) was a British electrician, scientific instrument maker and early pioneer of British film. He was born in Highbury, London, and began his technical career learning instrument-making skills at the Elliott Brothers, a firm of London instrument makers founded in 1804, followed by the Bell Telephone Company in Antwerp. In 1891, he established an instrument-making company, Robert W. Paul Instrument Company, initially with a workshop at 44 Hatton Garden, London, later his office. In 1894, he was approached by two Greek businessmen who wanted him to make copies of an Edison Kinetoscope that they had purchased. He at first refused, then found to his amazement that Edison had not patented the invention in Britain. Paul himself would go on to purchase a Kinetoscope, intent on taking it apart and re-creating an English-based version. He manufactured a number of these, one of which was supplied to Georges Méliès. The only films available were 'bootleg' copies of those produced for the Edison machines. As Edison had patented his camera (the details of which were a closely guarded secret), Paul resolved to solve this bottleneck by creating his own camera. He was introduced to Birt Acres, a photographic expert, who had invented a device to move film as part of the developing process. Paul thought that Acre's principle could be used in a camera. This camera, dubbed the Paul-Acres Camera, invented in March 1895, would be the first camera made in England. R.W. Paul obtained a concession to operate a kinetoscope parlour at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, and the success of this inspired him to contemplate the possibilities of projecting a moving image on to a screen, something that Edison had never considered. http://XmasFLIX.com ► Like XmasFLIX! ► http://facebook.com/XmasFLIX Scrooge (or Marley's Ghost) (1901) First film of "A Christmas Carol"