In August of 2001 Mr. Guida talked
with us about his book, Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol and much more!
Q - What gave you the idea for writing A Christmas Carol and Its
Adaptations?
A - I had been working on a book that would document and
explore film and television adaptations of all of Dickens’s
works. Unfortunately, another book on this subject came out
first. (This was Michael Pointer’s excellent Charles Dickens on
the Screen.) Once I got over my initial disappointment, I
began to view this as a blessing in disguise because it forced
me to ask myself what had drawn me to Dickens in the first
place. The answer came very quickly: My favorite Dickens works
have always been his Christmas writings, led, of course, by the
"Carol." The scope of the book then expanded very quickly and
it wound up being two or three books in one: part reference
book, part literary criticism, and part historical survey. On
this latter point, I think the book is fairly unique in that it
also contains historical and technical information on the
various media that have adapted the "Carol" over the years.
Q - What sort of research did you do for this book?
A - I took great pains to try to see as many versions of the
"Carol" as possible so that I could document and discuss them
with first-hand knowledge. This involved traveling to various
museums and archives as well as tracking down and purchasing
many versions on film and video tape. It was a very lengthy
(and very expensive!) process. In cases where it was not
possible to actually see a particular production, I tried to
find and quote from reviews so that readers could get a sense of
what that version was like. I did not go on line until the very
end of the project and so all of the research was done the
"old-fashioned" way. Also, I am particularly proud of the fact
that my research was able to turn up copies of two versions of
the "Carol" that were previously thought to be lost.
Q - When you were researching A Christmas Carol and Its
Adaptations what did you learn that surprised you?
A - For one thing, the sheer number of film and television adaptations of the "Carol" came as quite a shock -- to date
there have been nearly 200! I was also impressed by the incredible diversity of these adaptations: there have been
musicals, cowboy versions, and all manner of cartoons. Even a pornographic version! And while most have tended to come from
the United States and England, there have been quite a few foreign language adaptations as well.
Another thing that impressed me –- although not in a positive way -- is the extent to which interest in the "Carol" has
totally overshadowed the rest of Dickens’s Christmas-related works. For example, the last film version of
The Chimes was
made nearly 100 years ago, and there has never been anything done with The Haunted
Man for film or television. I cannot understand this.
I should mention that The Cricket on the Hearth is something of an exception in that, apart from the "Carol," it is the only
one of Dickens’s "Christmas Books" that has managed to establish and sustain any sort of commercial life of its own. There have
in fact been a number of film and television productions over the years; however, to the best of my knowledge, none of them
can be considered truly serious attempts to capture the fairy tale quality that is at the heart of the story.
Personally, I would like to see a ten year moratorium on new versions of the "Carol" so that Dickens’s other Christmas works
can be "given a chance." (The same can be said for other works as well. I think we’ve had quite enough of
Oliver Twist and Great Expectations of late. How about a new version of Barnaby Rudge? Attention BBC…)
Q - What do we need to know about 1843, the year the story was
written and published, in order to understand A Christmas Carol
from a historical perspective?
A - That’s a good question – and a very important one; in
fact I spend the first two chapters of my book trying to answer
it! Basically, in spite of its timelessness and universality,
the "Carol" is very much a product of the times in which it was
written.
For quite some time, the celebration of Christmas had been a
comparatively quiet affair in England. However, in the late
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, a revival of interest
in really celebrating the holiday began to emerge. In this
context, the "Carol" is generally recognized as the single most
important factor involved in essentially defining our modern
conception of the holiday. Nevertheless, Dickens was definitely
not working in a vacuum. Other cultural and literary forces had
been at work for decades and, in a very real sense, helped
create a climate in which the "Carol" could work its magic.
On the other hand, the story was written in a decade known as
the Hungry Forties, a decade in which countless English men,
women and children were mired in almost unimaginable poverty,
crime, ignorance, filth and despair. Dickens witnessed this on
his famous walks through the streets of London and he refused to
ignore or keep silent about what he saw. Indeed he felt that
unless something was done, the people might revolt as they had
done not long before in America and France.
It is important to note, however, that Dickens was not a
political radical. He wanted radical change, but the revolution
he was calling for was moral, not political. As I mention in my
book, this can come as a surprise to many –- at least many
Americans –- because he has this image of being a flaming
political radical. (I find it interesting that he is often
simultaneously cast as a shameless sentimentalist as well.)
However, the fact is that the "Carol" is grounded in some very
"old-fashioned" religious precepts; I don’t think this can be
overemphasized –- particularly at Christmas time!
One final thought along these lines: It is important to remember
that, in 1843, religion, and the question of man’s relationship
to God, occupied a prominent place in the public debate. This
is yet another area in which the "Carol" was very much "of its
time." Sadly, if he were writing today, Dickens would no doubt
come under attack and be found guilty of the absurd crime of
political incorrectness…
Q - What is it that makes A Christmas Carol so timeless and
easily adaptable to different formats and settings?
A - I think the short answer is that the story, for all of
its ingenious devices of plot and characterization, is an
elegantly simple meditation on what it is to be human. It also
asks simple – yet profound – questions about our relationship to
both God and our fellow human beings.
Like Scrooge, we are all capable of taking a wrong turn in life;
we are all capable of earning damnation. And yet we are,
thankfully, all capable of redemption. It doesn’t matter who
we are or where (or when) we live, the "Carol" speaks to
everyone. I think this is what makes even the most dismal
adaptations worth watching –- the "Carol’s" message is strong
and worth hearing again and again. (With regard to the dismal
adaptations –- and there have been many! -- it might be fair to
say that, along with being timeless and universal, A Christmas Carol is also indestructible…)
Q - Your book talks about versions of A Christmas Carol that were
made for magic lanterns. What are magic lanterns?
A - The magic lantern was basically the forerunner of our
modern slide projector; it can be traced back to the
mid-seventeenth century. At first, images were hand-painted on
glass; however, by around the middle of the nineteenth century,
it became possible to make slides of actual photographic images
as well. By the late nineteenth century, magic lantern shows
had become very sophisticated and often included illustrated
versions of popular poems and books in which the story would be
told via a succession of still images. What’s interesting,
though, is that when the viewer combines these images in his or
her mind, you have, in effect, a movie.
In the context of cinema history, magic lantern shows are
important in that they were the direct forerunner of the movies.
However, their importance goes far beyond the fact that a
mechanical device was used to project images on a screen. The
magic lantern anticipated, and indeed created, many of the
techniques and much of the language that would later be
associated with the movies. For my book, it was truly exciting
to be able to document the fact that the first audio-visual
adaptations of A Christmas Carol were brought to us by the magic lantern,
and that they took place long before the first movie version appeared in 1901.
Q - What would Dickens think about the popularity of A Christmas
Carol?
A - An interesting question! On one level, I don’t think
he would be surprised by the enduring popularity of his "Ghostly
little book." He clearly understood the connection that the
book made with readers in his own lifetime and there is no doubt
in my mind that he was well aware of the truly universal and
long-lasting implications of the story. I suspect, however,
that he would be saddened to learn that so many of the problems
addressed in the story are still with us over 150 years later.
(Along these lines, I have often wondered what he would think of
the "Dickens Industry" that has grown up around his work – or
what he would think of today’s commercialization of Christmas in
general and his beloved "Carol" in particular.)
Q - Do you have a favorite movie version of A Christmas Carol?
If so, which one?
A - Without question, my favorite is the 1951 British
"Scrooge" (released in America as "A Christmas Carol") starring Alastair Sim. I wholeheartedly agree with film historian
Leonard Maltin’s statement that it is "too good to be shown only at Christmastime." This great film is celebrating its 50th
anniversary this year and I have recently posted a special "birthday
tribute" to it on my web site.
Along with Sim’s wonderful portrait of Scrooge, I think this version of the "Carol" does a great job of capturing both the
light and dark side of Dickens’s original story. It is warm and charming in all the right places and, thanks to
Sim, frequently
very funny. But it also never shirks its responsibility in dealing with the serious social criticism that was such an
important part of Dickens’s vision; at times it is a very dark film and that is exactly what Dickens had in mind. Earlier
versions – the 1938 MGM production certainly comes to mind – tended to whitewash the story’s social criticism; in this
context, I think the Sim version was very much a landmark effort in that it was arguably the first truly serious attempt to film
the story as Dickens wrote it.
I should also add that I am very fond of the 1970 musical "Scrooge" starring Albert Finney. I think it is a truly
excellent film and probably the most underrated and underappreciated of all the versions made to date.
Q - Are you working on another book? If so, can you give us any hints about what's to come?
A - I am very interested in doing a book on early television
history that would include some coverage of the important role that dramatic productions (including literary adaptations…)
played in the early days of the new medium. I must say,
however, that I am already looking ahead to the day when I can put together an updated and expanded version of my book on the
"Carol." The "Carols" keep coming and there is no end to the job of trying to keep up with them. In this regard, I would
love to hear from folks in the UK (and other places as well) who may have films or tapes of versions that are unavailable in
America; I can be reached at fred@booknote.com
About the author - Fred Guida teaches film and television history at Quinnipiac University and Connecticut College. His
first love, however, is literature. If stranded on the proverbial desert isle, he would rather have his set of
The Oxford Illustrated Dickens with him than all the films and videos in the world. However, a copy of the Alastair Sim
version wouldn't hurt...
