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| A Christmas Carol | 1910 This cool looking poster looks a but like the cover of a book... |
A Christmas Carol is a very popular story. It has never been out of print, and it has been adaptated many times to film, stage, opera, ballet and other media. In fact, in the earliest years of the 20th century there were silent adaptations of that story. One of them made in 1910, which I had the pleasure of watching to this December… Edison’s A Christmas Carol was released on December, 23, 1910. It’s only 11 minutes long and it’s remarkable in the way it manages to fit the whole story of Dicken’s Book in such a short time. The visions from the past present and future are there (although the ghosts are reduced to a Christmas Spirit), Marley is there, as are Fred, Bob Cratchit and the people asking for money for charity.
The special effects are impressive. I would have expected the spirits to be just regular actors, but they were transparent and ghost-like, something I wouldn’t think it was possible to do with 1910 equipment.
The film felt very long, in spite of its 11 minutes, probably because I watched it online, and missed the joyful piano music they used to have along those early silent films. But it was very nice to watch such an early example of what cinema could do, and Scrooge’s little dance in the end was just amazing, definitely something to be repeated in future adaptations.
The entire film can be seen here: 
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