Who is the Best Scrooge?

This one surprises me.  There are more than a few people willing to severely argue their case for best performance of Ebenezer Scrooge.  Often, it’s the first actor they ever watched in the role.  For me, that would be Dust Mop!  Who?  He was a dog puppet on a children’s show I watched as a boy.  The characters on the show played the roles from a Christmas Carol with the puppeteer doing all the voices (he was also the station’s weekday weatherman!)

As my tastes in acting and movies grew more refined, I settled in on the George C. Scott version.  He doesn’t have an English accent but his gruff and volcanic bearing truly made him sinister.

I’m not impressed by the old Alastair Sim version.  People tell me it’s the standard.  I’m not convinced.  Some of the acting comes across as over-the-top.  A stage play on screen.  Decades later, the special effects were also better in the Scott version (and since even better in later adaptations).

One rare vote I’ll offer for runner-up is Henry Winkler.  At the time he was famous for playing Fonzi on Happy Days, Winkler went against type and played Scrooge as an American businessman living during the Great Depression.  Winkler never got quite enough credit for his range as an actor.

Pictured is English actor Albert Finney.  He had the role in the late 1960s.

The Scott version was released as a TV movie in 1984.  It was one of the first videos I ever purchased for home use.  I grew tired of waiting for the rare scheduled appearances on movie channels.

Do you have a favorite among the names listed below?  Go ahead and select one.