25 Greatest Christmas Films: #22 — 'An American Christmas Carol' (1979)

That’s right, a 1979 television movie starring The Fonz as Ebenezer Scrooge is ranked ahead of White Christmas. (Or, if you’re younger than a hundred, the Coach in “The Waterboy.”)

I have nothing to say in my defense and await your wrath.

Well, I do have one thing to say: Henry Winkler is a marvelously talented and underrated actor, and any opportunity to boost his Winkler-ness I’m taking. See also: Night Shift (1982) and an under-appreciated masterpiece called The One And Only (1978).

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Besides, Adam Sandler loves the guy. You want to argue with that?

Other than The Disco Ghost of Christmas Past, shifting the Dickens’ classic from Victorian England to Depression-era New England was an inspired idea that adds a nice spin to the story’s familiar template. Though the characters are given Americanized names (Scrooge becomes Slade), they’re all there including a very effective Tiny Tim. Another terrific spin is making the child Scrooge/Slade an orphan after the death of his parents. This added subplot not only helps to explain why Slade whould grow into a lonely old miser but adds something different and effective to his Christmas day reformation.

For a television movie the production design is superb. Many of the exterior locations were shot on real locations (in Canada) with real snow, and the interiors give off a stage vibe which is a perfect match for Winkler’s larger-than-life charisma and performance. While his old age make up is a bit much, Winkler’s Slade is very funny and you get a sense he ad-libbed some of the more interesting bits of business. It’s hard to imagine the script called for the phantom Slade visiting his past to remove a piece of lint from his mentor’s suit.

“An American Christmas Carol” isn’t the only television movie in the top 25. Will the Marlo Thomas remake of “It’s a Wonderful Life” make the list? Stay tuned.

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