Watch An American Christmas Carol For Free

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Henry Winkler was riding a wave of popularity when "An American Christmas Carol" was released in late 1979. He was still starring in the dumb 1970s sitcom "Happy Days" and had been the star in two theatrical movies in 1978. Given that I hated "Happy Days" and couldn't stand Winkler's "Fonzie" character, I was prepared to really hate this TV movie.I was surprised to find that "An American Christmas Carol" is really quite good. Winkler appears as the Scrooge-like character Benedict Slade, who reforms after visits from Christmas spirits during the Great Depression. The film has a very easygoing pace and has typical TV-style production values and direction, but it's really pretty good. I think that folks should watch it without any preconceptions about Winkler or the story...you'll be pleasantly surprised.

The attractions of setting an adaptation of A Christmas Carol during the Great Depression are obvious as it allows the messages behind the immediate storyline to be driven home in the same direct way as Dickens managed when attempting to mitigate the harshness of Victorian utilitarian philosophy.However, the success of this film doesn't lie in capitalising on this parallel.For me, it comes more in the excellent script, characterisations and great moments.I believe a really good adaptation should contain moments to take you to the very bottom of your soul - maybe to even question what you're not doing more of that you could be. In this, the film succeeds very well.There are some genuinely dark moments - eg the Ghost of Christmas Future's pointing at Scrooge's forgotten headstone and telling Scrooge that no one even remembers him "That is the only real death" Indeed that ghost, given a rare speaking part, never seems convinced that he will give Scrooge another chance after all and that uncertainty adds weight to the performance. (It can also be comic - what would the miser think at being confronted with a spirit dressed in a seventies disco outfit. That is truly scary !) All the scenes with the Cratchit family (the Thatchers as they are called here) are much more understated than the original and this makes the whole thing easier to accept.Henry Winkler makes a good jump from his role of The Fonz. Like Finney, one of the few other younger men to take the older role as well, he overdoes the tottering about a bit but generally its an assured performance.This isn't the greatest film adaptation but it joins a select group of others that does justice to the original concept in adapting it for another era.

I remember this fondly and when I went to an certain online movie site to see if I could introduce my wife to it via the power of streaming, I was incredulous to find that it wasn't just not available for streaming, but non existent in their database. How sad that such a good movie is being tossed to the dustbin of history.It has its flaws, but I chalk those up to its made for TV budget. People are nitpicking the hairstyles, but very few big budget films take the time to accurately portray such details, let alone a small budget TV movie. Look at Brian's Song for instance. Small budget, big heart. All this doesn't, however, detract from An American Christmas Carol being a memorable take on Dickens' classic. I would encourage anyone who hasn't viewed it, to do so. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Many years have passed since I saw this film and I remember it fondly. I was not a Fonzie fan, so any bias I might have would be that Henry Winkler might not possess the necessary acting chops. What a error that would be! Winkler gives a fine, understated performance. Those reviewers who say he's not quite as miserly as the original Scrooge miss the point: Winkler brings the miser into the 20th Century and makes him more believable, less larger than life. I'm partial toward the Alistair Sim version but that's very much a Victorian presentation of the story and has to be judged on those standards. As a modern retelling of a beloved classic this works very well and the supporting players all do an equally fine job. It's a modest film that's mindful of the old axiom "brevity is the soul of wit" and this is a cinematic demonstration of that very notion. Worth watching at least once and if it's on again this Christmas, I'll certainly tune in again.