By Jody Lee
radio host, author, political and lifestyle blogger, media consultant
Published: December 7, 2009

No doubt about it – it wouldn’t be Christmas without Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.  But the questions is who, in your opinion, is the ultimate Ebenezer Scrooge??

There are plenty of Scrooge’s to choose from, and I am offering here my top picks, one for a literal depiction of the story, and one from the many, many “based-on” depictions.

My top pick for “based-on”?  Bill Murray in Scrooged.  What a fabulous take-off on the original.  It cracks me up every time – Murray is a riot, Cratchett is a hoot, and the “spirits” are too funny, especially the Ghost of Christmas Present.  Even John Forsythe as Marley is hilarious!  And best of all, it keeps the spirit of the original story alive, so much so that for the last scene, I am laughing through tears.  If you haven’t seen it, you don’t know what you’re missing.

And – drumroll, please – for the ultimate portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge taken straight from the Dickens classic, no one – and I mean NO ONE – can beat George C. Scott.

Just WOW.

His portrayal is dead-on, from first moments of the movie, through the slow awakening of his senses to the final transformation.  Just takes my breath away, as does the FABULOUS costumes and scenery that make you feel as though you are right there in merry old England for the holiday.  The spirits are portrayed so convincingly that I cannot help but imagine Charles Dickens himself must have pictured them JUST THIS WAY when he wrote the story.

Scott was born to play Dickens.  No one else even comes close.

Okay – your turn.  Am I right?