Scrooged

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Scrooged
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Richard Donner
Produced by	Richard Donner Art Linson
Written by	Mitch Glazer and Michael O'Donoghue Charles Dickens (novel)
Starring	Bill Murray Karen Allen John Forsythe Bobcat Goldthwait Carol Kane Robert Mitchum Michael J. Pollard Alfre Woodard
Music by	Danny Elfman
Cinematography	Michael Chapman
Editing by	Fredric Steinkamp William Steinkamp
Studio	Mirage Studios
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	November 23, 1988
Running time	101 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$32 million
Gross revenue	$60,328,558

Scrooged is a 1988 comedy film, a modernization of Charles Dickens' novella, A Christmas Carol. The film was produced and directed by Richard Donner, and the cinematography was by Michael Chapman. The screenplay was written by Mitch Glazer and Michael O'Donoghue. The original music score was composed by Danny Elfman.

The cast includes: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, Bob "Bobcat" Goldthwait, John Forsythe, Carol Kane, David Johansen, John Houseman, John Glover, and Robert Mitchum. It also features cameo appearances by Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton, musicians Larry Carlton, Miles Davis, David Sanborn, and Paul Shaffer, actor/singer Robert Goulet, and actors Jamie Farr, Buddy Hackett, Lee Majors, and Pat McCormick as well as the Solid Gold Dancers. Bill Murray's real-life brothers, Brian, John, and Joel also appear in the film.

The film was marketed with references to the film Ghostbusters which had been a great success four years earlier in 1984. In the USA, the tagline for Scrooged was, "Bill Murray is back among the ghosts, only this time, it's three against one." In Brazil, it's named "Os Fantasmas Contra-Atacam" (The Ghosts Strike Back). In Spain, the film was titled "Los fantasmas atacan al jefe" (The Ghosts Attack the Boss). In Italy, the movie was released as "S.O.S. fantasmi" ("S.O.S. ghosts").

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 2.1 Cameos 3 Reception 4 References 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] Plot

Francis "Frank" Xavier Cross (Bill Murray) is a conceited, cynical television programming executive. He has found great success and wealth but only by becoming coldhearted and cruel. In the opening scenes, he is seen working out in a room with a border that reads "Cross: (n) A thing they nail people to."

His ruthless concentration on his career has cost him his true love, the warm-hearted Claire Phillips (Karen Allen). It has also alienated him from his family, having only an "at arm's length" relationship with his brother James (John Murray), and ruined any chance of his having a happy and fulfilling life. Frank overworks his assistant Grace Cooley (Alfre Woodard), forcing her to constantly break plans with her family and neglect her mute son Calvin. When a disturbing TV commercial is criticized by staff member Eliot Loudermilk (Bobcat Goldthwait), Frank responds by firing him on Christmas Eve.

When Cross is given the task of heading up a live Christmas Eve broadcast of A Christmas Carol, his life begins to mirror the story he's producing. The decomposing corpse of his mentor, media mogul Lew Hayward (John Forsythe)—who had died of a heart attack during a golf game—comes back to visit to tell him the error of his ways, and to announce the impending visitation of three Ghosts.

The Ghost of Christmas Past (David Johansen) appears as a New York City cab driver and takes Frank back to his childhood in 1955, to his late teens in 1968 when he had his first job at the TV station, in 1969 for his anniversary with Claire, and 1971 the year in which he chose his job as "Frisbee the Dog" over Claire. The sequence shows how Frank gradually became the man he is in the present.

The Ghost of Christmas Present (Carol Kane) then appears as a life-size pixie who delights in punching and slapping Frank; she shows him how Grace's family lives in poverty because of his stinginess and how much his brother misses him.

After the second ghost's visit, Eliot Loudermilk, drunk and angry, storms the office with a shotgun and tries to murder Frank. The Ghost of Christmas Future, a seven-foot-tall ghoul with a TV screen for a face, appears and shows Frank a future in which Calvin has ended up in a mental hospital, Claire has become as cold and uncaring as he is, and only James and James' wife attend his cremation.

As he feels his body being burned, Frank finally sees the error of his ways and begs for a second chance. He awakens back in his office, right as the live broadcast is wrapping up. The reformed Frank rehires Loudermilk at a considerable salary increase, steps in front of the rolling studio cameras, and publicly wishes his viewers a Merry Christmas. Calvin urges him to add Tiny Tim's phrase, "God bless us, everyone," finally breaking free of his mute condition. Claire appears in the studio and Frank reconciles with her, sharing a romantic kiss as Grace and the other television workers start to sing "Put a Little Love in Your Heart".

[edit] Cast

• Bill Murray as Francis Xavier "Frank" Cross
• Karen Allen as Claire Phillips
• John Forsythe as Lew Hayward
• John Glover as Brice Cummings
• Bobcat Goldthwait as Eliot Loudermilk
• David Johansen as the Ghost of Christmas Past
• Carol Kane as the Ghost of Christmas Present
• Robert Mitchum as Preston Rhinelander
• Nicholas Phillips as Calvin Cooley
• Michael J. Pollard as Herman
• Alfre Woodard as Grace Cooley
• Mabel King as Gramma
• John Murray as James Cross
• Jamie Farr as Jacob Marley
• Buddy Hackett as Ebenezer Scrooge
• Pat McCormick as the Ghost of Christmas Present (on the TV show within the film)
• Brian Doyle-Murray as Earl Cross
• Mary Lou Retton as Tiny Tim
• Jean Speegle Howard as Mrs. Claus in the Television Promo
• Mary Ellen Trainor as Ted, an IBC Executive
• Bruce Jarchow as Wayne, an IBC Executive
• Reina King as Lanell Cooley
• Jack McGee as IBC Carpenter
• Kathy Kinney as IBC Nurse
• Rebeca Arthur as Tina, at the Christmas Party
• Roy Brocksmith as Mike the Mailman
• Sachi Parker as Belle
• Delores Hall as Hazel
• Anne Ramsey as Homeless Woman
• Logan Ramsey as Homeless Man
• Wendie Malick as Wendie Cross
• Joel Murray as a Guest at James Cross' Christmas Party
• Mitch Glazer as a Guest at James Cross' Christmas Party
• Michael O'Donoghue as the Priest at Cross' Funeral
• Steve Kahan as IBC Technician
• Amy Hill as IBC Technician

[edit] Cameos

• Robert Goulet as Himself
• John Houseman as Himself
• Lee Majors as Himself
• Miles Davis, Larry Carlton, David Sanborn and Paul Shaffer as Street Musicians
• Solid Gold Dancers as Themselves

[edit] Reception

On Siskel & Ebert & The Movies, Gene Siskel gave it thumbs up while Roger Ebert gave it thumbs down.^[1] Currently, the film has a 61% score on Rotten Tomatoes.^[2] Al Green and Annie Lennox's version of the song "Put a Little Love in Your Heart", featured in the film, reached #9 in the US, and was a top 40 hit in several countries worldwide.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• List of A Christmas Carol adaptations

[edit] External links

• Scrooged at the Internet Movie Database
• Scrooged at Allmovie

v • d • e Films directed by Richard Donner 1960s X-15 (1961) • Salt and Pepper (1968) • Twinky (1969) 1970s The Omen (1976) • Superman (1978) 1980s Inside Moves (1980) • The Toy (1982) • The Goonies (1985) • Ladyhawke (1985) • Lethal Weapon (1987) • Scrooged (1988) • Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) 1990s Radio Flyer (1992) • Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) • Maverick (1994) • Assassins (1995) • Conspiracy Theory (1997) • Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) 2000s Timeline (2003) • 16 Blocks (2006) • Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)