Weihnachten im wilden Westen

Elevator pitch, "Ebenezer" is Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" but retold in the old west. It is a made for TV movie from 1998, so keep that in mind when judging the movie, the low budget it evident in several scenes throughout the movie. With the story now taking place in this classic western setting, you want more than just doing the same thing but in a different town. The movie does capitalize and incorporates old west flavor into the story. There is gold rush, card playing and duels. Not all these elements work well in the story, but it is a nice change of pace to have them.

For my Christmas Carol nitpicks: Tiny Tim isn't tiny enough. He is too obsessed with Scrooge. The Cratchets Turkey is too big. Scrooge is watching too many of the flashbacks from the street. And the ghost of Christmas Past did nothing to improve his outlook on Christmas, if anything it makes him hate the holiday more.

It is a nice mix up to the classic tale, but the two elements still work better separately.

Do not compare this with any of the "traditional" "Christmas Carol" movies. This one stand all alone and is unique in that it is the same story, character names etc., but from an old western type aspect. Jack Palance (Ebenezer Scrooge) is quite convincing as the greedy miser who gets "redeemed" by the visit of three ghosts. What's cute is they use an Indian for the past, a Canadian Mounty for the present and a different take on the future guy, you'll have to see it to know who that is. It is well done, great acting and western sets. Nothing questionable, no nudity, no foul language at all. Great for the whole family if you want a totally "different" approach to the Dickens Classic. Enjoy.

This was a very good re-telling of the "Christmas Carol" story. I really liked the slight changes in the end and think others will as well if, like me, they take every opportunity to watch Scrooge! Take a chance on this one and live a little.

If it wasn't for Jack Palance I'd probably only rate this a 2* Instead of Victorian England the setting is the Old West and Ebenezer (Jack Palance) is a lying cheating card shark and money lender, the story feels watered down and the performances from Ricky Schroder and Amy Locaine are as wooden as my dining room table However Jack Palance is actually a great Ebenezer and his transformation is a more believable than a lot of other Actors who have played Scrooge.

It's worth watching for Palance's performance but it's far from the best retelling of a Christmas Carol.

I caught this umpteenth reformulation of the Dicken's tale quite by accident--and it was truly like watching an accident happen. Awful does not capture the turgidity of this misbegotten project--"A Christmas Carol" set in the Klondike. True, it does have Jack Palance as the Scrooge character; but even Mr. Palance needs a script and a director--both of which are missing here. His performance, over the top and nasty though it is, is the only thing worth watching. The script captures none of the detail / feeling of the original story and Scrooge isn't very interesting--just mean and nasty. No original innocence. The actors, as in alot of made for TV movies all have a cookie cutter sameness--like they were mostly gotten from modeling agencies. The idea "might" have been workable if a little humanity and humor been present in the script and few decent actors been hired. Watch Alastair Sim, George C. Scott for great Scrooges--or Michael Caine (no slouch) in "A Muppet Christmas Carol" if you are in a more whimsical vein--but pass this one by.