Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without some kind of rendition of the Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol”. So many versions exist, from black and white movies to cartoons. “Scrooged” is one of three versions I’ll be mentioning in my movie breakdown and although it’s not one of the greatest depictions to have graced the big screen, it’s one of my favorites and was a big hit during my teen years.

Released in 1988 ,”Scrooged” was the first movie Bill Murray had done since the success of 1984’s “Ghostbusters”. He stars as Frank Cross, a cruel top executive at IBC Television who is planning to air an elaborate live production of “A Christmas Carol” on Christmas Eve. We first witness Frank’s mean side when he fires one of his executives, Eliot Loudermilk (played by Bobcat Goldthwait) for disagreeing with him. We also gain insight into how Frank treats his own staff when he tells his secretary Grace (Alfre Woodward) that she has to work late when she’s planning to go home.

After his first encounter with the ghost of his mentor Lew Hayward (played by John Forsythe), Frank gets scared and his phone automatically calls his ex-girlfriend Claire (Karen Allen). Although he hasn’t seen her in fifteen years, Frank finds himself leaving her a message.

As expected, Frank gets visited by three spirits (played by David Johansen (past), Carol Kane (present) and Robert Hammond (future)) . In a roundabout way with some rough spots here and there, Frank and Claire reunite. Eliot gets his job back, Frank prevents his job from being taken away and the live Christmas Eve production of “A Christmas Carol” goes off, somewhat, without a hitch.

“Scrooged” is filled with some big names in small roles (Robert Mitchum, Buddy Hackett, Jamie Farr, John Houseman) three of Bill Murray’s brothers and even Mary Lou Retton and the Solid Gold Dancers make an appearance. There’s even cameos from Lee Majors and Robert Goulet.

The irony runs strong throughout the movie based simply on the title, Frank’s own name (Cross) and the fact that they are staging a production of “A Christmas Carol”. It’s a fun movie to watch and thirty-five years later it still stands strong as a great Christmas film and a fine interpretation of “A Christmas Carol”.