Of all the movie versions made of the classic Christmas story A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, the 1951 production starring Alastair Sim as Scrooge stands out as an exceptional movie.
It remains one of their best loved Christmas movies all these years later.
If you are wondering what might be a good movie to show family and friends at home on a winter's night this Christmas, look no further. You will not be disappointed with this wonderfully acted portrayal of the popular characters in this enduring story about the meaning of Christmas.
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A Christmas Carol (Ultimate Collector's Edition)(B/W & Color)
List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $15.49
You save: $4.50 (23%)
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Description
0Item Type: DVD MovieItem Rating: NRStreet Date: 10/23/07Wide Screen: noDirector Cut: noSpecial Edition: noLanguage: ENGLISHForeign Film: noSubtitles: noDubbed: noFull Frame: yesRe-Release: noPackaging: Sleeve
This is the desert-island choice of the many versions of A Christmas Carol, with a magnificent, full-bodied portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge by Alastair Sim that leaves everyone else in the dust. Lean and direct, this film's version of the story wastes no time trying to impress viewers with the magical nature of the spirits' visitations. Director Brian Desmond Hurst keeps the focus on Scrooge's life story, beautifully simplifying and underscoring the theme of lost women with a haunting musical refrain from the folk song "Barbara Allen." Sim's commitment to the role is at times astonishing; his Scrooge's Christmas-morning ecstasy is a marvel of giddy technique. Watch for Patrick Macnee (Steed in The Avengers) as the young Jacob Marley--the actor made his screen debut in this 1951 production. --Tom Keogh On the DVD This ultimate collectors' edition is crammed with special features, on both discs. Amazon exclusive video: George Cole, who played theyoung Ebenezer Scrooge, reflects.Watch here Find out what's new on this restored version of A Christmas Carol. Watch here Never-before-seen U.S. andU.K. trailers. Watch here Film (and Charles Dickens) fans won't want to miss a single screen. The audio commentary by Marcus Hearn and George Cole adds depth and perspective to Sim's amazing performance, and the groundbreaking special effects for the time. Cole also gives a homey remembrance of working with Sim during World War II and living in the English countryside to avoid the Blitz. One of the most compelling extras is a short bio of George Mintner, the film's executive producer who would go on to found his own successful distribution company, Renown Pictures. An unlikely film mogul, the British Mintner was shy and bookish, but managed to build a reputable mini-studio in the '50s, out of the Hollywood limelight. He produced mostly B-movies, though after A Christmas Carol (originally titled Scrooge), he produced another Dickens adaptation, The Pickwick Papers. There's a great mini-bio of Dickens, who grew up in the poverty that later fascinated him in his writings. Other extras include the colorized version (what were people thinking back in the '80s?), cast bios, original trailers, and a features that more film companies might want to consider, an optional narration for the blind. Nothing is left out for film fans--God bless us, every one.--A.T. Hurley Beyond A Christmas Carol 1938 version starring Reginald Owen 1984 version starring George C. Scott 1999 version starring Patrick Stewart Stills from A Christmas Carol
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When putting on a Christmas pageant nativity play one of the most important things to do is to arrange costumes for the players. You will need costumes for the leading roles, especially Mary, Joseph and the Three Wise Men. Other players also need costumes, such as shepherds, angels and perhaps (if you include them) King Herod and his soldiers.
You can buy children's Nativity costumes and similar ready-made biblical costumes for adults. This saves time and trouble but incurs an expense. Simple biblical costumes are not difficult to make, but it does help to start with a sewing pattern.
Here are some sources of suitable low-cost biblical costume patterns. With these patterns anybody with sewing skills could soon prepare the costumes needed to put on a nativity play.
The Nativity Story DVD
With Christmas approaching, Christian families will want to include a reminder of the Christian origins of Christmas somewhere in their celebrations.
To this end, the Christmas nativity story is traditionally retold as part of Christmas activities. Church and other Christian groups will often put on a Christmas pageant or play to portray the story.
A more modern alternative is to sit down and watch a movie telling the Christmas nativity story. This is also a more convenient option for many families.
The 2006 version of The Nativity Story stands out as a well made movie that keeps the traditional story pretty much intact. It stars Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary and Oscar Isaac as Joseph. The movie covers the full story including the dramatic tension in the background of the attempts by King Herod to find and destroy the baby Jesus, including depicting the massacre of the innocents at Bethlehem that he ordered. The violence in the movie is bloodless and it is rated PG. It is intended for family viewing with parental guidance, though perhaps it is a little frightening in places and so not well suited for very young children.
In addition to showing the DVD to your own family, you might consider it to be a suitable Christmas gift to give to family and friends with whom you would like to share the Christmas story.
Get your copy of The Nativity Story (Click Here).
There are few things more thrilling for a small child than to receive a personalized letter from Santa Claus soon before Christmas.
It can be arranged.
And for a very low price.
Your child receives a bright red envelope containing a personalized letter from Santa addressed to them. With the letter there is a recipe for Santa's favorite cookies, and a color-in and cut-out Christmas ornament craft project your child can do.
The letters come in a choice of themes: reindeers having fun, Santa's busy North Pole workshop and a Three Kings theme for those who prefer a reminder of the Christian origins of Christmas.
Dates are important, of course - order before December 15th to ensure delivery in time for Christmas. Just click on the order box on the right to see more details and place your order.
Santa's Little Helpers
Don't leave your pets out this Christmas.
Sure, you could give them a few gourmet treats on Christmas Day (but be careful about the chicken and turkey bones, as they could hurt them). But what a lot of pets like most is to be the center of attention.
What better way to have your pet admired by all your family and guests than to dress it up in a Christmas costume. You could just make it a special collar, but you can also add a hat, or get a lot of laughs with the Little Santa's Helper costume in the picture to the left.
Dressing up is not just for dogs. Cats can join the party too, with costume variations for them.
See our Pet Costume Store for a lot more pet costume ideas.
Santa Hat Costume
Dressing up for Christmas is all part of the fun.
There are those who dress up as Santa Claus in Santa outfits or suits, and they are always popular in shops, on the streets, at parties, at kids Christmas functions as well as at home, especially on Christmas Eve or whenever you choose to give gifts. There are all kinds of reasons to have a Santa Suit.
But there are also Christmas suits for Santa's helpers, including for "Mother Christmas" and little elves. There are even Christmas costumes for the family dog and the family cat so they are not left out of the action.
For most families though, a full Christmas costume is a little over the top, especially in these times of economic hardship for many. A less extravagant way to go is to simply have a Christmas Santa hat for everyone in the family. Wearing a Santa Hat instantly conveys the Christmas spirit to all around, and is a great way to get in the mood for Christmas celebrations.
See the cute Tartan Plaid Santa Hat shown in the picture on the left and many other choices at our Christmas costume store, or see the choice from Amazon below:
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16 piece CHRISTMAS themed Bathroom Set Holiday Reindeer SANTA shower curtain, hooks, toilet lid cover, tank cover & contour rug
Sale Price: $41.99
Average Rating: 
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Description
16-pc. Christmas Bathroom Set
This 16-Pc. Christmas Bathroom Set includes a shower curtain, 12-pc. curtain hooks and rings set and a 3-pc. rug set, all for a great price! The shower curtain (70" x 72") features Santa, a snowman, penguin and reindeer sitting in a bathtub getting clean. Hang the curtain with the 6 snowball-shaped hooks and 6 clear rings (1-3/4" x 1-1/2" dia.). The 3-pc. rug set includes a u-shaped rug (22-1/4" x 23") with a snowman, reindeer and penguin on it, a toilet tank cover (15" x 15-3/8") with snowflakes and a seat cover (11-1/2" x 18-1/4") with Santa's face.
Made of an acrylic/polyester blend, machine washable.
16-piece Christmas set includes: shower curtain, 12-pc. curtain hooks and rings set & a 3-pc. rug set.
Great set to get you in the Christmas/ Holiday spirit!
Features
- 16-pc. Christmas Bathroom Set
- a seat cover (11-1/2" x 18-1/4") with Santa's face
- a toilet tank cover (15" x 15-3/8")
- The 3-pc. rug set includes a u-shaped rug (22-1/4" x 23") with a snowman, reindeer and penguin on it
- Hang the curtain with the 6 snowball-shaped hooks and 6 clear rings (1-3/4" x 1-1/2" dia.).
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Jolee's Boutique Le Grande Dimensional Sticker, Santa Hats
Sale Price: $7.79
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Description
Le Grand Themed stickers are a larger sized version of Jolee's Boutique themed dimensional ornate stickers with all the same great Jolee's detail! Sheet size: 7" x 4".
Features
- Includes 1 7 Inch x4 Inch sticker sheet
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Somewhere over the Rainbow: The Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals
Sale Price: $19.98
Average Rating:
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Description
The "Golden Age" referred to here spans The Jazz Singer and the advent of the talkies to the death throes of the old studio system in the 1960s. So vast was the era's musical landscape that even this 42-track, double-disc anthology can't encompass all its peaks. Not surprisingly, the bulk of this collection originated with the Tiffany's of the screen musical, M-G-M, a body of work whose riches here encompass both pop-cultural bedrock ("Over the Rainbow," "Singin' in the Rain," "There's No Business Like Show Business," etc.) and some less familiar, if equally delightful star turns: Clark Gable gamely "Puttin' On the Ritz"; the sassy, 1948 original of "The Lady Is a Tramp" by Lena Horne; and a loopy duet of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" by Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalban. Fred Astaire's elegant, epochal reign at RKO and M-G-M is represented by "Night and Day," "Let's Face the Music and Dance," and three others, while Metro mainstays Gene Kelly and Judy Garland share equal time and billing. It's not perfect--Cagney's "Yankee Doodle Boy" and/or some Sinatra seem more logical choices than the odd "bonus" duet of Casablanca's "As Time Goes By" and "Lara's Theme" from Dr. Zhivago that close out disc one--but it's a stunning, surprisingly comprehensive primer on the Hollywood film musical nonetheless. --Jerry McCulley
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With Christmas now only a couple of months away, it's that time of year when many church groups plan their Christmas pageant, to tell the Christmas story in a nativity play. One of the most challenging tasks ahead for these good folk will be finding suitable biblical costumes for the characters in their Christmas play. Homemade nativity costumes are popular, but today's families are often too busy for dressmaking and related craft work. With the cost of buying clothing new having fallen in recent years, there are fewer stay at home moms who have kept up the skills, have the sewing machines and who can spare the time. A quick and simple solution to outfitting your Christmas pageant actors is to buy a set of biblical costumes of theatrical quality. The cost is not that great these days, and the costumes can be reused at Easter or other times, and be ready again for the following Christmas. Even if some individual size adjustments are required, the dressmaking work is much less demanding than starting out from scratch to make a new costume.
Good quality costumes are readily available for both children and adult parts, and cover most of the leading characters of the nativity story, particularly Mary, Joseph, shepherds, angels and the Three Wise Men. Costumes for Roman soldiers and other related parts you may include in your play can also be readily obtained, should you want to tell a comprehensive story and involve a larger cast in your performance.
Costume accessories and extras, such as wigs, beards and even a shepherd's crook, are also available with a biblical theme.
Here are some of the most popular biblical costumes that are available:
US $9.95
