The Enid Blyton Society

Could be, BB - and since by then there happened to be a very famous and popular author with that name, it might have added extra weight to the expression.

Domino wrote:Pete, I wasn't a judge, or a barrister, or a solicitor, but what they call a paralegal

My son is a paralegal! He works for Westfield, and is currently taking exams to become a qualified solicitor.

I watched half an hour of "Scrooge" this afternoon; the black and white, Alistair Sim version of "A Christmas Carol". It's now a real period piece in itself and I'm not referring to the events that it is depicting. It was made in 1951 so that is 63 years ago. It's equidistant between the present day and Jack the Ripper's London.

I haven't seen that for years, but I'd like to watch it again. A couple of years ago I bought a DVD of that film from a charity shop for 10p, but when I got home I discovered the DVD was damaged and wouldn't play. I suppose I ought to stop being a "Scrooge" and fork out a bit more for a decent copy!

We always watch Scrooge, with Alistair Sim on Christmas Eve. It's a really great black and white film, and sets us up for the festive cheer. We also like to watch The Signal Man too.

We watch both of those as well, every year. Also White Christmas!

Anita Bensoussane wrote:I haven't seen that for years, but I'd like to watch it again. A couple of years ago I bought a DVD of that film from a charity shop for 10p, but when I got home I discovered the DVD was damaged and wouldn't play. I suppose I ought to stop being a "Scrooge" and fork out a bit more for a decent copy!

Can you see optical damage? If there are scratches or dust/dirt on the silvery side, you might carefully wash it with water and dry/polish it with a soft cloth. If the damage is on the coloured side so you can see through holes, the DVD is beyond repair because the laser wont' reflect any longer.

Thanks, Wolfgang, but as far as I remember the DVD was visibly quite badly damaged so I didn't keep it.

I watched "It's a Wonderful Life" on TV the other day (1946, James Stewart). It's a real Christmas classic. It struck me for the first time though that it could well be influenced by Dickens "A Christmas Carol".

The main protagonist is George Bailey; a well meaning and much put upon man. The difference between the two stories is that here the tale is told through the Bob Cratchitesque character Bailey.

The villain is Henry Potter - a mean, grasping, joyless man. Okay, Scrooge was the protagonist in his tale and Potter isn't; nonetheless, he is a very pivotal character.

George Bailey gets Clarence the Angel. Scrooge gets the undead Jacob Marley and three ghosts.

Both tales have a back story with the crucial events then occurring during a long, dark night of the soul.

Scrooge is shown the world he has influenced. George Bailey gets to see the world as if he had not existed to influence it.

Scrooge is shown his own tombstone. Bailey is shown the tombstone of his brother as if he had not lived to rescue him at a young age.

It seems to me that there are quite a few parallels, unless I am attempting to shoehorn them in. What do you reckon?

Yes, I've watched "A Wonderful Life" too, but I never noticed any such resemblance - but then, sometimes stories are similar, but are not intended to be copied. It was a wonderful film though, wasn't it?

I agree that It's a Wonderful Life might well have been influenced by A Christmas Carol, BurlingtonBertram. Even though it's a 1940s film, I didn't see it until I was an adult. It reminded me very much of another film I saw on TV as a child, in which a woman despairs of her life and wants to die. An angel also appears to her and takes her back through past events to show her how different things would have been for others without her positive influence. The film was in colour and I think I watched it when I was about nine or ten, so that would be around 1979 or 1980. I recall that the woman looked a bit like Karen Carpenter, with longish dark hair, and that there was snow in the story. Anyone happen to know the title?

Farwa wrote:Yes, I've watched "A Wonderful Life" too, but I never noticed any such resemblance - but then, sometimes stories are similar, but are not intended to be copied. It was a wonderful movie though, wasn't it?

I agree it isn't a direct copy or anything but I think there is a strong influence there. Anyway, whatever the inspiration, you're right, t is a wonderful Christmas classic.

Sorry Anita; that film doesn't ring a bell with me.

Found a film using Google called It Happened One Christmas, could this be it Anita?

Thanks very much, Su - you're a wonder and a marvel! It Happened One Christmas is indeed the film I remember!

Darn! Missed "The Pickwick Papers" on an obscure channel this morning. It was the great 1952 version with James Hayter. I suspect it was originally black and white because the colours are lovely but so delicate and unreal, almost like water-colours. Hayter was perfect as Pickwick, Harry Fowler put in a good turn as Sam Weller, with Nigel Patrick stealing his scenes as the lovable scoundrel Mr Jingle, with his clipped way of talking.

Wish I'd known it was on but no doubt the channel will repeat it ad nauseam over the coming month.