Scrooge U: Part XXVIII — “Ms. Scrooge” is kind of hit & ms. … er … miss

Jim Hill

18 years ago

As I mentioned in this past Sunday's review of "Ebbie," "A Christmas Carol" is a surprisingly resilient story. It can survive a change of location or time period. Even giving Ebenezer Scrooge a sex change operation doesn't necessarily undercut the emotional effectiveness of this seasonal favorite.

But what happens when you do all this and then add the element of race? Surprisingly, it actually seems to deepen Dickens' classic story. As is demonstrated (in fits & starts, anyway) by the 1997 TV movie, "Ms. Scrooge."

Emmy Award-winner Cicely Tyson plays the title role in this holiday tale, Ms. Ebenita Scrooge. Who owns a loan company in modern day Providence, R.I. Though she claims to love Christmas because " … it's a time of year when people get overly optimistic. And then they over-spend. And then they come to me," Ebenita still barks at the Santa who's standing outside of her office collecting money for the poor. She even snatched the beard right off of this poor man's face.

Ms. Scrooge is similiarly sharp with her employees. Ebenita even turns away her own nephew, the Reverand Luke (Michael Beach) when he comes to invite her to Christmas dinner. She's obviously one tough, old bird.

And why shouldn't she be? Given that her mentor, Maude Marley (Katherine Helmond) taught her that — in order for a woman to survive in today's business world — you have to be tough. You have to be ruthless. More importantly, you always have to watch every single penny.

Ebenita has taken all of Maude's lessons about business to heart. Which is why she still cuts the toughest possible deals with every customer who comes through the door. And every evening — just as old Marley used to do — Ms. Scrooge locks away the day's earnings in that walk-in vault that's hidden in her office.

Now Maude's been dead for a decade (She died 10 years ago tonight, in fact). Which is why Ebenita's rather surprised when she arrives home on Christmas Eve and sees — rather than her own face reflected in the glass on her front door — her old partner's puss. Who then waggles a finger at Ms. Scrooge, as if to say "Naughty, naughty."

What follows is certainly one of the odder versions of this particular sequence in "A Christmas Carol" that I've ever seen. Not so much because it's two women playing the roles of Ebenezer Scrooge & Jacob Marley. But — rather — because Katherine Helmond plays Maude Marley is if she were Auntie Mame just back from a jaunty cruise down the River Styx.

I mean, Maude literally makes her entrance in a puff of smoke. With her arms held high over her head, she sings "Ta-Dah!" Marley then smiles at her old partner and says "I always did like a big entrance."

Now the two actresses who are playing this scene are clearly having a great time. And director John Korty certainly seems to have had a lot of fun staging this sequence in "Ms. Scrooge." The only problem is — since Maude Marley isn't particularly frightening — it's hard to take the rest of the holidays spirits who then appear in this TV movie version of "A Christmas Carol" seriously. And this is — after all — supposed to be a ghost story.

Certainly Michael J. Reynolds as the Ghost of Christmas Past fails to make much of an impression …

… Which is odd. Given that the scenes that are set in Ebenita's past are among the best parts of "Ms. Scrooge." In that we get to see how Ebenita was raised by a kind & loving family in the deep South. And her father — having just returned from a stint in the Army — now dreams of a better life for his kith & kin. Which is why he wants to open a grocery store in a nearby town.

Now this being the South in the 1950s and all … It's a somewhat controversial notion that a black man should be starting his own business. And while "Ms. Scrooge" never actually comes right out and talks about the racial politics of this period, we get little hints of what's going on. Like how the family has to do a lot of the work themselves in preparation for the opening of the store because no bank in town will give Ebenita's dad the money he needs to hire professional help.

And later … When the grocery store is fire-bombed and Ms. Scrooge's father dies while fighting that blaze … It's clear that the local community hasn't exactly greeted the Scrooge family's new business with open arms.

Now what's interesting about making this tragedy the most important event in Ebenita Scrooge's life is that it not only gives her a logical reason to become hard-hearted but it also explains her attitude toward money & property. You see, when Ebenita's father died, he left behind a mountain of debt. And the only way to pay off all of those bills was to sell off the Scrooge family home.

So you see what I mean about deepening the story? It was prejudice on the part of her neighbors that eventually led to Ebenita not have any compassion for those around her. Which is an interesting sort of backstory for Dickens' miser to have, don't you think?

Anyway … As soon as she could escape, Ebenita left the sadness of the South behind far. Traveling up to Rhode Island, Ms. Scrooge reinvented herself as Maude Marley's hard-working head book-keeper. And then — by saving all of her pennies — she eventually achieved what her father had only dreamed about: A business of her own as well as lasting financial security.

The only problem is — now that her own hard climb to the top is far behind her — Ebenita seems to forgotten what it was like to struggle. But the Ghost of Christmas Present (Shaun Austin-Olsen) is only all too happy to show her someone who's struggling even now: Ms. Scrooge's own head book-keeper, Bob Crachit (John Bourgeois).

Now this section of this TV movie tries hard to show us how important it is to have compassion. Maybe a little too hard. I mean — when Tiny Tim (William Greenblatt) lies dying — was it really necessary to have what seems like the entire city of Providence turns out to try & rally this poor child's spirits? Even Ebenita's nephew, the Reverand Luke, is there to hold Tim's hand and offer comfort as this good-hearted child slowly fades away.

Whereas Ms. Scrooge … She dies alone. In her vault, no less. Knocked to the ground by this enormous pile of valuables, Ebenita is literally killed by the things that she's been hording. All that stuff that she wasn't willing to share with the less fortunate. That's a little heavy-handed, don't you think?

And because the producers of "Ms. Scrooge" couldn't resist piling on the irony at this point in the story … The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Be (Julian Richings) now reveals to the miser that — because Ms. Scrooge failed to fill out a will — the IRS is going to wind up with most of her fortune.

This — to Ebenita's way of thinking — is the final indignity. Not that only a handful of people come to her memorial service. But — rather — the money that she so carefully stashed away is now going to wind up in the hands of the government.

This last bit illustrates one of the main problems with "Ms. Scrooge." In that this TV movie lacks a consistent tone. I mean, we have the all-too-obvious jokes (I.E. Ebenita snatching that beard off of Santa's face as well as Ms. Scrooge's expression of horror & disgust when she realizes that the IRS is going to wind up with most of her money), the serious social stuff (I.E. How it was the restrictive racial policies of the South in the 1950s that eventually led to the hardening of Ebenita's heart) as well as the just plain bizarre bits (I.E. Maude Marley making like Auntie Mame) popping up at seemingly random intervals. No wonder "Ms. Scrooge" seems so hit & miss.

But — that said — I still have to give this 1997 TV movie a few extra points for including a vignette from Dickens' original text that doesn't often appear in other adaptations of this work. Mind you, it's only a sentence fragment from Stave Five of this holiday story — "He went to church …" But John McGreevey (I.E. The author of the "Ms. Scrooge" teleplay) takes this tiny bit of text and uses it to create a most satisfying conclusion for this seasonal show.

You see, Ebenita hasn't been inside a church since the day of her father's funeral. So to have Ms. Scrooge — after all these decades –finally force herself to walk through those doors, head up the aisle and then join Reverend Luke's family in the front pew … Just the expression on her nephew's face in the front pulpit says it all.

So — as far as contemporary versions of "A Christmas Carol" go — "Ms. Scrooge" isn't exactly the best. But — to be honestly — it's not the worst either. So if this 1997 TV movie pops up on cable later this week and you need something to watch while you're wrapping presents, I guess that it might be worth a look-see.

Now tomorrow, "Scrooge U" goes to the dogs. Literally. As we take a look at yet another animated version of Dickens' timeless classic, "An All Dogs Christmas Carol."

Your thoughts?