Scrooged
Scrooged is a 1988 American Christmas fantasy black comedy film directed by Richard Donner and written by Mitch Glazer and Michael O'Donoghue. Inspired by Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, the film is a metafictional modern retelling that follows Bill Murray as Frank Cross, a cynical and selfish television executive who, while prepping for a live broadcast adaptation of A Christmas Carol, is visited on Christmas Eve by a succession of ghosts intent on helping him regain his Christmas spirit. The supporting cast includes Karen Allen, John Forsythe, Bobcat Goldthwait, Carol Kane, Robert Mitchum, Michael J. Pollard, and Alfre Woodard.
Scrooged was filmed on a $32 million budget over three months in New York City and Hollywood from December 1987 to March 1988. Murray returned to acting for the film after taking a four-year hiatus following the success of Ghostbusters, which he found overwhelming. Murray worked with Glazer and O'Donoghue on reworking the script before agreeing to join the project. The production was tumultuous, as Murray and Donner had different visions for the film. Murray described his time on the film as "misery", while Donner called Murray "superbly creative but occasionally difficult". Along with Murray's three brothers, Brian, John and Joel, Scrooged features numerous celebrity cameos.
The film's marketing capitalized on Murray's Ghostbusters role, referring to his encounters with ghosts in both films. Scrooged was released by Paramount Pictures on November 23, 1988, and grossed $100.3 million worldwide against a $32 million budget. The film received a positive response from test audiences, but was met with a mixed response upon its release from critics who found the film either too mean-spirited or too sentimental. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Makeup, but lost to the fantasy-comedy film Beetlejuice.
Since its release, Scrooged has become a regular television Christmastime feature, with some critics calling it an alternative to traditional Christmas films, and others arguing that Scrooged was ahead of its time, making it relevant in the modern day. It has appeared on various lists of the best Christmas films.
Plot
On December 23, Frank Cross, the ruthless and cynical president of IBC television, is preoccupied with ensuring the success of his extravagant live broadcast of A Christmas Carol scheduled for Christmas Eve. He launches a violent, fear-mongering advertisement for the show, and fires meek executive Eliot Loudermilk for questioning its content.That night, Frank is visited by the ghost of his mentor Lew Heyward, who died an unloved miser and regrets not performing good deeds while alive. Lew warns a terrified Frank that he will soon be visited by three ghosts to help him avoid the same fate. Frank's phone then mysteriously dials Claire Phillips, his ex-girlfriend. Claire visits Frank at his office, but he is too preoccupied with production issues to give her his attention. Meanwhile, Frank's erratic behavior leads his boss, Preston Rhinelander, to assign Brice Cummings, an ambitious acquaintance, to assist with the production. Frank deduces that Brice wants to replace him.
At noon on Christmas Eve, Frank is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past, a chain-smoking taxi driver. The Ghost takes Frank back to Christmas 1955, where a young Frank finds comfort in television shows to escape the neglect of his father, who dismisses Christmas traditions. Transported to 1968, an older Frank works through the IBC office Christmas party but also meets and falls in love with Claire. By 1971, however, his growing selfishness, workaholism, and disregard for Claire's feelings have driven her away. Returned to the present, Frank visits Claire at the homeless shelter she runs, refusing to believe someone could be genuinely altruistic. When Claire offers to help him, Frank mocks her work and the homeless individuals she assists, including a man named Herman. He advises Claire to prioritize herself over others.
The Ghost of Christmas Present, a violent fairy, takes Frank to the apartment of his loyal assistant Grace. There, Frank witnesses her struggles to support her large family, including her youngest son Calvin, who has remained mute since witnessing his father's death. Frank is then shown his brother, James, who, despite celebrating Christmas with his loved ones, still misses Frank's presence after years of declined Christmas invitations and impersonal gifts. The Ghost abruptly abandons Frank in a utility space under a sidewalk, with Herman's frozen corpse. Desperate to escape, Frank breaks through a boarded door, finding himself transported to the production set minutes before broadcast. Overwhelmed, Frank retires to his office, while Brice takes over the production.
Having since been left by his wife and child, a despondent and armed Eliot arrives to kill Frank, who flees into an elevator, where he is met by the Grim Reaper-like Ghost of Christmas Future. The Ghost transports Frank to a bleak future: Calvin has been institutionalized, and Claire, having followed Frank's advice, is now a vain and selfish socialite. Finally, Frank is shown his own cremation ceremony, attended only by James and his wife. A terrified Frank suddenly finds himself inside the coffin as it is consumed by flames, only to be jolted back to the elevator, face-to-face with Eliot.
Having experienced a profound transformation, Frank jubilantly rehires Eliot with a pay increase. With Eliot's help, he takes over the production set, restrains Brice, and interrupts the live broadcast to share his newfound appreciation for life and his belief that it is never too late to change. Frank publicly apologizes to Grace, James, and the cast and crew for his past behavior and delivers a heartfelt plea to Claire. Watching the broadcast, Claire is moved and rushes to the network with help from the Ghost of Christmas Past. As they reunite, Calvin, inspired by Frank's words, speaks for the first time, saying, "God bless us, everyone." Frank leads the crew and audience in singing "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" as the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, Future, Lew, and Herman look on with approval.
Cast
- Bill Murray as Frank Cross, the president of IBC
- Karen Allen as Claire Phillips, the ex-girlfriend of Frank who helps out at the homeless shelter
- John Forsythe as Lew Hayward, Frank's former mentor who died of a heart attack while golfing
- John Glover as Brice Cummings, a man who is assigned to help Frank
- Bobcat Goldthwait as Eliot Loudermilk, a meek executive at IBC
- David Johansen as the Ghost of Christmas Past, he is depicted as a chain-smoking taxi driver whose taxi cab can travel through time
- Carol Kane as the Ghost of Christmas Present, depicted as a violent nice-speaking fairy
- Robert Mitchum as Preston Rhinelander, the head of IBC
- Nicholas Phillips as Calvin Cooley, a boy who was mute since the death of his father
- Michael J. Pollard as Herman, a homeless man that Frank encounters at the homeless shelter
- Alfre Woodard as Grace Cooley, the secretary of Frank and mother of Calvin
- Mabel King as Gramma, the mother of Grace and grandmother of Calvin
- John Murray as James Cross, the brother of Frank
Scrooged features several cameo appearances, including Lee Majors, John Houseman, and Robert Goulet portraying themselves, Miles Davis, Paul Shaffer, David Sanborn, the Solid Gold Dancers, Buddy Hackett as Scrooge, Mary Lou Retton, Jamie Farr as Jacob Marley, Larry Carlton as a street musician, and Anne Ramsey and her husband Logan Ramsey as two homeless people in the shelter.
Production
Development
Scrooged was filmed on a $32 million budget over three-and-a-half months on sets in Hollywood. Exterior shots of the IBC building were filmed outside of the Seagram Building in New York City. Murray considered himself "rusty" after having left acting for four years following the release of The Razor's Edge. In contrast to the success of Ghostbusters as a phenomenon that would forever be his biggest success, the failure of The Razor's Edge made him feel "radioactive" and resulting in him avoiding making movies temporarily.Murray had the opportunity to work on Scrooged over two years earlier but was enjoying his break from work. When he did feel a desire to return to acting, he said the "scripts were just not that good", and he returned to the Scrooged project as he found the idea of making a funny Scrooge appealing. Murray was paid $6 million for his role. Producer Art Linson justified the figure by saying that for each year Murray stayed away from films, his audience draw and therefore fee potentially increased. At the time, Linson said that aside from Eddie Murphy, Murray's was the only other name that could draw $10 million of tickets in the opening three to four days.
Murray wanted several changes to the script once he joined the project; among other changes, the romantic plot with Karen Allen's Claire was expanded, and the family scenes were reworked as Murray felt they were "off". Murray worked with scriptwriters Michael O'Donoghue and Mitch Glazer until Murray was confident enough to begin filming. O'Donoghue and Glazer found the film's denouement, in which Murray reveals his redemption live on TV, to be the most difficult to write. They settled on the example of Christmas Eve in New York, where people are nice to each other for one night, believing it to be a "miracle we could live with".
Murray was concerned with how he should portray the scene, with Glazer telling him to follow the script. Wanting a central acting moment, however, Murray gave an emotional and intense performance, deviating from his marked positions and improvising his speech. Glazer and O'Donoghue thought that the actor was suffering a mental breakdown. After he was finished, the crew applauded Murray, but O'Donoghue remarked "What was that? The Jim Jones hour?" Donner turned and punched O'Donoghue in the arm, leaving him bruised for a week.
The production was rife with conflict between Murray and Donner. Murray described the experience as having a "fair amount of misery" and said "That's a tough one; I still have trouble talking about ", describing working on a "dusty, smelly, and smokey" set, feeling alone, and even coughing up blood due to the fake snow being used. He also admitted to feeling pressure from being the solo star of a film compared to previous productions like Ghostbusters, as he was on set mostly every day while some actors would make brief cameos requiring only a day or two of work.
Donner himself said that he had never worked with Murray before and met up with him for drinks before accepting the project to see if they would get along; they did. The director was more positive about their relationship, describing Murray as "superbly creative but occasionally difficult - as difficult as any actor." Donner said that Murray was always in a professional mental state on set, believing it made him stressed, so the crew would do "silly things" to improve morale. Donner had not worked with an improvisational comedian like Murray before, who ad-libbed many of his lines, saying "you don't direct , you pull him back".
In a 1990 interview with Roger Ebert, Murray said that Scrooged "could have been a really, really great movie. The script was so good... kept telling me to do things louder, louder, louder. I think he was deaf." In a later 1993 interview, Murray said that he and Donner had different visions for the type of film Scrooged would become, adding that there was potentially only one take in the finished film that was his.
In a 1989 interview, Murray said, "He shot a big, long, sloppy movie", describing how a lot of filmed content was not present in the film's final cut. For his part, O'Donoghue later said that Donner did not understand comedy, omitting the script's subtler elements for louder and faster moments. He estimated that only 40% of his and Glazer's original script made it into the final film and the surviving content was "twisted". The final cut of the film runs for 97 minutes.