LOVE Mrs. Dilber
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BossyNova — 9 years ago(November 29, 2016 10:06 PM)
There are so many great scenes and the ones with Mrs. Dilber and Scrooge, like the one you mentioned, are priceless.
Her first response to receiving the gift from Scrooge - "to keep me mouth shut?" - always slays me.
And then she makes me cry when he convinces her that it truly is a gift - just for her. -
Big_AL-96 — 9 years ago(December 01, 2016 06:22 AM)
She was a fine actress
Kathleen Harrison
. I remember when I was a child in the 60s her playing
Mrs Thursday (1966)
, a cleaning lady who is left her boss' fortune and his butler. A sweet TV series.
Her portrayal in this is believable, funny and touching. Yes, I confess, I shed a tear at that scene too.
Let's pray the human race never escapes Earth to spread its iniquity elsewhere. C.S Lewis -
strntz — 9 years ago(December 01, 2016 07:12 AM)
She's a great character, even if she's not in the novella.
This is my favorite version because of Alastair Sim, but 1984's version is actually superior IMO because it's far truer to the novella, and while Scott doesn't really come close to Sim's performance, the rest of the cast, music, and sets are better.
I believe the script was modified to allow Ms. Harrison and Mr. Warner some parts in the production.
Is very bad to steal Jobu's rum. Is very bad. -
Big_AL-96 — 9 years ago(December 02, 2016 04:11 AM)
Mrs Dilber does actually appear in the book.
What odds then! What odds, Mrs Dilber?" Said the woman
This was when they were selling Scrooge's belongings in Old Joe's. she is the laundress according to the book. The scenes in the house are certainly added to the film, but then all the versions have scenes added that were not in the book. My least favourite part of this version isn't the scenes added with Jorkins.
Let's pray the human race never escapes Earth to spread its iniquity elsewhere. C.S Lewis -
strntz — 9 years ago(December 21, 2016 09:41 AM)
Mrs Dilber does actually appear in the book.
That's what I wrote, but not what I meant!! LOL.
The scene I was referring to was the scene where Scrooge interacts with Mrs. Dilber on Christmas morning in this version.
1951's Carol has a lot of spoken lines quoted almost word for word, but adds several scenes not in the book (and deletes or changes others). Adding the whole Jorkin scene is one, the interaction with the guy on the stairs asking for more time, Fan's death, Mrs. Dilber's expanded role etc.
Despite not being in the novella, Mrs. Dilber's scene with Scrooge on Christmas morning is priceless and one of the highlights of this version.
Is very bad to steal Jobu's rum. Is very bad. -
Big_AL-96 — 9 years ago(December 22, 2016 02:21 AM)
Despite not being in the novella, Mrs. Dilber's scene with Scrooge on Christmas morning is priceless and one of the highlights of this version.
Indeed it is and has me welling up every time.
Let's pray the human race never escapes Earth to spread its iniquity elsewhere. C.S Lewis -
Fledrmaus — 9 years ago(December 24, 2016 07:38 PM)
She is so wonderful in that scene where Joe is looking over Scrooge's shirt.
"It was the best shirt he had, and a fine one. They'd have wasted it if it weren't for me."
"Waddya mean, wasted it?"
"Why, they'd have buried him in it, of course! But I took it off him again." (At this point, I can vividly imagine Mrs. Dilber undoing all those buttons and pulling the shirt off of Scrooge's cold, dead body.)
"As if calico isn't good enough for burying. It's just as becoming to the body.
He couldn't have looked uglier than he did in this one
!" (And she ought to know! The whole thing is so hilariously dark and grotesque, I laugh every time.)
Flat, drab passion meanders across the screen! -
Sardony — 9 years ago(December 25, 2016 12:40 PM)
I just watched this again this Christmas morning. My absolute favorite "Christmas Carol" and my fave Christmas movie. Alastair Sim is astounding and he and Kathleen Harrison as Mrs Dilber make nothing short of magic together due to their brilliant performances making the most of their characters' differences, and their coming together at the end in a very sweet moment.
The sequence where Scrooge awakens on Christmas morning and Mrs Dilber comes in with his tea and finds him "giddy as a drunken man" is something I look forward to the most in this movie. Especially when he stands on his head and she flips her apron over her head and runs out of the room, screaming. That's one of my favorite moments in all screen history. Then the sequence on the stairs, too, with that tiny little moment (I wonder if Sim improvised it?) when he musses his hair with a madman's look in his eye. Utter magic from both of them.