An American Christmas Carol, 1979
In the 1970s and 1980s, Henry Winkler, who had phenomenal success as the super-cool Fonzie to a bunch of middle-class kids in 1950s and 1960s Milwaukee, was was a biker, friend and mentor.
While he enjoyed his success, the Ivy Leaguer got an education and the New York actor took on other roles that were far removed from Fonzie the Grease Lubricator.
An American Christmas Carol starred Winkler as Benedict Slade, a Depression-era New England sufferer who is visited by three ghosts who help turn their lives around.
Makeup by the legendary Rick Baker and a strong supporting cast that includes the excellent David Wayne can't save this cumbersome production, which is slow and plagued by mediocre dialogue. The ghosts arrive without fanfare, without a sense of wonder or any effect. The set design is rife with shabbiness.
John Grin's Christmas, 1986
An African American take on A Christmas Carol is a marvelous idea, but this version, directed by and starring Robert Guillaume, is a disappointment! .
Showed as a 50-minute TV special, there is little character development. In addition, the movie suffered from poor dialog; in the 1980s, Hollywood writers didn't know how to write "hip" dialog, even though they thought they could.
The Tiny Tim character is a ghetto youth, played by 1980s teen idol Alfonso Ribeiro as Rocky, a poor but healthy kid who just wants to buy his mom a present. Interestingly, Ribeiro elicits sympathy even though he's too old for the role, and '70s stars Ted Lange and Roscoe Lee Browne are wasted, particularly in Lange's overly flamboyant and clichéd portrayal of the Ghost of Christmas Past.
Ebbie, 1995
Like the African-American A Christmas Carol, a female version might have been a good idea, but this atrocity didn't give it a chance.
Co-starring All My Children star and 1990s TV movie star Susan Lucci***, this version is named Elizabeth Ibby Scrutcheon after Lucci. Aside from the forced nicknames, the movie's supporting cast and cheesy production values are weak.