SCROOGE, 1970, Hollywood Classics, 113 min. Albert Finney is a gleefully wicked Scrooge in this glorious musical adaptation by Leslie Bricusse of Dickens’ ode to brotherhood and the terrible power of karma. Director Ronald Neame was a longtime Dickens veteran, having produced David Lean’s GREAT EXPECTATIONS and OLIVER TWIST; here, he proved himself to be a wonderfully humorous and sympathetic filmmaker in his own right. Co-starring Alec Guinness, Edith Evans and Kenneth More.

Two Scottish army colonels battle over their very different methods and backgrounds when lower-class Jock Sinclair (Alec Guinness, in one of his favorite performances) is forced to work with upper-crust disciplinarian and bureaucrat Basil Barrow (John Mills). Before long, their philosophical differences threaten the unity of their entire regiment, as a series of minor events sets off a chain reaction in this riveting drama from director Ronald Neame.

Spy novelist Eric Ambler might have seemed an unlikely choice to adapt Arnold Bennett’s novel about a charming go-getter, but the result is a thoroughly enjoyable comedy. Alec Guinness plays one of his first romantic leads as Denry Machin, a young man whose ambition and occasional willingness to bend the rules help him rise through the ranks of society. Among the women who catch his eye are Glynis Johns, Valerie Hobson and future singing star Petula Clark.