The ghosts that I called …

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Movie
German title The ghosts that I called …
Original title Scrooged
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1988
length 102 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Richard Donner
script Mitch Glazer ,
Michael O'Donoghue
production Richard Donner,
Art Linson
music Danny Elfman
camera Michael Chapman
cut Fredric Steinkamp ,
William Steinkamp
occupation

The ghosts I called ... (Original title: Scrooged ) is an American comedy film from 1988 with Bill Murray in the lead role. In Germany, the film was released on December 8, 1988.

The film is based on Charles Dickens ' A Christmas Carol ( English for "A Christmas song"; mostly "A Christmas story") and is mostly broadcast in German-speaking countries at Christmas time.

The German film title is based on the first half of a quote from Goethe's The Sorcerer's Apprentice , which developed into a catchphrase.

action

Francis Xavier Cross could be a lucky man. He is rich and runs a major television station as an executive producer. But in his addiction to success, power and wealth he fails to recognize what he misses because he has neither compassion nor empathy: he has no friends and nobody likes him. At Christmas he produces a showmanship-oriented performance of Charles Dickens' Christmas story on television and, as always, tortures his team to perfection in order to achieve the highest possible ratings and thus satisfy his boss Preston Rhinelander . Frank therefore designed a commercial for Charles Dickens' Christmas story , in which viewers should fear that they would miss the program. That's why he quits the employee Loudermilk, who dared to criticize Frank for his unsuitable commercial, shortly before the holidays. Loudermilk then loses his family and wanders through town drunk. After Frank Cross had carried an older viewer into the afterlife with the aggressive, scary commercial, he made a cynical comment that the commercial did not miss its effect.

Suddenly his old, now deceased boss Lew Hayward appears in his office in a rather rotten appearance and announces the appearance of three Christmas ghosts. Thereupon he calls his former girlfriend Claire in a panic, but can only speak to her on the answering machine . The three Christmas ghosts have the shape of a grubby taxi driver, a recalcitrant fairy and an oversized figure who is covered by a cloak and has a monitor instead of a face (an allusion to the Grim Reaper ). The cross, disturbed by these visions and numb with a lot of alcohol, has to deal with a rival, Bryce Cummings, the favorite of the station owner Rhinelander. Cummings takes advantage of Frank's condition to limit his duties and influence. Cummings wants to get closer to his goal of taking on Cross' post. One after the other, the three show as ghosts the past, present and future of Frank Cross's life:

  • Past: Frank loved Christmas very much as a child, but could hardly enjoy it because of his rowdy father. He later gave up his relationship with Claire, his only love, for his TV career.
  • Present: Everyone is under Frank's thumb and suffering from his bad temper. His right-hand man Grace can hardly enjoy Christmas Eve with her children. Her youngest son Calvin has been in psychological shock since his father's death, which is why he no longer speaks. Frank, in his self-centeredness, hadn't even noticed that Grace's husband had passed away. Despite adverse conditions, both Grace and Claire, who runs a homeless shelter and coordinates the work of the volunteers, and Frank's brother James, who has always stood by him, celebrate Christmas, which Frank himself rejects as a waste of time.
  • Future: A few years later, thanks to Frank, Christmas has become even more bleak. Grace's son is now sitting in a padded cell in a mental institution. Claire gave up her job at the charity because Frank asked her to help herself. She sits cold, indifferent and snobbish among her wealthy acquaintances and says that she is grateful to Frank for his advice. Only his brother James and his family mourn the lonely TV mogul in the crematorium. Frank wants to save his coffin and corpse from being burned and tries to stop him before he goes into the furnace. But he does not succeed and he and the coffin get caught in the flames.

Purified by these impressions, Frank changes from being a disgust to being a philanthropist. He forgives Loudermilk, who previously tried to shoot him before Christmas for the sack, and hires him back at a significantly higher salary. He ended the performance of Charles Dickens' Christmas story at the moment when Scrooge was refined from curmudgeon to patronizing philanthropist. Frank shows remorse for his misdeeds and urges all contributors and viewers to celebrate. He also encourages viewers to get in touch with former friends they have lost sight of and to look after those in need. So he still puts on a contemplative Christmas show. Meanwhile, Cross' rival Bryce Cummings is knocked out by Loudermilk explaining to Rhinelander on the phone that Cummings did this badly before him. And Rhinelander, who sits in front of the television at home, is also enthusiastic about what is shown. When Frank asks at the end of his speech if he has forgotten something, Grace's son Calvin replies with Dickens' final sentence, which Tiny Tim utters in the Christmas story: " God bless us, everyone ". In the end, the show also brings Claire to the studio alongside almost all of the employees. You and Frank get back together. The Christmas show ends with all employees and contributors singing Put a Little Love in Your Heart together .

Reviews

Prisma Online wrote: “Charles Dickens' Christmas story of the curmudgeon who is converted at Christmas in a modern guise. Thanks to the actors - really fun: Murray in the lead role - and a solid staging, the result was brilliant entertainment. "

The lexicon of international films said: "Largely entertaining remake of the" Christmas story "by Charles Dickens, relocated to the modern media age [...] Dickens' touching fable is, however, watered down by numerous special effects, so that the concern, the appeal to humanity and goodness , comes into play late. "

Awards

The Ghosts I Called ... was nominated for an Oscar in 1989 for Best Makeup . In addition, Danny Elfman received the BMI Film & TV Award for the background music for the film .

More facts

  • The movie's theme song, which can be heard during the closing credits, is Put a little Love in your heart and is sung by Annie Lennox and Al Green . When Bill Murray sings along at the end, he says, among other things, “ Feed me, Seymour! “, Which is reminiscent of the film Der kleine Horrorladen , in which he had a small role.
  • Bill Murray put all of his brothers John, Joel and Brian-Doyle in mini-roles in the film. Movie brother James is also his real brother John.
  • The name of Grace Cooley's dumb son Calvin is said to be reminiscent of the former US President Calvin Coolidge , a very taciturn politician.
  • Director Richard Donner and his cousin, Steve Kahan, have guest appearances as technicians in the control room at the end of the film. Richard Donner also immortalized himself in other ways in the film. When Frank's brother is playing a guessing game with his friends, they are supposed to try to guess the television series Gilligan's Island , which was also directed by Donner. In the past, Frank had to slip into a dog costume. In the background you can see a tree with a heart with the inscription Dick loves Lauren carved into it. It's a throwback to Richard Donner and his wife Lauren Shuler.
  • When Carol Kane, starring The Spirit of Present Christmas, was scripted to pull Bill Murray's lip, she squeezed it so hard that filming had to be interrupted for several days because of the bruises and pain.
  • The Christmas singers yelling at Frank are musicians Paul Shaffer , Miles Davis , David Sanborn and Larry Carlton .
  • The sign on Frank Cross' office says Cross - a thing they nail people to "Cross - something that you post people to ".
  • In this film, Bill Murray is not dubbed by Arne Elsholtz , as usual , but by Manfred Lehmann .
  • Throughout the film there are signs with the slogan Free South Africa in the background. At the time of the film, South Africa was still under the rule of the apartheid regime
  • The dog in Frank's brother James' apartment also starred as Buck in the TV series A Terribly Kind Family .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The ghosts I called ... In: prisma-online.de.
  2. ↑ The ghosts I called ... In: Lexicon of international film . Film service , accessed June 9, 2015 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  3. ↑ Annie Lennox & Al Green - Put A Little Love In Your Heart (song) . Austrian charts
  4. ↑ a b Trivia. Internet Movie Database , accessed May 22, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Review: Scrooged (1988) . ( Memento of October 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) michaeldvd.com.au
  6. ↑ The spirits I called. German dubbing files
  7. ↑ Bill Murray. German dubbing files
  8. ↑ The dog "Buck". Internet Movie Database , accessed June 10, 2015 .