Scrooged (1988)
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66% of critics liked it
(38 reviews) -
67% of users liked it
(72,906 ratings)
A darkly comic and surreal contemporization of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, this effects-heavy Bill Murray holiday vehicle from 1988 sees the former SNL funnyman assuming the role of television executive Frank Cross, the meanest and most depraved man on earth. Cross will stoop to unheard… More A darkly comic and surreal contemporization of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, this effects-heavy Bill Murray holiday vehicle from 1988 sees the former SNL funnyman assuming the role of television executive Frank Cross, the meanest and most depraved man on earth. Cross will stoop to unheard of levels to increase his network's ratings -- even if it means mounting outrageous programs to retain an audience, such as "Robert Goulet's Cajun Christmas" and Lee Majors in "The Night the Reindeer Died," with an AK-47-toting Santa. Cross plots his foulest move, however, for the Christmas holiday, when he will force his office staff to mount a live production of A Christmas Carol on national television -- and thus work through Christmas Eve. Cross's life is turned upside down with visits from three ghosts: a craggy-faced cabbie known as The Ghost of Christmas Past (David Johansen); the sugar-plum fairy Ghost of Christmas Present (Carol Kane) (who gets her jollies by bonking Frank across the face with a toaster oven); and, eventually, the caped, headless Ghost of Christmas Future, who will send Frank sliding into a crematory oven -- just before he gives the sleazoid one last chance to redeem himself. Along the way, the spirits carry Frank to scenes from his past, present, and future (per Scrooge) and impart a glimpse of how he became so thoroughly rotten. The radiant Karen Allen co-stars as Frank's girlfriend, Claire Phillips, and the film packs in cameos from countless celebrities -- among them, Mary Lou Retton, John Houseman, Jamie Farr, and, in a truly grisly and tasteless bit, John Forsythe. Richard Donner directs, from a script credited to the late Michael O'Donoghue and Mitch Glazer. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Directed By
- Richard Donner
- Written By
- Mitch Glazer, Michael O'Donoghue
- Genres
- Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Nov 23, 1988 Wide
- Studio
- Paramount Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Tacky in the extreme, this self-congratulatory 1988 film is an exercise in hypocrisy, indulging every form of Christmas exploitation that it pretends to attack, and many of the laughs are forced.
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Variety Staff, Variety
An appallingly unfunny comedy, and a vivid illustration of the fact that money can't buy you laughs.
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, Time Out
Rowdy stuff for the light in head.
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Vincent Canby, New York Times
In spite of the jokes at the expense of television-network censors, there's very little in the film, aside from naughty words, that wouldn't be perfectly acceptable on prime-time television.
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Joe Brown, Washington Post
This is not a 'good movie' -- in fact, it's a sprawling mess -- but I like it.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Bill Murray
as Frank Cross
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Karen Allen
as Claire Phillips
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John Forsythe
as Lew Hayward
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John Glover
as Brice Cummings
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Bobcat Goldthwait
as Eliot Loudermilk
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Carol Kane
as Ghost of Christmas Present
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David Johansen
as Ghost of Christmas Past
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Robert Mitchum
as Preston Rhinelander
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Nicholas Phillips
as Calvin Cooley
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Michael J. Pollard
as Herman
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Alfre Woodard
as Grace Cooley
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Mabel King
as Gramma
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John Murray
as James Cross
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Jamie Farr
as Jacob Marley
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Buddy Hackett
as Scrooge
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John Houseman
as Himself
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Brian Doyle-Murray
as Earl Cross
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Mary Lou Retton
as Herself
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Selma Archerd
as Mrs. Claus at Party
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Susan Barnes
as Harpy
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Roy Brocksmith
as Mike the Mailman
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Peter Bromilow
as Archbishop
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Henry Brown
as Technician
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Ralph Bruneau
as Nephew
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Jay Byron
as Man #1 at Party
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Larry Carlton
as Street Musician
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Harvey Fisher
as Party Guest
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Delores Hall
as Hazel
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Stella Hall
as Lew Haywards Secretary
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Alvin Hammer
as Foreman
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Amy Hill
as Technician
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Damon Hines
as Steven Cooley
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Jean Speegle Howard
as Mrs. Claus
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Bruce Jarchow
as Wayne
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Sanford Jensen
as Executive
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Stephen Kahan
as Technician
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Regina King
as Lanell Cooley
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Kathy Kinney
as IBC Nurse
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Wendie Malick
as Wendie Cross
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Bill Marcus
as IBC Guard
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Pat McCormick
as Ghost of Christmas Past (TV)
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Dick McGarvin
as Announcer
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Jack McGee
as Carpenter
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Kate McGregor-Stewart
as Lady Censor
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Lisa Mende
as Doris Cross
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Joel Murray
as Guest
- Peter Onorati
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Sachi Parker
as Belle
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Anne Ramsey
as Woman in Shelter
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Logan Ramsey
as Man in Shelter
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Maria Riva
as Mrs. Rhinelander
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Tony Steedman
as Headwaiter
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Ryan Todd
as Frank as Child
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Mary Ellen Trainor
as Ted
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Paul Tuerpé
as Stage Manager
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Miles Davis
as Street Musician
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Mitch Glazer
as Guest
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Bill Hart
as Carpenter
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Michael O'Donoghue
as Priest
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David Sanborn
as Street Musician
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Paul Shaffer
as Street Musician
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Lester Wilson
as Choreographer
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Dick Blasucci
as Executive
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Rebeca Arthur
as Tina
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June Chandler
as June Cleaver
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Cal Gibson
as IBC Guard
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Raphael Harris
as Older Calvin
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Jeffrey Joseph
as Executive
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Gilles Savard
as Waiter
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Norm Wilson
as Technician
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Jeanine Jackson
as Technician
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Jennie Lew Tugend
as Foo-Ling
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Susan Isaacs
as Guest



