Murrays Misery, Scrooged’s Victory

 One of my fondest movie going memories took place all the way back in December 1988. I was a young cinephile in the making, obsessed with seeing the huge movie of that year… Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I had spent most the school year anticipating its release and being particularly infatuated with a book which told the story of the movie in glossy color photos.

Going to the movies was definitely a treat for me in those days. I was eight years old and the cinema was quickly becoming an important part of my life. Roger Rabbit looked like it was going to blow my mind with its innovative special effects work, mixing live actors with cartoons. 

The  opportunity arose  when  as part of a pre Christmas treat I was invited by my best friend at the time’s family to go to the cinema. I can still remember the excitement now, at long last I was going to get to find out Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Or was I?

There was a small problem, in that, only two members of our group of six actually wanted to watch Roger Rabbit.  Myself and the youngest sister whom I expect was probably only humoring my stroppy desire to watch the Robert Zemmicks movie.

Everyone else had  picked another movie that cold and wet Sunday afternoon.. A film that in my blind desire to watch the cartoon rabbit had evaded my young movie enthusiast radar. The tickets were purchased and I reluctantly took my seat alongside my friend. .

As the lights went down and the Paramount logo gilded its way across the screen an unmistakable Christmas chant began to engulf the room and I became mesmerized as I found myself inside Santa’s workshop. Suddenly terrorists burst in and Santa is under attack with only Lee Majors to save the day. I didn’t know what I was watching but for an eight year old boy I knew I liked what I was seeing very much.

 Scrooged was designed as a modern take on Charles Dickens’s, A Christmas Carol. Which was  written in 1843 to raise awareness of the social inequalities of the time. It was one of Dickens most popular works which still endures to this day. Scrooged would be set in the eighties with all its excesses and cynical wit. Written by Saturday Night Live Alumni,  Michael O’Donoghue and Mitch Glazer who wrote a very different script to the version audiences got. Scrooged was supposed to be a darker take on Dickens’ story about a TV Network executive named Frank Cross  who treats everyone around him terribly and is full of narcissistic yuppie disdain for his fellow man. After a terrifying visit on Christmas Eve from his old deceased boss, Lew Hayward (John Forsythe), Frank is told to prepare to be visited by three ghosts and our time hopping Christmas tale kicks into gear.

  Bill Murray living in Paris had taken a hiatus from movie making after the success of Ghostbusters (1984) which had become overwhelming for him. Unsure if he would ever return to acting he was presented with the script for Scrooged which he apparently tore to pieces scattering it across his front yard.  Two years later he was coaxed back after the script was reworked to his satisfaction, including more of the love story between Frank and the love of his life Claire played by the adorable Karen Allen.

  Richard Donner  (Superman, The Omen) was brought on as director and the movie went into production on a thirty five million dollar budget. In what appears to have been a miserable experience for Murray, the shoot for Scrooged was a quick three months with filming beginning in November of 1987. Paramount Pictures executives in a very Scrooge-like move reportedly refused Richard Donner’s request to have Christmas Day off insisting that the movie continue shooting throughout the holiday. Donner’s response was to fire everybody involved at the end of the day on Christmas Eve only to rehire them two days later so that the cast and crew could be with their families on Christmas day. Despite this act of goodwill tensions arose between Donner and Murray who did not see eye to eye. Throughout the production Donner requested that Murray do things louder, leading the actor to believe his director might be deaf. When asked by Roger Ebert if Murray had any disagreements with Donner? Murray responded with “Only a few. Every single minute of the day, That could have been a really good movie. The script was so good. There’s maybe one take in the final cut of the movie that is mine. We made it so fast it was like doing a movie live”.  

 It seems that the  Scrooged that was shot was entirely different to the movie that was released by the studio. It’s likely that it was toned down massively to receive a more family friendly PG/13 rating. At the time  of filming though the talent involved believed they were working on a hard R rated version of the Dickens classic. Full of F bombs and raunchy humor. The Eliot Loudermilk character played by Bobcat Goldthwait was subject to even more humiliations.  Massive period sequences were shot featuring Murray and Allen’s characters in the 60’s which included a protest against Vietnam at Columbia University as well as an ice skating sequence in Central Park which would have fleshed out the love story of Frank and Claire. These were likely the elements that caused Murray to sign on in the first place but became lost in the edit. 

 Another difficulty was Murray  constantly changing the script and going off book which must have been frustrating for Donner, the other actors and continuity. It was Murrays movie after all and he loved to play up to the crew and crowds that would gather to watch the location shoots. One night Murray grabbed a tourists video camera after announcing to everyone watching, including Donner that he could only work on one camera at a time. He proceeded to give the tourist a one on one, talking down the lens of her camera, causing Donner to throw his headset down and walk off set. The climatic impassioned monologue which sees Murray’s character hijacking a live recording of A Christmas Carol at his television station and begin preaching to the country about the meaning of Christmas was completely improvised  leading the writers to believe Murray was having some sort of breakdown. Somewhere out there exists an entirely different version of Scrooged which by all accounts is a lot darker even finishing with the supposedly redeemed Frank Cross character looking towards the camera and saying Nah. As if to suggest he will never change his ways. 

 Maybe it was good foresight by the studio then to make the changes, as Scrooged has become a firm festive favorite. It  grossed over one hundred million at the box office and despite it not being critically lauded, it did receive an Academy Award Nomination for  Make-Up Artist, Tom Burman (Halloween III Season of the Witch and Teen Wolf). Losing out to Ve Neil and Steve LePorte for Beetlejuice. The Danny Elfman score is Elfman at the top of his game and oozes Christmas cheer. The rest of the cast including David Johansen as The Ghost of Christmas Past,  Alfre Woodard as Cross’s much put upon secretary, Grace,  Robert Mitchum and John Glover as smarmy executives offer memorable moments.  All of Murrays Brothers also appear in the film making it a family affair,

Murray though still finds it difficult to talk about Scrooged. Maybe it’s the painful memory of having his lip torn by Carol Kane playing the Ghost of Christmas Present who abuses him physically throughout their meeting. Or the fake snow causing him to cough up blood on set. Maybe it’s the fact that Christmas in general just brings up painful memories for him as he lost his own father during a holiday break. Or maybe it’s that he believes there exists a better version of this movie that audiences might never see. 

Thirty five years on Scrooged remains a Christmas staple. I did eventually see Who Framed Roger Rabbit and enjoyed it but it will never be able to match the place Scrooged holds in my heart. There is something magical about this movie and every Christmas I end up revisiting it and after reading this I hope you might too.

Weird Japanese Poster for the release.