Town marks starring role in A Christmas Carol

Forty years on from a release of A Christmas Carol, Shrewsbury has been celebrating its starring role in the film.

The film, with George C Scott as Scrooge, is being screened at the Old Market Hall to showcase the Shropshire town's part.

The heart of the town, the Square with the Old Market Hall, became the setting for the opening scene.

Filmed from what is now the art gallery, a hearse carrying the body of Jacob Marley passes by Ebenezer Scrooge's office as a bell tolls, town guide Nigel Hinton said.

The film was directed by Clive Donner, with Robert E Fuisz as executive producer.

"They chose Shrewsbury because it was very similar to London in the 1840s," Mr Hinton said.

"He (Donner) wanted to come and film in the town and then did all the external shots here and there were a couple of studios, one in Shrewsbury, one in Telford, where they made the internal scenery and acted it there."

All the locations used for filming were "dressed" or amended by carpenters and set designers, he said.

Pockets menswear store became a poultry shop, while the Hole in the Wall pub and Gullet passage also became landmarks - both on the route Scrooge takes to walk home.

Mr Hinton explained how the film producers achieved the eerie atmosphere of the ghost story, including Gullet Passage.

"A lot of these scenes were shot in the dark or in dusk or half-light to add atmosphere, and this was certainly one of those places where the atmosphere was quite dark and sinister."

Screenings at the Old Market Hall run until 24 December.

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