Scrooged

Bill Murray had been away from acting for 4 years after The Razor’s Edge; this was his return, and he was paid 6 million dollars. Mitch Glazer and Michael O’Donoghue wrote the script, which Murray reworked with them once he joined. Frank Cross is a television executive preparing a live Christmas broadcast; the ghosts reach him on Christmas Eve. On set Murray and Richard Donner were not making the same film. Murray later said Donner kept telling him to play it louder, and O’Donoghue estimated that 40 percent of their script reached the screen. In the long closing speech Murray stepped off his marks and improvised; the crew applauded. Murray had insisted that Carol Kane really hit him in their scenes; on one take she tore the inside of his lip. 3 of Murray’s brothers appear too: Brian Doyle-Murray as the father, John Murray as the brother James, Joel Murray as a party guest. The film led its opening weekend with 18.6 million dollars and took 100.3 million worldwide. Its single nomination at the 61st Academy Awards was for makeup, and Beetlejuice won. A good fit if you want Dickens rebuilt inside the television business of the nineteen eighties, in a sour key. Not for anyone after a warm family evening; the humour stays on the cutting side.