12 Facts About 'Scrooged' That Will Get You Into The Holiday Spirit

by N/A, 9 years ago | 3 min read

1988 saw an adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol that had never been done before: comedy. The comedy came to us in the form of Bill Murray staring in Scrooged. The plot follows Frank Cross (Murray) who's pushed away the love of his life and as a TV executive, has recently fired a staff member. These scenarios bring along the three ghosts that give him the chance to reevaluate his life–just like Dickens first imagined it. Well, it's a little different, but you already knew that.

Christmas Movies Celebrities holidays Comedy Movies Non-Premium

1. Richard Donner was a little worried about adapting "A Christmas Carol" into a comedy, because there is a 'thin line' you walk with such a task

He explained:

"…you have two of the most irreverent writers in the world. You have the most irreverent humorist since W.C. Fields. And you say, ‘Let’s go!’ There’s a thin line you walk, but the line is broken—hopefully—in the end of the picture when you see a man evolve out of a situation."

2. The film was a "Saturday Night Live" reunion in a way

Scrooged writers Mitch Glazer and Michael O'Donoghue had worked with Murray in the early days of SNL and Paul Shaffer makes an appearance as a street performer in the film as well. Shaffer had been in the house band for SNL and many sketches before rising to fame as David Letterman's band leader.

3. Bill Murray's biggest challenge was carrying the movie on his own

He may have been a huge celebrity with many roles under his belt, but Murray was always part of a bigger ensemble with many other stars. Although Scrooged had many stars as well, they all just had cameos, while Murray was on set every single day. "They would stroll in for a day or two and split. I was there every day, and it was like flunking grade school again and again," stated Murray in Starlog.

4. The studio tried to play off "Ghostbusters" in the marketing of "Scrooged"

As you can see from this Facebook caption, this was the original tagline:

"Bill Murray is back among the ghosts. Only this time, it's three against one."

Get it? Against the ghosts. The film was successful, but not near as successful as what they were hoping for with a callback to Ghostbusters. The latter $229 million+ at the box office with Scrooged earning $60 million+.

5. Many of Murray's lines were ad-libbed, showing his mastery of improvisation

Director Richard Donner describes the experience as follows:

"It's like standing on 42nd Street and Broadway, and the lights are out, and you're the traffic cop."

Essentially, it's impossible to keep up in the moment, but what comes of it is pure gold in comedy.

6. John, Joel, and Brian Doyle-Murray all appear in the film alongside Bill–these are his brothers

It's not uncommon for Bill Murray to have his brothers make cameos or have full on roles in his films, but Scrooged featured all three of them. They must have some very proud parents.

7. Carol Kane began feeling uncomfortable with her role as the Ghost of Christmas Present

The running gag in the film is for the Kane's character to be rather abusive toward Murray whenever they meet. Kane was increasingly uncomfortable with the task of physicality toward Murray and the shoot would often shut down for awhile and she would simply cry it out.

8. Murray grew tired of the physical nature of his scenes with Kane as well

He explained in Starlog:

"There's a piece of skin the connects your lip with your gums and it was really pulled away. She really hurt me, but it was my idea to be physical and it was her idea just to hit me as opposed to pulling the punches."

9. Murray wouldn't sign on to do the film unless it was massively reworked

He explained in Starlog in 1989:

"We tore up the script so badly that we had parts all over the law. There was a lot I didn't like. To remake the story, we took the romantic element [Frank's relationship with his former girlfriend, Claire, played by Karen Allen] and built that up a little more. It existed in the script’s original version, but we had to make more out of it. The family scenes were kind of off, so we worked on that."

10. David Johansen got the role of Ghost of Christmas Past because of his close friendship with Bill Murray

If he looks familiar to you, but you don't have a clue who he really is, it may be because you recognize him as the singer of the song "Hot, Hot, Hot." If you were wondering, the role was supposed to go to Sam Kinison initially.

11. Richard Donner says "Scrogged" is the movie where Murray actually became an 'actor'

Sure, audiences know Bill Murray as a comedic mega-star, and during the 80s he was at the peak of this fame you could argue, but Scrooged offered him something his other roles hadn't. Near the end of the film, Murray must give an impassioned speech to make his character transformation complete. Donner said, "On the last take I saw something happen to Billy. I saw Billy Murray become an actor."

12. "Scrooged" welcomed Bill Murray back to the big screen after a four-year Hollywood hiatus

Scrooged came out in 1988, and except a minor role in 1986's Little Shop of Horrors, nobody had heard from Murray since his legendary role in Ghostbusters back in 1984.