We have a winner! (And another prize to give away, too…)

The response to Thrilling Days of Yesteryear’s Dick Tracy Giveaway contest was positively amazing—second only to a giveaway I did for a Johnny Dollar CD set a couple of years back.  As always, I only wish I had enough of these box sets to give to everyone who entered (dig me—I’m Santa!) but in the end…there can be only one.  And that one is longtime TDOY reader/supporter (and occasional guest reviewer) Philip Schweier (hey—his wife once threatened to name me co-respondent in potential divorce proceedings…what other blog can make that claim, I ask you), who will no doubt be inspired to offer his take on the four serials in the collection.  Congratulations (and a victory lap) to Phil on his good fortune.

With Christmas around the corner, I’ll bet you’re wishing you could score a nice gift for that person on your list that’s hard to buy for…and a gift certificate seems kind of impersonal (though I have never—ever—turned down one in my experience).  What if I were to tell you that I can offer you a chance to win a true cinematic holiday classic?  Unpossible! you’re probably shouting right now.  But it is true, my friends…it is oh so true.

Of all the various film versions of Charles Dickens’s classic Yuletide tale A Christmas Carol, my hands-down favorite is 1951’s Scrooge—simply because I think Alastair Sim’s portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge, the nasty skinflint who gets redemption after a harrowing visit from three Christmas ghosts, is the yardstick by which Scrooges should be measured.  Anyone can play Scrooge—you just do your very best Lionel Barrymore impression and scowl a lot (“Bah humbug!”).  But it’s Sim’s transformation after the visit from the spirits that really sells this movie—the positive joy and goodwill that he’s received from his experience will melt the heart of anyone…and if it doesn’t, then you are a robot, my friends.

VCI Entertainment has released the 1951 British version of A Christmas Carol in several different editions over the years…but I was extremely fortunate that this year they sent me a gratis copy of not only the DVD version but a Blu-ray edition as well.  And I’d like to pass along this to some member of the TDOY faithful to wish them the merriest of Christmases: if you have a Blu-ray player, you can experience one of the true film classics (and hand the DVD copy off to a friend or family member as a gift) or vice-a versy.  Here’s all you have to do.

Just send an e-mail with “Scrooge Giveaway” in the subject header to igsjrotr(at)gmail(dot)com before 11:59pm EST next Monday (December 10)—you don’t have to give me your snail-mail address unless you’ve been confirmed the winner if you don’t feel the need to…I will understand.  Tuesday morning, I will select a winner via Random.org and send that person’s prize of (1) one DVD copy and (1) one Blu-ray copy of A Christmas Carol (1951) in plenty of time for gifting, if that’s what you plan to do.  Because my financial situation around these parts is not unlike that of the Cratchit family, I have to limit participation in this contest to U.S. and Canadian residents only.  The DVD is positively amazing, with a fistful of nice bonus material and extras…I’d bet cash money that it will be a holiday favorite for years to come (if I had cash money, that is).

But you can’t win if you don’t enter…so let’s hear from ya!  And congratulations again to Br’er Schweier, who knows that at Thrilling Days of Yesteryear the winning tradition continues!