A Christmas Carol

The 1938 `Christmas Carol' is by no means the best film version of Dickens's much-beloved tale. Still, it does offer a few novel and enjoyable twists. It is the only version I know of in which Bob Cratchit is `canned' (as he repeatedly says) before Christmas day, after knocking Scrooge's hat off with a snowball. It is also the first version to use the much-imitated ending of Scrooge showing up unexpectedly at Cratchit's house, rather than revealing his epiphany to Bob on St. Stephen's Day. It may be unique for having the healthiest-looking Tiny Tim and the most insanely jovial nephew Fred. But as I say, these are enjoyable twists; it is fun to see a different take on this oft-told tale.

It's almost certain that they'll continue wheeling out versions of this seasonal favourite for the foreseeable future and we can take or leave them as we wish. For my money Reginald Owen is much too bland for the lead and Lionel Barrymore in his Potter mode from It's A Wnderful Life could have phoned it in. Likewise Gene Lockhart is really too hearty and jovial for the downtrodden Bob Cratchit albeit he plays well with his real -life wife Kathleen and daughter June. Several posters have drawn attention to the deviations from the book but I doubt that these will impair most viewer's enjoyment of a tale well told and it's a nice touch to have well-known actor-to-be (Spellbound, The Man From Uncle) Leo G. Carroll appearing in something called a Christmas Carol. I took it as part of a four-part boxed set of Christmas-themed films and though I won't watch it again it was fairly painless.

What would the holiday season be without Charles Dickens's classic story? This version is actually a little bit lighter than what we're usually used to, but that doesn't weaken it at all. Reginald Owens turns Ebenezer Scrooge into just the sort of mean old grouch who we all sort of wish that we were. Gene Lockhart also does a good job as Bob Crachit, although much of the other cast comes across as just the tiniest bit silly. I think that my favorite character is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. But no matter, "A Christmas Carol" remains a formidable part of literary and cinematic history. Equally good was the Bill Murray vehicle "Scrooged". Merry Christmas and Bah Humbug! PS: "Humbug" is defined as someone or something intended to deceive; a falsity.

This is one of the fastest films ever to reach the screen. It started shooting in October and was in theaters in December. This production however is the standard in which all other versions since have copied. This was the first production to have the "Spirits" come in one night! It also fleshed out Bob Cratchit family more. This is also one of those film that the older it gets the better the film becomes. In case you don't know the story "Scrooge" is a cranky old man. He hates Christmas and people in general. He has more in life than the people that surround him and yet he is poor. This 1938 film is in black and white and that seems like a huge asset. The cast is perfect! If you have never seen this version then what are you waiting for?

This Hollywood version of the Dickens Christmas classic is overshadowed by a later British version featuring Alastair Sim. The British film is more realistic, and captures in its incidentals more of Dickens' radical spirit than this more stately American film, which as directed by the able Edward Martin, is done on a more modest scale. I find the American film cozier and warmer. Reginald Owen is a less flamboyant Scrooge than Sim, which tends to make one concentrate more on the story. The movie was made on a medium budget, and it shows. However, this is not a bad thing, for while the later version gives has a dank, drafty Victorian mood,--one can almost feel the winter wind,--this one benefits enormously from its hearth-like intimacy. It's a very fine movie in its own right, with a mood all its own.