A delightful adaption of Charles Dickens' classic, even if it falls short of later movie adaptions.
You all know the story by now (so I won't bother with trying to hide spoilers in this review), Scrooge (Reginald Owen) is a cold and bitter man, who has long stopped caring about his fellow man or about Christmas in general. One night he is visited by three ghosts, who help him realize the errors of his ways.
Reginald Owen was not the first choice to play Scrooge. The original casting choice was Lionel Barrymore. Barrymore was a natural choice. Not only would he have been perfect in the role, but he had played it on the radio as an annual Christmas tradition. He was all set to play this role, when he became unable to do so for health reasons. He had broken his hip and was confined to a wheelchair. To replace him. Since Barrymore had become so associated with the role, a preview for the film even featured Barrymore telling audiences how great Reginald Owen was in the role. So that audiences wouldn't have to choose between Owen and Barrymore, Owen played Scrooge on radio that year. Though one can imagine how amazing Barrymore would have been in the role, Owen still does a great job. He perfectly captures both the coldness of the early scenes and the pure joy of the later. Though Alister Sims will always be my favorite Scrooge, I can't deny that Reginald Owen is actually pretty high up there in my ranking of movie Scrooges.
Due to delays (like finding a new Scrooge), this movie had to be made rather quickly. In fact, it was made in a matter of six weeks.
Boxoffice, 1938
This film has gain distain by some for the fact that it is not one of the most faithful adaptions. Many changes were made from the original book and to make this movie more family friendly some of the darker moments were toned down or omitted. For instance, this is one of the few movie versions where we do not see Jacob Marley's fellow ghosts outside the window, which the filmmakers felt was too frightening for young audiences. However, the biggest change was the dropping of Scrooge's young romance. This has become such a staple of Christmas Carol adaptions that its lack of presence here is strongly felt. Strangely though despite the dropping of this romance, the romance between Fred and his wife were extended. That romance is many people's (including mine) least favorite part of this film. One change made did however have an effect on future versions of the story. This was that the ghosts visited Scrooge all in one night instead of over a course of three. This change is present even in some of the most faithful movie adaptions.
Though many of the changes make this not one of the most popular versions today, taken on its own merits, this is a really charming movie. I have mentioned before that I love Reginald Owen as Scrooge. He is not the only one who is great in his part though. The always great Leo G. Caroll is of course fantastic as Jacob Marley. Gene and Kathleen Lockhart (husband and wife) are delightful as Mr. and Mrs. Cratchit (their real-life daughter Jun Lockheart also does a good job as their older daughter) and bring a distinct charm to each scene they are in. The film also moves at a fast pace, that keeps the viewer's interest throughout and makes the film have a delightfully fun feel. Though not faithful, this movie in many ways captures the essence of what makes this story so popular, and I always feel joy when Scrooge reforms at the end. Also, as one should except from an MGM production of this time, the movie visually looks fantastic.
Yet this movie does have its faults. For such a short running time (69 minutes), there are moments that feel a little like padding, which would not be much of a problem, if there weren't great parts of the source material that had been left out. There are also times when it feels too sanitized, and one wishes some of the darker elements could be seen here.
Resources Used
https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/70898/a-christmas-carol#articles-reviews?articleId=718978
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