USA, 1938
69m, 7 reels
35mm, black and white (also computer colourized version), 1.37:1
mono, English
An American fantasy film directed by Edwin L. Marin.
Plot Summary
Miserly London businessman Ebenezer Scrooge is visited on Christmas Eve by the ghost of his dead business partner Marley, who warns him that three more ghosts will appear during the night trying to show Scrooge the error of his ways. As the night wears on, he's visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. But will even they be enough to soften old Scrooge's heart?
Credits
* = uncredited
Crew
Directed by: Edwin L. Marin
Copyright MCMXXXVIII [1938] by Loew's Incorporated
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer presents. Produced by Loew's Incorporated
Produced by: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Screen Play by: Hugo Butler
Novel: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens [credited with name above the title]
Photographed by: Sidney Wagner
Film Editor: George Boemler
Musical Score by: Franz Waxman; David Snell *
Recording Director: Douglas Shearer
Costumes by: Valles
Character Make-up Created by: Jack Dawn
Art Director: Cedric Gibbons
Cast
Reginald Owen (Ebenezer Scrooge)
Gene Lockhart (Bob Cratchit)
Kathleen Lockhart (Mrs Cratchit)
Terry Kilburn (Tiny Tim Cratchit)
Barry Mackay (Fred)
Lynne Carver (Bess)
Leo G. Carroll (Marley's ghost)
Lionel Braham (Spirit of Christmas Present)
Ann Rutherford (Spirit of Christmas Past)
D'Arcy Corrigan (Spirit of Christmas Future)
Ronald Sinclair (young Ebenezer Scrooge)
Alternative Titles
C̢ntico de Natal РPortugese title
Cuento de Navidad – Venezuelan title
Saiturin uni – Finnish title
Links
Extracts included in
The Great Christmas Movies (1998)
Play For Today: Another Flip for Dominick (1982)
Press
An uncredited reviewer in New Statesman 1New Statesman 3 December 1938 had special praise for the direction: “Mr. Edwin Marin's direction has not spoiled this perfect scenario; his evocation of atmosphere is certainly more efficient than imaginative, but at least the essential ingredients are all there: the murky, narrow, gas-lit streets, the cosy indoor jollifications over goose and plum pudding, the snowy, blowy, unmistakably “period” weather outside.” They had “two small grumbles: The Spirit of Christmas Past was turned into a Hollywood cutie, and the young lovers were allowed to behave in church in a way which would have shocked their creator.”
References
Periodicals
Catholic Film News vol.1 no.3 (January 1939) p.11 – review
Motion Picture Herald vol.133 no.8 (19 November 1938) – review
New Statesman 3 December 1938 – review
Books
A Christmas Carol and Its Adaptations: A Critical Examination of Dickens's Story and Its Productions on Screen and Television by Fred Guida pp.174-175 – credits
Reference Guide to Fantastic Films by Walt Lee p.65 – credits
Sound Films, 1927-1939: A United States Filmography Volume 1 by Alan G. Fetrow p.104 – credits, review
