Miserly Ebenezer Scrooge (Reginald Owen), known for his cruelty, particularly to his employee, Bob Cratchit (Gene Lockhart), is visited by the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, and learns the meaning of Christmas.
This MGM, high-gloss version of the Dickens classic is a long way from its weak, 1935 predecessor. What a difference three years (and a lot of money) can make. Constructed with a sharp understanding of the difference between film and literature, this adaptation rockets along with a light tone and some major cuts. But while some scenes are missing, the spirit isn’t. Gone is the younger, businessman Scrooge turning to avarice and away from his fiancée. Also missing are the opportunists selling off his clothing and bed curtains in the future. Instead, there is a greater focus on the amiable Cratchit family and the jovial nephew Fred.
Lionel Barrymore (best remembered as Mr. Potter in It’s a Wonderful Life) had played Scrooge in a popular annual radio broadcast, so was hired to recreate the role for the silver screen. However he bowed out shortly before filming began due to an injury, and at his urging, Owen was chosen to replace him. It doesn’t take much imagination to hear Barrymore in Owen’s interpretation. He delivers a Scrooge that’s more crotchety than evil, one where it is easy to accept Fred’s pronouncement that the person his uncle is hurting the most is himself.
Nearly stealing the show is the husband and wife team of Gene and Kathleen Lockhart as the Cratchits. They supply warmth, Christmas cheer, and a good dose of humor. Making it a family affair, their daughter June took a role as one of the Cratchit children. She would grow up to play the mother in the TV shows Lassie and Lost in Space, and starred with her own daughter in the fantasy film, Troll.
One of the best tellings of the Christmas classic, 1938’s A Christmas Carol is more accessible than the other traditional versions that tend to be dark and slow. This, and the 1951 Alastair Sim version, are the two that are on my must see list every year.