A Christmas Carol
Directed by Edwin R. Marin
Written by Hugo Butler from a novel by Charles Dickens
1938/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Repeat viewing
[box] “Bah,” said Scrooge, “Humbug.” ― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol[/box]
Dickens’ classic Christmas story gets the MGM treatment.
Skinflint Ebenezer Scrooge (Reginald Owen) thinks Christmas is for fools until he is visited by his deceased partner’s ghost (Leo G. Carroll) and the Spirits of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come. With Gene Lockhart as Bob Crachit.
This festive adaptation takes most of the scares, pathos, and interest out of the original. I thought Reginald Owens’ Scrooge was converted much too easily. I’m afraid I am an Alastair Sim purist when it comes to A Christmas Carol.
The DVD I received contained some interesting extras – “Jackie Cooper’s Christmas Party” (1931), a kind of Christmas card from MGM with lots of its stars; Judy Garland singing “Silent Night” (1937); and “Peace on Earth” (1939), an anti-war Technicolor cartoon in which Grandpa Squirrel explains to the youngsters what “men” were and how they destroyed themselves.
Trailer
