Review of A Christmas Carol (1938) by Forrest P — 11 Nov 2010

It can be a little corny at times, but the 1938 version of Charles Dickins's A Christmas Carol still has everything one could ask for out of an adaptation of the novel.

Reginald Owen plays Scrooge in this version. He plays the part very well, and I really cannot complain about it. He doesn't really add a whole lot to the character--certainly no more than what we've seen before or than what was in the novel.

Just like the rest of the movie, in fact. Everything about this movie is very much the novel put on film--which is exactly why it works as well as it does. This is also one of the shorter versions of the story running at only an hour and nine minutes. So, it's easy to see that this movie doesn't put in a whole lot besides what's needed for the story. This is always a good-bad deal for any film adaption.

A young actor by the name of Terry Kilburn plays Tiny Tim in this version of the story. Is he good? Sure. But he also doesn't leave a hell of an impact on the audience.

Even so, the audience really gets an appreciation for everything that the actors did for this movie. There's still a lot of effort put into this film, and a lot of upbeat happiness thrown in as well.

Now, at times the editing does feel a little funky, and some of the Christmas spirits are kind of just touched on, but it's really hard not to like the whole film just the same. Plus, it still managed to touch the heart of the audience, in spite of any of the corniness that is there.

So, I really, really liked the 1938 version of A Christmas Carol. I cannot say that I loved it, but it was good. It was a good taste of what the story is, even though there's not a whole lot of meat put into it.

8/10.