Review of A Christmas Carol (1938) by Devon B — 18 Dec 2009

Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol has seen its fair share of adaptations. From the big screen to the tiny screen, from movies to television specials, Dickens' classic tale of a miserly old man being taught the true meaning of Christmas has been done to death by now. Even though there have been way too many incarnations of this story made into movies, there are a few adaptations that I've come to admire. My personal favorite is, and probably always will be, the one starring George C. Scott as Scrooge. Edwin L Marin's 1938 adaptation is another favorite version of the tale for me, and one of the easier adaptations to get through.

The screenplay for this version of A Christmas Carol is hardly faithful to its source material. A few things are added in, for dramatic purposes I suppose, like Bob Cratchit (Gene Lockhart) getting the sack on Christmas Eve. And there are a few things that are excluded from this version, like Ebenezer Scrooge's (Reginald Owen) failed attempt at young love. Exclusions like this made it a little more difficult to understand why this man grew to hate this holiday so much.

Reginald Owen was great in the role of Scrooge. Despite being a flawed adaptation of the character, Owen's performance alone was enough to make this character work. He delivers Scrooge's patented brand of crotchetiness spectacularly, and at times I found myself so wrapped up in the character that I was laughing at some of the mean things he was saying. And I found his transformation from mean old man to kind soul, as he is whisked backwards and forwards through various Christmas times, nicely done and Owen was great with his character's development.

The acting by the other cast members were fine, and made this version of A Christmas Carol one of the more well acted. Some of the casting was a bit off, like Lockhart as Bob Cratchit. He is great in the role, but his plump body seemed a little odd considering this character was supposed to be extremely poor. Terry Kilburn was an adorable kid, but he seemed too old to be playing Tiny Tim. And at times he was more lively than the character should be.

The special effects were very well done, especially for the time period. And the film kept a steady pace, and because of its much shorter run was able to get Dickens' message across without outstaying its welcome or becoming too sentimental. The ending is a bit rushed, but overall this is still one of the best movie adaptations of this tale. Certainly beats the disappointment that the Robert Zemeckis' version managed to be.