The wretched life of a disagreeable old man is forever altered one haunted Christmas Eve...
Charles Dickens' wonderful Yuletide story, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, is given the full MGM deluxe treatment in this superior Holiday film. The production values & acting are both excellent, with just enough sentiment to appeal to the tenderhearted, and with liberal doses of horror & hilarity stirred into the mix, until, like a fine Christmas punch, the result appeals to all.
The film's rather short running time keeps the action moving along briskly, with one famous & beloved episode after another coming alive before the viewer's eyes.
Reginald Owen, in his best film role, is perfect as the grasping, clutching, tightfisted, covetous old sinner, Ebenezer Scrooge. Replacing the ailing - and highly respected - Lionel Barrymore, Owen makes the part his own, revealing the old miser's misery & heartache, making the part thoroughly human. When he rejoices in his spiritual regeneration at the climax, so do we.
The roles of Bob Cratchit, Scrooge's amiable clerk & Fred, Scrooge's friendly nephew, are both fleshed out more fully than in other versions. The acting skills of Gene Lockhart & Barry MacKay turn them into something very memorable.
Special mention should also be made of Leo G. Carroll as Marley's morose Ghost; Lionel Braham as an impressively jolly Ghost of Christmas Present; and Kathleen Lockhart & Terry Kilburn as Mrs. Cratchit & Tiny Tim. All add fine brushstrokes to the overall picture.
Movie mavens will recognize Billy Bevan as an officer of the Watch; Forrester Harvey as an ebullient Fezziwig; Halliwell Hobbes as a jolly Vicar; and young June Lockhart, in her film debut, as Belinda Cratchit - all uncredited.
Charles Dickens' wonderful Yuletide story, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, is given the full MGM deluxe treatment in this superior Holiday film. The production values & acting are both excellent, with just enough sentiment to appeal to the tenderhearted, and with liberal doses of horror & hilarity stirred into the mix, until, like a fine Christmas punch, the result appeals to all.
The film's rather short running time keeps the action moving along briskly, with one famous & beloved episode after another coming alive before the viewer's eyes.
Reginald Owen, in his best film role, is perfect as the grasping, clutching, tightfisted, covetous old sinner, Ebenezer Scrooge. Replacing the ailing - and highly respected - Lionel Barrymore, Owen makes the part his own, revealing the old miser's misery & heartache, making the part thoroughly human. When he rejoices in his spiritual regeneration at the climax, so do we.
The roles of Bob Cratchit, Scrooge's amiable clerk & Fred, Scrooge's friendly nephew, are both fleshed out more fully than in other versions. The acting skills of Gene Lockhart & Barry MacKay turn them into something very memorable.
Special mention should also be made of Leo G. Carroll as Marley's morose Ghost; Lionel Braham as an impressively jolly Ghost of Christmas Present; and Kathleen Lockhart & Terry Kilburn as Mrs. Cratchit & Tiny Tim. All add fine brushstrokes to the overall picture.
Movie mavens will recognize Billy Bevan as an officer of the Watch; Forrester Harvey as an ebullient Fezziwig; Halliwell Hobbes as a jolly Vicar; and young June Lockhart, in her film debut, as Belinda Cratchit - all uncredited.