One of the most popular Christmas stories of all time is “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. Although written in 1843, this holiday tale is just as beloved today as it was in the Victorian Era. It’s believed that this book started the tradition of saying “Merry Christmas.” This Yuletide tale reminds people to embrace generosity, lest they end up like the miserly Scrooge.
A Lovable Cast of Characters
Although this film’s cast contains no big-name stars, all the characters are played by popular supporting actors from MGM’s impressive stable of talent. Anyone who has watched pre-World War II films will recognize many of these character actors by face, if not by name. The cast is headed by Reginald Owen as Ebenezer Scrooge.
Owen was actually a last-minute replacement for the far better-known Lionel Barrymore, who famously played Scrooge on radio broadcasts in all but two years between 1934 and 1953. When Barrymore broke his hip, the role instead went to the 50-year-old British actor. Gene Lockhart plays family man Bob Cratchit, lending warmth and humor to the role. His wife is played by his real-life spouse, Kathleen Lockhart.
The family picture is completed by the fact that one of the Cratchit girls is played by Gene and Kathleen’s real daughter. The 13-year-old June made her film debut in this movie but would go on to have a successful television career. The crippled Cratchit boy, lovable Tiny Tim, is adorably played by Terry Kilburn, one of MGM’s most popular child actors in the late 1930s.
Surprisingly, the important role of Fred, Scrooge’s nephew, is played by British actor Barry MacKay, who was not an MGM regular. He does, however, lend a very convincing English characterization. His fiancée, Bess, is played by Lynne Carver, who was a regular in the Dr. Kildare film series.
Marley’s Ghost is eerily played by Leo G. Carroll, a veteran British actor of the stage who also was a consummate film actor. Of the other three spirits, the most recognizable is undeniably the Ghost of Christmas Past, who is played by Ann Rutherford. This young lady famously played Andy Hardy’s sweetheart Polly Benedict in 12 of the 16 Hardy films. Young Ebenezer was played by another young MGM player, Ronald Sinclair.
Authentic regional accents were rarely a top priority for Old Hollywood filmmakers. It was usually simplest to use available actors at the studio, even if they weren’t the right nationality for the part. Fortunately for this production, however, MGM employed many non-American performers.
Changes for the Screen
Unsurprisingly, the 1938 version eliminated some of the elements from the story, since it was only 69 minutes long. In 1930s Hollywood, filmmakers were more concerned with making an entertaining film than a faithful adaptation of the source material. They thought it was more important to adhere to the content standards of the Motion Picture Production Code than the details of the original book. Considering this attitude, the 1938 “Christmas Carol” is surprisingly faithful to Dickens’s original tale.Much of the film’s dialogue directly quotes from the original text and the story also sticks quite close to the plot of the book. Most of the changes made were for the sake of clarity onscreen. For instance, Marley’s Ghost tells Scrooge that the Three Spirits will visit him that very night, on Christmas Eve, an hour apart; in the book, Marley says that each will visit Scrooge at 1 a.m. on three subsequent nights, although they end up having all come in one night after all.
As for the ghosts themselves, all, except Christmas Past, are faithful to the literary descriptions. In the film, this spirit is an angelic young lady with flowing blonde tresses and a glowing white gown. This is an understandable change, since the genderless creature of the book is described as “a strange figure—like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man, viewed through some supernatural medium. .... Its hair, which hung about its neck and down its back, was white as if with age; and yet the face had not a wrinkle in it, and the tenderest bloom was on the skin.”
Perhaps the most notable example of Scrooge’s miserly greed is his refusal to give his employee, Bob Cratchit, Christmas Day off. Naturally, this was retained in the 1938 film. However, on Christmas Eve, Mr. Cratchit actually gets fired from the firm of Marley and Scrooge. When he joins a group of lads in throwing snowballs, he unluckily knocks his employer’s hat off, angering the already disgruntled grouch.
A Family Holiday Classic
“A Christmas Carol” has long been regarded as a holiday tale for all ages to enjoy. However, many film versions have emphasized, exaggerated, or just plain fabricated darker aspects of the story. The 1938 film is one of the most family friendly versions of the novella. This is because it is the only version of the story made during the Motion Picture Production Code’s 20 years of thorough enforcement in the making of Hollywood films.The Code’s detailed guidelines on decent film content basically were created to make all American movies “reasonably acceptable to reasonable people,” that is, appropriate for people of all ages and backgrounds. The result is a whole era of generally uplifting, positive, and inspiring films. However, the “happily-ever-after” standard was also the reflection of filmmaker’s personal standards, such as those of Louis B. Mayer.
A darker, deeper take on “A Christmas Carol” could have been successfully made under the Code. However, MGM boss Louis B. Mayer disliked unhappy endings or focusing on life’s darker elements, so the grimmer aspects of the book were omitted. Wailing phantoms, starving children called Want and Ignorance, and the bitter details after Scrooge’s foreseen death weren’t included in this movie.
Marley’s ghost is the creepiest thing we see, and his presence only gives us a few chilling moments. Perhaps a more noticeable whitewash is the apparent prosperity of the supposedly destitute Cratchits. This, too, is not a result of the Code’s principles, but Mr. Mayer’s insistence that all his characters look presentable, regardless of their economic circumstances.
Maybe there is wisdom to not depicting life’s harsher aspects on film. After years of the Great Depression, many Americans may have found an accurate depiction of Victorian slums too close to reality. This film allowed viewers of all ages, backgrounds, and financial circumstances to forget their troubles by escaping into a warm, wonderful story about generosity and the true meaning of Christmas.
Enjoy its charm this Christmas season. It will leave you quoting Tiny Tim: “God bless us, every one!”
