Charles Dickens' immortal story certainly has resonated over the centuries, both in print and through the various cinematic interpretations of the tale. Here, Reginald Owen plays the central role of miserable, greedy old cretin Ebenezer Scrooge, a character with no use for the Christmas season. It isn't until four spirits, starting with that of his deceased business partner Jacob Marley, visit him one Christmas Eve and work hard at making Scrooge see the error of his ways.
There is enough individuality in this adaptation (scripted by Hugo Butler) to make it interesting enough to watch, although it does sort of race through the story, clocking in at a mere 70 minutes. The sequence with the Spirit of Christmas Past (the gorgeous Ann Rutherford) IS over pretty quickly, with not enough time devoted to showing us how Scrooge started adopting his present demeanor. That said, it's full of endearing, engaging performances. Owen is a solid Scrooge, although he won't make anybody forget cinemas' most memorable Scrooge, Alastair Sim. In this version, he begins repenting sooner, and plays it more low-key than Sim when Scrooge sees the light.
Gene Lockhart is appealing as put-upon clerk Bob Cratchit, and the casting makes this a bit of a family affair: his real-life wife Kathleen plays Mrs. Cratchit, and their daughter June makes her film debut as one of the Cratchit children. Terry Kilburn is a wonderful Tiny Tim, Barry MacKay is a delight as the upbeat, optimistic Fred, and that great English character actor Leo G. Carroll is an excellent Marley's ghost. One amusing touch here is that when Marley's ghost appears in Scrooges' abode, he attempts to have some gentlemen remove the "intruder", whom of course they cannot see.
This 1938 adaptation is overall definitely not as potent as the 1951 classic, but it still gets enough right to rate as decent holiday fare.
Seven out of 10.
