A Christmas Carol (1938)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1938
Running Times: 69 mins
Length: 7 reels
Format: black and white (also computer colourized version)      35mm
Ratio: 1.37:1
Sound: mono

PRODUCTION
Production Companies: Loew's Inc/MGM
Producer: Joseph L. Mankiewicz

SCRIPT
Script: Hugo Butler
Novel: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

DIRECTION
Director: Edwin L. Marin
Assistant Directors: Marvin Stuart, Dolph Zimmer (both uncredited)

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Sidney Wagner
Fill-in Photography: John Seitz (uncredited)

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: George Boemler

MUSIC
Music: Franz Waxman, David Snell (uncredited)
Orchestrators: Paul Marquardt, Leonid Raab (both uncredited)

SONGS AND ADDITIONAL MUSIC
"Hark! the Herald Angels Sing"
By Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Charles Wesley

"Silent Night, Holy Night"
By John Reading, Joseph Mohr

"Adeste Fidelis (O Come All Ye Faithful)"
By Franz Gruber, Frederick Oakeley, John Francis Wade

SOUND
Recording Director: Douglas Shearer
Western Electric Sound System

COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP
Make Up Designer: Jack Dawn
Costume Designer: Valles

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Cedric Gibbons
Associate Art Director: John Detlie
Set Decorator: Edwin B. Willis

CAST
Reginald Owen (Ebenezer Scrooge)
Gene Lockhart (Bob Cratchit)
Kathleen Lockhart (Mrs Cratchit)
Terry Kilburn (Tiny Tim Cratchit)
Barry Mackay (Fred)
Lynne Carver (Bess)
Leo G. Carroll (Jacob Marley's ghost)
Lionel Braham (Spirit of Christmas Present)
Ann Rutherford (Spirit of Christmas Past)
D'Arcy Corrigan (Spirit of Christmas Future)
Ronald Sinclair (young Ebenezer Scrooge)
Bunny Beatty (Martha Cratchit (uncredited))
Frank Benson (uncredited)
Billy Bevan (leader of watch (uncredited))
Matthew Boulton (Rummidge (uncredited))
Bob Carey (uncredited)
St Luke's Episcopal Church Choristers (singers (uncredited))
Charles Coleman (Twill (uncredited))
Harry Cording (waiter (uncredited))
Richard Deane (handsome boy (uncredited))
David Dunbar (uncredited)
Herbert Evans (uncredited)
Gertrude Geyer (slim girl at Fred's party (uncredited))
Douglas Gordon (uncredited)
Lumsden Hare, Boyd Irwin, William Stack (men discussing Scrooge's funeral (uncredited))
Hugh Harrison (Tom (uncredited))
Forrester Harvey (Fezziwig (uncredited))
Harold Hensen (Jack (uncredited))
Halliwell Hobbes (minister (uncredited))
Olaf Hytten (schoolmaster (uncredited))
Bill James (uncredited)
Tiny Jones (woman encouraging Fred to slide (uncredited))
Muriel Kearney (Cratchit's youngest daughter (uncredited))
Colin Kenny (uncredited)
Crauford Kent, Eric Wilton (Scrooge's business associates (uncredited))
George Kirby (poulterer (uncredited))
Maude Leslie (Bess's mother (uncredited))
Norma Leslie (plump girl at Fred's party (uncredited))
June Lockhart (Belinda Cratchit (uncredited))
William Martin (Cratchit's middle son (uncredited))
John O'Day (Peter Cratchit (uncredited))
Charles Peck (Dick Wilkins (uncredited))
John Rogers (chestnuts vendor (uncredited))
Clifford Severn (boy (uncredited))
Renee Shearing (Fred's maid (uncredited))
Elvira Stevens (Fran Scrooge (uncredited))
James Stevens (fat man at Fred's party (uncredited))
Doris Stone (pretty girl at Fred's party (uncredited))
Monte Vandergrift (drunk (uncredited))

PLOT SUMMARY

Miserly London businessman Ebenezer Scrooge is visited on Christmas Eve by the ghost of his dead business partner Marley, who warns him that three more ghosts will appear during the night trying to show Scrooge the error of his ways. As the night wears on, he's visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. But will even they be enough to soften old Scrooge's heart?

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Loew's Inc
Video Distributors: MGM
Laserdisc Distributor: MGM Home Video (ML 100689)

Finland
Rating: S

USA
Rating: Approved (PCA #4884)

1938
October
5: UK - production begins

November
Day Unknown: UK – production ends

December
8: USA – copyright granted (LP8482)
16: USA – theatrical release

1940
December
15: Finland – theatrical release

1997
December
25: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2)

Greater than David Copperfield!

Cântico de Natal - Portugese title
Cuento de Navidad - Venezuelan title
Saiturin uni - Finnish title

LINKS

REMAKE
Christmas Present (1985)

SEE ALSO
A Christmas Carol (adaptations)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
The Great Christmas Movies (1998)
Play For Today: Another Flip for Dominick (1982)

BOOKS

A Christmas Carol and Its Adaptations: A Critical Examination of Dickens's Story and Its Productions on Screen and Television by Fred Guida (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc (2000)) pp.174-175
credits

Reference Guide to Fantastic Films p.65
credits

book into film, christmas, ghosts, misers

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009