Based on Charles Dickens timeless tale, this 1938 version of A Christmas Carol is only 69-minute-long, but it offers one of the novel’s most triumphant screen adaptations.
Reginald Owen plays holiday humbug Ebenezer Scrooge, the misers miser who has a huge change of heart after spirits whisk him into the past, present, and future, while Gene Lockhart stars as Scrooge’s dutiful employee, Bob Cratchit.
Theres a genuine sense of family in the Cratchit household scenes, in part because Lockharts real-life wife Kathleen plays Mrs. Cratchit, while his teenage daughter June Lockhart (TVs “Lassie”) makes her screen debut as one of the Cratchit children. The off screen intimacy of the Lockhart clan translates well into the screen.
Edwin L. Martin is a craftsman, but he does a nice helming job that services well the MGM reliable pros, many of whom great character actors, such as Leo G. Carroll.
Beware of the computer-colored version.
DVD Special Features Include:
Two Festive Vintage Shorts:
o Jackie Coopers Christmas Party
o Judy Garland Sings Silent Night
Classic Oscar-Nominated Cartoon Peace on Earth
Theatrical Trailer