Scrooge is a 1935 British Christmas fantasy film directed by Henry Edwards and starring Seymour Hicks, Donald Calthrop and Robert Cochran. The film was released by Twickenham Film Studios and has since entered the public domain. It was the first sound film of feature length to adapt the Charles Dickens novella A Christmas Carol, and it was the second cinematic adaptation of the story to use sound, following a now-lost 1928 short subject adaptation of the story. Hicks stars as Ebenezer Scrooge, a miser who hates Christmas and is visited by a succession of ghosts on Christmas Eve. Hicks had previously played the role of Scrooge on the stage regularly, starting in 1901, and in a 1913 British silent film version. The 1913 film, retitled Old Scrooge, was reissued in 1929 as a "sound film" by the low-budget Weiss Bros. studio, with a synchronized musical score added.
Critical reception to Scrooge has been generally positive over the years. Praise has focused on the film's atmosphere, which has been compared to works of German expressionism, and on the performance of Hicks in the title role. Some reviews have criticized the film for its technical limitations and for heavily abbreviating Scrooge's backstory.
Plot It is Christmas Eve of 1843: Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly and cold-hearted money-lender, is working in his freezing counting house along with his suffering, underpaid clerk Bob Cratchit. Two businessmen arrive to request a donation for the poor, but Scrooge responds that prisons and workhouses are sufficient resources to deal with poor people. Scrooge catches Bob trying to take some coal but warns him he will be out of a job if he does not go back to work. A visit from Fred, Scrooge's nephew and sole living relative, only incites further annoyance, with Scrooge refusing to dine with him and his wife, and grumbling that Christmas is "Humbug!".
That night after work, Bob goes home to celebrate the holidays with his family while Scrooge dines alone at a seedy tavern while the gentlemen and ladies of London celebrate Christmas with the Lord Mayor of London. At home, Scrooge encounters the ghost of his seven-years-dead partner Jacob Marley, who wears a chain he "forged in life" from his own wicked career. He tells Scrooge he will be haunted by three spirits in order to have the chance to escape his fate.
That night, as Marley warned, Scrooge is haunted by the Ghost of Christmas Past, who shows Scrooge how he lost his fiancée Belle due to his avarice and his harsh behavior toward others, including a debt-ridden couple. Scrooge then sees that Belle is now married and has many children.
The next spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, shows Scrooge how poor Bob and his family are, as they have a meagre Christmas dinner of goose and pudding. The spirit warns that unless the future changes, Tiny Tim, the youngest son, who is ill, will die. Scrooge then sees how others keep Christmas before seeing Fred celebrate with his wife and friends.
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge what lies in store the following year. Scrooge discovers Tiny Tim is dead, and sees the grave of a man who was robbed after his death and discussed by some businessmen, and discovers it was himself.
Scrooge returns a changed and generous person. He orders a turkey for Bob and his family, gives a large donation to the two men from the day before and dines with Fred. Scrooge raises Bob's wages and gives him the day off, telling him that he will be a godfather to Tiny Tim, who does not die, and the two attend church together. The congregation sings "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" as they enter.
Cast
Sir Seymour Hicks as Ebenezer Scrooge Donald Calthrop as Robert "Bob" Cratchit Robert Cochran as Fred Mary Glynne as Belle Garry Marsh as Belle's husband Philip Frost as Tiny Tim Oscar Asche as Spirit of Christmas Present Marie Ney as Spirit of Christmas Past (voice, physical outline only) C. V. France as Spirit of Christmas Future Athene Seyler as Scrooge's charwoman Maurice Evans as Poor man pleading with Scrooge Mary Lawson as Poor man's wife Barbara Everest as Mrs. Cratchit Eve Gray as Fred's wife Morris Harvey as Poulterer with prize turkey D.J. Williams as Undertaker Margaret Yarde as Scrooge's laundress Hugh E. Wright as Old Joe Charles Carson as Middlemark, seeking charitable contributions Hubert Harben as Worthington, seeking charitable contributions Robert Morley as Rich man (uncredited)
Production Scrooge was the first film to be released by Twickenham Film Distributors, Ltd., which was founded by Julius Hagen and Arthur Clavering. Hagen acted as producer for the new company while Clavering handled distribution. Hagen then formed his own distributing firm.
The title character in Scrooge was performed by Sir Seymour Hicks, who had previously portrayed the character on the stage hundreds of times since 1901.
Filming began on 25 March 1935Kinematograph Weekly, "Scrooge to Start Next Monday", 21 March 1935, p. 37 and the finished picture was ready for advance tradeshow screenings on 2 July. The final budget was £25,000 (then $120,000 US, about par for a moderately budgeted feature film). Producer Hagen arranged distribution throughout the world, with the exception of the United States.Kinematograph Weekly, "Scrooge for World Release", 19 September 1935, p. 42. Hagen reserved the American rights until he found an offer to his liking, and agreed to Paramount Pictures' plan to release the film "simultaneously with Christmas release [in England]."Daily Film Renter, "American Deal for Scrooge, 15 November 1935, p. 1. Hagen's laboratory, owned by George Humphries, worked day and night to manufacture 70 prints of the film for England, after which Hagen sent the original negative to Paramount, which made more than 200 prints for American distribution.
Reception President Franklin D. Roosevelt showed the film at the White House on Christmas night, 1935.Kinematograph Weekly, "Roosevelt Asks for Scrooge, 28 November 1935, p. 3.
Variety remarked on the authenticity of the film: "Seymour Hicks has played Ebenezer Scrooge off and on for a quarter of a century. He can do it standing on his head, and was undoubtedly invaluable with his assistance in directing and production details. Whoever selected the supporting cast possesses an uncanny knack for picking types to fit the story which, of course, is laid in England around 1840. They wear the clothes of the period as though accustomed to doing so. Photography is unique in that much of it is shadowy, and suggests a lot more than it reveals."Variety, 11 December 1935, p. 34. Kate Cameron of the New York Daily News picked up on the deliberately atmospheric photography: "The settings, when they are sufficiently lighted to see, seem to belong to the period of the tale."Kate Cameron, New York Daily News, 14 December 1935, p. 30.
Frank Nugent of The New York Times called Scrooge "a faithful, tender and mellow edition" of A Christmas Carol.Frank S. Nugent, New York Times, 14 December 1935, p. 11. "The danger of adapting so widely read an author as Dickens to the screen always has been that the mortals chosen to fill the roles will prove so much less human than the characters he created out of pen, paper and genius. Happily, there is no such disappointment here. Sir Seymour's portrayal of Scrooge is, of course, the highlight of the photoplay [and] Mr. Calthrop's Bob Cratchit could not be bettered."
"Beautifully acted and faithful to the letter and spirit of the story, it is a film that merits the highest praise," wrote William Boehnel of the New York World Telegram. "The pace is just right -- neither too slow nor too fast -- the costumes and the characters are as Dickens painted them, [and] the entire production has a warming glow about it. [Hicks offers,] in short, a performance that brings Scrooge to life on the screen exactly as Dickens imagined him."William Boehnel, New York World Telegram, 17 December 1935, p. 29.
Post-release Variety had actually reviewed the film twice; the second review also praised the film but was most concerned with how it might fare with American audiences: "Scrooge, the English version of 'Christmas Carol', unqualifiedly has captured the spirit of the Dickens classic. It has been acted with fidelity to character, directed with consummate skill and intelligence, and undoubtedly will fill the groove in Christmas week programs. Where it will go on from there is a highly debatable point. [It] certainly deserves a better fate than dual spotting [programmed as part of a double feature]. Properly plugged during the holiday season, it should go over. After that it will be a job of exploitation in getting students and clubwomen interested, as has been done with similar productions of obviously lesser merit and interest."Variety, 18 December 1935, p. 13.
Paramount timed the American release badly. The studio had announced the American release in November 1935 but made the mistake of making the film available only to first-run cinemas in late December, ensuring a number of engagements in larger cities but killing the film's chances after Christmas week. By the time the first-run houses had finished showing the picture, the Christmas season had passed and the neighbourhood cinemas had no interest in playing it. Paramount might have held back the American release until the following November, when Scrooge could profitably play in extended runs during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons.
Producer Julius Hagen, quite bitter about Paramount's handling of his production, remarked, "Chief menace to the British industry at the present time is the Henry VIII myth -- the legend that $300,000 product will be received with open arms in the United States. Not only is the American market cold, but deliberate so [sic]."Julius Hagen, quoted in The Hollywood Reporter, 25 January 1937, p. 9. Hagen had expected a $200,000 return on the American runs of Scrooge; the film earned only $6000 from American cinemas. In a Hollywood Reporter story headlined "Hagen Blames U. S. for His Failure", the uncredited columnist recounted how Scrooge was "planned to be launched as a Christmastime feature but which, through calculated mismanagement across the Atlantic, it was alleged, failed to arrive in time for holiday showing." The economic shortfall resulting from the American handling of Scrooge had a direct effect on Hagen's finances, and his production and distribution companies both went into receivership less than two years after their formation. Hagen did recoup his investment from the international releases of Scrooge; the final figure calculated in 1937, including the paltry American revenue, was $275,000 US.Julius Hagen, Hollywood Reporter.
Scrooge was reissued theatrically in Great Britain by the Ambassador company in 1947.Kinematograph Weekly, 10 July 1947, p. 49.
Home-movie releases In 1940 Scrooge enjoyed a British release on the popular 9.5mm film gauge.The British Journal of Photography, 22 November 1940, p. 521.
American entrepreneur Kent D. Eastin, later president of Blackhawk Films, acquired 16mm non-theatrical rights to Scrooge in 1941, and shortened the film to 60 minutes for use in schools, churches, libraries, and other community centers. This hour-long edition is well edited and omits minor episodes without affecting the continuity. For more than 40 years this shorter version of Scrooge was the only way the film could be seen. It was an early arrival on local television stations -- WGN-TV in Chicago broadcast it on Christmas Eve, 1948,Chicago Daily Tribune, 24 December 1948, p. 6. and WBZ-TV in Boston aired it on 18 December 1949.Boston Globe, 18 December 1949, p. A33. It played in Canada on Christmas Eve, 1952.Toronto Daily Star, 23 December 1952, p. 15.
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