(Edwin L. Marin, US 1938, 69 min., DCP)
Hollywood’s first big-budget version of the Dickens classic features Reginald Owen as Ebenezer Scrooge in his most-remembered role. Scrooge, an inveterate miser, verbally abuses his lone employee, Bob Cratchit, before sending him home for Christmas Eve, the anniversary of his partner, Marley’s, death. At his house, Marley’s ghost informs Scrooge that the only way to avoid his purgatorial pain is to accept the visit of three ghosts: Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet-to-Come. Over a single night, Scrooge is exposed to the part all men play in the world, and the impact a single man can make. The cast is filled out with MGM contract players Leo G. Carroll as Marley and Gene Lockhart (and his real-life wife Kathleen) as the Cratchits.