Now we're going to take a look at some of the details left in, left out or added to the 1935 British production "Scrooge" starring Sir Seymour Hicks. As previously mentioned, there's a short version and a long version. We're going to deal with long version, as the short version cuts out some scenes toward the end.
The credits from the long version have a hand opening on a book, stopping at the preface. The preface is signed by Charles Dickens with a date of December 1843, and the camera dissolves into a bigger December 1843 to indicate that's when the story takes place.
This brings up an interesting point. I don't think that the story literally takes place in 1843. Once Dickens gets down to business to tell the story, he says, "Once upon a time..." which indicates these events happened in the past. That's also how we know at the end that Tiny Tim did not die.
In any event, we open with a shot of London, which I think is a bunch of miniatures, but kind of cool in a retro way. There's a charm there that you don't find with CGI these days.
Since the book wasn't opened as far as the beginning of the story and there's no narrator, so Scrooge gets some expository dialogue to say that Marley was dead as a doornail.
We get the usual business at the office, with Bob Cratchit and the coal, the nephew and the gentlemen. I like Cratchit muttering about the coal and Scrooge telling him to stop.
We get a pretty fun montage when Scrooge is going home, as he's contrasted with other people with their holiday festivities, including the Lord Mayor's dinner, which we always hear about and rarely get to see. The Lord mayor's secretary gets in a really good quip that I won't spoil!
when Scrooge gets home, he sees Marley's face in the knocker. We see it too, but we don't realize yet that;s as much as we'll see! It looks like Marley's name is scratched out on the nameplate with Scrooge's added in, which makes sense as that had been Marley's house before he died.
Scrooge is sufficiently shaken by that to inspect his chambers for intruders, including the dressing gown, which was "hanging up in a suspicious attitude against the wall." Love the reference to the original text!
When Marley's Ghost shows up, we can hear him but cannot see him. I think he says, "Look well, Ebenezer Scrooge, for only you can see me," more for our benefit. Well, we're not Scrooge and we can't see him, so he's not wrong.
There seems to be an urban legend that Claude Rains provides the voice of Marley's Ghost. I don't think that's the case, as it doesn't sound particularly like him. Did that only get started because Claude Rains played/voiced "The Invisible Man" in that 1933 film? Who knows?
If I were in charge, I would've had Marley's ghost be visible. I don't know what 1935 audiences thought of that, but it seems like they're cheaping out. And it probably makes modern audiences think that special effects weren't sophisticated enough in 1935 to pull it off, which is certainly not the case. They did it pretty convincingly in that 1910 silent film we were looking at earlier!
Anyway, Marley's Ghost lays it out and actually explains who each of the other three spirits will be. When he departs with his customary, "Look to see me know more," he's not kidding.
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(This last comment was from my helper, Slugger the Cat!)
So, we didn't see Marley's Ghost, but will we see the others? Well, not the Ghost of Christmas Past, as that's represented by a glowing outline of a woman, which speaks with a male voice. That gives it that kind of you-don't-really-know-what it-is vibe.
We only get two scenes from the past, both with young Scrooge and Belle. Seymour Hicks doesn't look too young, but, whatever.
I really like the first scene, which changes things up by having Belle come into Scrooge's office while he's giving hard time to a poor couple who need more time to repay their debt. Belle gets to see him in action and does not like it! This is the scene with Maurice Evans, by the way, who's more subdued than in his later, better-known roles.
We then see Belle with her husband and family and it seems like she has a zillion kids!
These scenes from the past are framed in kind of a white glow, which is a nice touch. The Christmas Past segment is short, but I like what's there.
We finally do get to see one of the spirits when the Ghost of Christmas Present appears. He has a different appearance from the usual depiction, as previously mentioned.
We see Bob carrying Tiny Tim home from church and they stop to buy a little toy boat, which is sweet. All the kids are at home, with Martha hiding and the usual antics. Tiny Tim even gets to sing!
A nice interpretation of the Cratchit's Christmas dinner follows. No wonder Scrooge says he envies them!
We then get too see the guys in the lighthouse and on board a ship celebrate the holiday. Another seldom seen detail from the book. A sort of nod to the book is having one of the sailor's laugh merge into Fred laughing at his party.
Fred doles out plenty of punch to his guests while comically talking about his uncle and everyone has a good time playing that "yes or no" game.
This version doesn't shy away from some of the grimmer themes from the book, but we don't get Ignorance and Want here.
We do get plenty of grimness in the future, however!
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come isn't really seen here either. It's a shadow, which is effective now that we've gotten used to the idea of not seeing the ghosts. Scrooge is often scene within the shadow and these scenes have a black border around them.
In the future, we see the other businessmen talking about Scrooge, and then we get a wild scene inside Old Joe's place.
This scene is so creepy! Old Joe, the undertaker, laundress and charwoman are almost as cartoony looking as their counterparts in "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol!" It's effective! Except for Old Joe himself, nobody else is called by name in this scene, so we don't have the Mrs. Dilber issue.
Scrooge sees his body, which he won't admit is his, them we go to the Cratchit's house.
Tiny Tim has died, which is sad enough, but we actually see his body laid out as described in the book!
Adding to the creepiness is the mysterious hand that closes the door behind Bob when he enters that room. Is that the same hand that was turning the pages of the book during the credits? Is it attached to a person?
Back in the present, things are also a little wacky. The charwoman comes in while Scrooge is jumping around and just stares with an odd look on her face. Scrooge calls out the window to have the kid buy the turkey, but the kid can't wake the poulterer, so Scrooge has to go over himself. After all that, the turkey doesn't even look all that big! All in all, this sequence is more odd than anything.
Once Scrooge gets going and makes his donation to those charity guys, we get a really well-played scene of him going to Fred's for dinner. If Scrooge getting teary-eyed while looking at the Christmas tree and thinking of Tiny Tim singing doesn't bring a tear to your eye as well, then...
We cut from here to the next morning where we see Bob and his family at breakfast. That pastry nothing that Mrs. Cratchit is cutting looks interesting, but Bob can't chow down because he's running late.
The scene with Scrooge surprising Bob at the office is faithful to the book, but after Bob leaves, we see Scrooge go to church, where he runs into Bob. The mysterious hand closes the book and it's the end!
I think this is a really solid version. It has tons of atmosphere and lots of dialogue and detail right out of the book.
I'm really glad that this version is around, as it's historically significant as it's the first full-length talking adaptation and it also preserves the performance of a renowned Scrooge.
I do think you need to look at it for what it is, though, with something of a 1930s lens. If you can do that, it's an enjoyable movie and not just a history lesson!
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