SCROOGE
(1935)With Seymour Hicks, Donald Calthrop, Robert Cochran, Mary Glynne, Oscar Ashe, Marie Ney, C.V France
Directed by Henry Edwards
Black and White
Reviewed by JB
It feels, well, Scroogelike, to criticize this early British version of
Dickens' A Christmas
Carol,
because so much of it is superb. But the lack of special
effects hurts the fantasy elements, and some performances are severely
lacking. In this version, Jacob Marley appears as nothing,
simply a voiceover, so we never get to see the chains he forged in
life, one of the most important visual elements to the story.
Similarly, the Ghost of Christmas Past is blob of light and
the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is the shadow of a long finger.
The one Christmas spirit we do see, Christmas Present, is
played by an actor, Oscar Ashe, who doesn't project the
earthy, lusty joy of life that is required for the role. In
fact, he
can't get through five words of dialogue without looking and sound like
he needs to burp and then take a nap.
Yes, this particular ghost should be somewhat of a slob, but
no
so much that you would actually be afraid to touch his robe for fear of
catching something. And I must nominate Mary Glynne as the
worst
Belle
ever. She's such an overacting drama queen, she
inadvertently makes us feel that Scrooge was rather lucky to
have been dumped by her.
And yet, with all
that going against it, this early version of the tale is still worth
revisiting for the performance of Sir Seymour Hicks, still one of the
grandest Ebenezer Scrooge's on film. His portrayal of
Dickens'
most famous character stands with those of Alistair Sim and Albert
Finney, both of whom seem clearly influenced by Hicks, especially
Finney. He captures everything about Scrooge, both the
craggy, dried-up shell of a man at the beginning of the story and the
rejuvenated saved soul at the end. Despite a lack of effects,
the film is still visually enticing, especially during the shadowy and
ghastly Ghost of
Christmas past episode. The film depicts foggy London town
of the Dickens book better
than most versions, and Donald
Calthrop is a sympathetic, believable Bob Cratchit. All of
these
good points go a long way to temper any defects with the cast
and
the
disappointing manifestations of the Ghosts.
There are better
versions of the tale, there are worse. But Seymour Hicks and
the overall feel of the film make this one worth revisiting. 
½ - JB
NOTES: The version I procured to review the film may have been
cut. If I get around to getting a complete copy, I may review
this film again.
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Copyright © 2008 John V. Brennan, John Larrabee