The players (in credits order): Sir Seymour Hicks (Scrooge, a miser), Donald Calthrop (Cratchit, his clerk), Robert Cochran (Fred, his nephew), Mary Glynne (Belle), Oscar Asche (Christmas Present), Athene Seyler (Scrooge's housekeeper), Mary Lawson (poor man's wife), Maurice Evans (poor man), Garry Marsh (Belle's husband), Barbara Everest (Mrs Cratchit), Eve Grey (Fred's wife), C.V. France (Christmas Future), Morris Harvey (the poulterer), Philip Frost (Tiny Tim), D.J. Williams (the undertaker), Margaret Yarde (Scrooge's laundress), Hugh E. Wright (Old Joe), Charles Carson (Middlemark), Hubert Harben (Worthington).
The technicians (transposed from the opening credits of the movie): Director: HENRY EDWARDS. Screenplay adaptation: H. Fowler Mear. Dialogue: Charles Dickens. Based on the 1843 novelette, A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. Photography: Sydney Blythe, William Luff. Supervising film editor: Jack Harris. Film editor: Ralph Kemplen. Art director: James A. Carter. Music scored and directed by W.L. Trytel. Costumes: L. & H. Nathan. Hair styles: Charles. Producer supervisor: Hans Brahm. Assistant directors: Arthur Barnes, James Davidson. Sound recording: Baynham Honri. Visatone Sound System. Producer: Julius Hagen.
Produced at Twickenham Film Studios. Copyright 30 December 1935 by Paramount. U.S. release through Paramount: 30 November 1935. New York opening at Loew's Orpheum: 13 December 1935. U.K. release through Twickenham: August 1935. Australian release through 20th Century-Fox: 1 January 1936. 78 minutes.
COMMENT: Seymour Hicks was a Scrooge specialist. He'd played the role over two thousand times on the stage before making his initial film version in 1913 (for which he himself wrote the scenario). He'd no need to write the script for this one which follows Dickens so faithfully it even uses the novelist's own dialogue. To put it simply, Hicks is Scrooge to the letter. The other characters are likewise faithful transitions, and all are superbly brought to life here. Produced on an admirably lavish budget, the movie is brilliantly directed by Henry Edwards who imaginatively takes full advantage of the many prodigiously decorated sets. The music score is also a stand-out. In all, this is a truly moving yet spirited production that cannot be faulted even by the most fervent Dickensian. Those who dote on special effects, however, will have a beef. There are very few-and I think the movie is all the better for this restraint. For once, we don't have Marley's ghost visualized before our eyes-aside from his obligatory imposition on the door knocker. Instead we hear his voice and the ominous rattling of his chains. A few present-day critics have complained that Oscar Asche is far from their conception of Christmas Present-yet his appearance and his "business" are based on an extremely popular illustration widely circulated both in the book itself and as a Christmas card in the first half of the 20th century. To depict Christmas Present otherwise would have keenly disappointed most picturegoers. In fact, Oscar Asche was so admired in the part that his name not only became a household word but was widely used as a rhyming-slang synonym for "cash". I've lost count of the number of times I've been accosted in the street by friends, beggars and strangers who asked, "Got any Oscar Asche, mate? Any Oscar Asche?"
The technicians (transposed from the opening credits of the movie): Director: HENRY EDWARDS. Screenplay adaptation: H. Fowler Mear. Dialogue: Charles Dickens. Based on the 1843 novelette, A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. Photography: Sydney Blythe, William Luff. Supervising film editor: Jack Harris. Film editor: Ralph Kemplen. Art director: James A. Carter. Music scored and directed by W.L. Trytel. Costumes: L. & H. Nathan. Hair styles: Charles. Producer supervisor: Hans Brahm. Assistant directors: Arthur Barnes, James Davidson. Sound recording: Baynham Honri. Visatone Sound System. Producer: Julius Hagen.
Produced at Twickenham Film Studios. Copyright 30 December 1935 by Paramount. U.S. release through Paramount: 30 November 1935. New York opening at Loew's Orpheum: 13 December 1935. U.K. release through Twickenham: August 1935. Australian release through 20th Century-Fox: 1 January 1936. 78 minutes.
COMMENT: Seymour Hicks was a Scrooge specialist. He'd played the role over two thousand times on the stage before making his initial film version in 1913 (for which he himself wrote the scenario). He'd no need to write the script for this one which follows Dickens so faithfully it even uses the novelist's own dialogue. To put it simply, Hicks is Scrooge to the letter. The other characters are likewise faithful transitions, and all are superbly brought to life here. Produced on an admirably lavish budget, the movie is brilliantly directed by Henry Edwards who imaginatively takes full advantage of the many prodigiously decorated sets. The music score is also a stand-out. In all, this is a truly moving yet spirited production that cannot be faulted even by the most fervent Dickensian. Those who dote on special effects, however, will have a beef. There are very few-and I think the movie is all the better for this restraint. For once, we don't have Marley's ghost visualized before our eyes-aside from his obligatory imposition on the door knocker. Instead we hear his voice and the ominous rattling of his chains. A few present-day critics have complained that Oscar Asche is far from their conception of Christmas Present-yet his appearance and his "business" are based on an extremely popular illustration widely circulated both in the book itself and as a Christmas card in the first half of the 20th century. To depict Christmas Present otherwise would have keenly disappointed most picturegoers. In fact, Oscar Asche was so admired in the part that his name not only became a household word but was widely used as a rhyming-slang synonym for "cash". I've lost count of the number of times I've been accosted in the street by friends, beggars and strangers who asked, "Got any Oscar Asche, mate? Any Oscar Asche?"