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A Christmas Carol, a review by Antares

A Christmas Carol





Year: 1938
Film Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Genre: Drama, Classic
Length: 69 Min.

Director
Edwin L. Marin

Writer
Charles Dickens (1812)...Original Material By
Hugo Butler...Screenwriter

Producer
Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1909)

Cinematographer
Sidney Wagner (1901)
John F. Seitz (1892)

MusicStars
Reginald Owen (1887) as Ebenezer Scrooge
Gene Lockhart (1891) as Bob Cratchit
Kathleen Lockhart (1894) as Mrs. Cratchit
Terry Kilburn (1926) as Tiny Tim Cratchit
Barry MacKay as Fred
Lynne Carver as Bess
Leo G. Carroll (1886) as Jacob Marley's ghost
Lionel Braham as Spirit of Christmas Present

Review
       For oh so many years, the holiday season has meant for me, my yearly viewing of my favorite Charles Dickens story, A Christmas Carol. This story has been told so many times throughout the years, that I think it possible to play every version and variation back to back, and not repeat an instance for the entire twelve days of Christmas.  The truth be told, I generally will only watch three versions of this classic tale, which I rate in this order: Scrooge (1951) Alastair Sim, A Christmas Carol (1984) George C. Scott and if I'm looking for a somewhat 'entertaining' version, the musical Scrooge (1970) Albert Finney. The criteria I look for in an adaptation of Dickens tale of redemption are the following; (1) Ebenezer Scrooge must be mean, miserly and completely loathsome in his pre-conversion personality, (2) the narrative must stay as close to the original story as possible and (3) the settings in the film must portray London as it was during Dickens time. A cold, dreary and unforgiving city, where fortune smiles upon the few, at the cost of the many.

       Throughout the years, I have watched almost every version of this story put to celluloid. But for some unknown reason, I never came to view the MGM version from 1938, starring Reginald Owen as Scrooge. Well, after finally righting this wrong, I find that I wasn't missing much. This is by far, the worst adaptation of my favorite Christmas classic. Not only does it fail to meet the requisites I mentioned in the previous paragraph, but the performances as a whole, are wholly unbelievable and largely over the top. Terry Kilburn, who was outstanding as four generations of the Colley family, in Goodbye Mr. Chips, plays Tiny Tim as if he's suffering from an intake of too much sugar, topped with a dollop of ADD. He's too manic and cheery to play the suffering, yet hopeful cherub. Gene Lockhart, who is one of my favorite character actors, is woefully miscast as Bob Cratchit, Scrooge's destitute clerk. One look at Lockhart does not create visions of a man struggling to feed his large family, on the contrary, it looks more like he has gorged himself at an all you can eat buffet.

       And finally, the story goes that MGM had initially intended for this film to made with Lionel Barrymore in the lead role. Barrymore had been reciting the story on radio every yuletide season for years, and his recitation was so popular, that MGM decided that it would be a perfect vehicle for his acting talent. The cast was hired, the crew was in place and the sets were completed. But an unfortunate accident on the set of another picture would derail the project, Barrymore had fallen and broken his leg, and would be unable to play the lead. In my eyes, it would be a stroke of fortune for one of my favorite actors of the period, as he would miss out on participating in this train wreck of MGM interpretation. Chosen to take his place, at Barrymore's suggestion, was Reginald Owen, a long time bit player and character actor. This would be Owen's lone starring role and he must have decided to make the most of it. First, his appearance is almost comical as opposed to despicable. While I was watching I had a sense of a cross between the wizard from The Wizard of Oz and any adult character from How the Grinch Stole Christmas. His hunched over, hobbling gait looks forced and without any sense of believability. And finally, his delivery of many of the famous quips from Scrooge are entirely over the top.

       If you have never watched any versions of Dicken's timeless classic, steer clear of this debacle, it's a complete waste of time. But if you're the type that adds sugar to your Cap'n Crunch, because it's 'just not sweet enough', then this version may be to your liking.


Ratings Criterion

(From A Christmas Carol (1938) on December 4th, 2009)

You Can't Take it With You, a review by Jon

1938
You Can't Take it With You
5 out of 5



Grandpa Martin Venderhof (Lionel Barrymore) is head of a family of free-spirits who find joy in everything. Their home is under threat by an unscrupulous banker (Edward Arnold), whose son (James Stewart) happens to be engaged to Vanderhof's granddaughter, Alice (Jean Arthur). Not that all of them are quite sure of all those connections!

I have to jump forward four years, but it's Capra (winning another Best Director) again with an early, optimistic run at Fight Club, via The Darling Buds of May! It has a similar message to Capra's other films and the title is so obvious it may put you off, but don't let it. This is essential viewing considering the state of the global economy and Mr. Brown could do worse than listen to Martin Vanderhof. Everyone should watch this. It's an absolute riot, but with a strong message. Like the previous entry, It Happened One Night, the setup is so obvious it could play itself, but Capra and his fantastic cast still find gaps to explore and the heartwarming story nevertheless has a few lines that might make you squirm: "Lincoln said, 'With malice toward none, with charity to all.' Nowadays they say, 'Think the way I do or I'll bomb the daylights outta you.'"

Lionel Barrymore plays Martin, much older than his own years I think, and it's a great role, always played at the correct, but ever changing tone. You fully believe this quietly persuasive and calm gentleman could slide down a bannister any second. James Stewart is another stand-out as you'd expect, but again, much of the work was already done in such a wonderful character. Edward Arnold possibly has the hardest role as the resolution is predictable and for that reason, it was so easy to get it wrong. He doesn't. All the other characters have their moments and fill them well, especially Spring Byington as Penny, making the Vanderhof home a very attractive place to stay. As one character does, just on a whim! The only one who fails for me is Alice's father. You'd never know it. He does nothing wrong and has as much time as the other secondary characters, but whenever something happens regarding Alice, he's just... there. Penny, her mother and Martin are given all the time with her. It just felt a little odd to me. She's getting married, this is her dad, yet he spends all his time in the cellar setting fireworks off!

You may be forgiven for thinking it's a one joke film, but there are several brilliant set-pieces, like the courtroom (with possibly the best judge ever) and the restaurant, with James Stewart seeing mice! It's as subtle as a sledgehammer and it can be a little preachy in an underhand sort of way (Grandpa isn't at all, it's just the overriding message), though no more than the supposedly hip before-mentioned Fight Club, and you really won't mind anyway, they're such a loopy family. That's why Capra is so good. His films are sentimental, but only he can make them feel right. There is no hint of sarcasm or irony, just solid determination that it will all come out ok. Much like Vanderhof's prayer at mealtimes: "...We've all got our health; as far as anything else is concerned, we still leave that up to you."

(From Jon's Best Picture Oscar Marathon on February 6th, 2009)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete First Season marathon, a review by Achim

The Demon Hand
Another one of those "sorry we need to bore you, but we need to bring acreoos some more exposition" episodes. They aren't bad, it's just not a lot going on, really. I enjoyed them bringing Silverman back.

"No, I'm not police. But I do find them useful."

Vick's Chip
Those scenes with the chip were quite interesting; and creepy at times! It was cool how they tightened the screws a bit on the suspicions against Cameron, but also on Derek; good stuff for season 2.

"The roast should have been removed from the stove 18 minutes and 27 seconds ago."

What He BeheldMy conclusion:
A cool TV series that connect Terminator 2 and 3 brilliantly (so far), with good acting, sufficient amount of action and some humor thrown in for good measure. Looking forward to season 2 (full-length!).

(From Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete First Season marathon on January 27th, 2009)