A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

My all time favorite Christmas story is the classic A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. 

Cover of the first edition
of A Christmas Carol

If you've never seen the story's adaptation in cinema or television format then you are lucky to be able to read the story here in its original format, unbiased by previously seen actor's portrayals of the characters.  I would strongly recommend reading it before watching an adaptation so your mind's eye can help you visualize the setting and characters as Dickens meant them to be seen. 

I say this because I've viewed several movie and cartoon versions of the story; while some of them do justice to Charles Dickens' work, many of them (in my opinion) completely miss the mark, and often trivialize the plot by attempting to reimage the story through a modern day interpretation.  Of course, to each their own I suppose.  I will touch upon the movie versions later.


A little about Charles Dickens

In order to fully understand the deeper, underlying themes within A Christmas Carol it is best to start with learning more about the author, Charles Huffam Dickens and bring to light his life experiences and the conditions of the era in which he lived.  Dickens, was the second child out of a family of eight. He was born in Portsmouth, England in 1812, and his family moved to London in 1815.  His father John Dickens worked as clerk in the Royal Navy Pay Office.  This was a benefit to Charles as he was able to attend private schooling at William Giles School in Chatham, England. 

Unfortunately, this short period of fortunate came to an abrupt end because it is said that John Dickens spent way outside of his means, and as a result of his extravagance, ended up in Marshalsea's Debtor's Prison in Southwick, England.  The rest of the family ended up there as well, except for Charles who was saved the disgrace by being placed in a boarding house in Camden Town with a family friend.

Dickens was forced to take a job putting labels on shoe polish at Warren's Blacking Warehouse for 10 hours a day, working under very cruel and filthy conditions; this enabled him to earn a meager six schillings a week. It's easy to understand that by seeing the hardships around him, including knowing his family was locked away in a debtor's prison, and his own miserable existance - how this molded his world view as he eventually became an outspoken public proponent of social reform, and an advocate for the poor.  This is illustrated not just in his book A Christmas Carol, but also in his novel David Cooperfield, and in his later experience as a Philanthropist which included his working to establish a womens' home in 1846 called Urania Cottage to reintegrate wayward women back into society through learning, reading, and chores (a stark contrast to the cruel forced labor institutions of the day), and to save the Great Ormand Street Hospital from financial crisis in the 1852 and eventually expand its bed capacity from 25 beds to 75. These are only but a few of his public contributions to society.

Dickens circa 1852

Dickens eventually saw his family released from prison based on the lucky fortune of receiving a sum of money from the estate of his Father's grandmother which he used to arrange a settlement of John Dickens debts, under the Government's Debtors laws.  Despite his hardship and his conviction to continue to work in a morbid setting in order to help carry his family members on his income, he did attend Wellington House Academy where he began his education in literature and writing.  His writing was later enhanced when he worked as a clerk for a law office for four years, and a newspaper reporter.

In addition to the authorship of his many personal works, he also became a political reporter, and served as an editor of monthly periodicals and journals.  Interestingly enough, Dickens is said to have written A Christmas Carol in a matter of two weeks in November of 1843; the piece was said to be a potboiler - which means that it was written quickly in order to meet immediate obligations of pending debt - which in this case was the birth of his fifth child (Dickens had ten children in all).

It speaks to the genius of Dickens in that he was able to create a tale in short order to merely cover his expenses. Little did he know that it would become immortalized for years to come as a classic Christmas tale. When you examine the photos of the original hand-written manuscript, you gain an even deeper appreciation for his amazing talent as a writter and thinker.

Charles Dickens died of a stroke in 1870.

The Formation of the Story

Little is factually known about how Dickens came to create the story A Christmas Carol because there is no correspondence that details that account from that period.  In fact, Dickens actually intentionally burned all of his correspondence in September of 1860 in a field; the reason for this is not known for certain; however the rumor is that it was to hide an affair he was having with Ellen Turnan while he was still married.

But what we do know is that several of the elements of his youth are indirectly referenced in the story including reference to The Poor Laws, the workhouses and even "The Treadmills" - which was a form of torture used in prisons during the early Victorian Period in Britain.  As mentioned before, Dickens spent time as a political reporter, much of it rallying against the cruelty of the Poor Laws thus incoporation of Dickens' views on the day were incorporated to advance his social views on the larger public, and bring light to filthy conditions of the unfortunate.  We further know that the tale takes place shortly after 1800 as referenced in dialogue between the Ghost of Christmas Present and Ebenezer Scrooge.

Dickens use of the sickly "Tiny" Tim Cratchit also spoke to his own experiences seeing the terrible plight of children as he visited workhouses and penitentiaries, and in boroughs in both the England and even in the United States.  Children being often the unintended victims of poverty - this is doubly enhanced through Tim's example and the foreshadowing of his death of Tim Cratchit by the Spirit of Christmas Present.

The revelation of young Scrooge being left alone at grammar school  may have also been a  reference to Dickens' separation from his own family when they were all sent to debtors prison; Dickens left to work in a shoe polish warehouse under cruel, rat-infested conditions.

We are also fortunate that Dickens permits us to spend time in the Victorian Era and feel some positive elements of that period, particularly at Old Fezziwig's celebration of Christmas, and feel some of the warmth and goodwill of the age.  It is by this part of the story that we clearly removes any unintended incorporation of class warefare, thus underlining that the misery and ignorance of some is limited to some but not all, regardless of their station.

The tale in itself is wondrous story which translates well into even our modern age - I see it to be a story about hardship and greed, charity, family, benevolence, and in the end - redemption.  Was there ever a scene so enjoyable as when Ebenezer Scrooge learned that he was spared death, and given the second chance to keep Christmas in his heart the whole year long?  And to seek to help Tiny Tim to get well again?  And hear the immortal words from young Tim, "God, Bless us, everyone one."

Adaptation in theatre and film

Over the years there have been many plays and movies that have adapted Dickens' classic tale.  It's believed that A Christmas Carol was such an acclaimed success immediately upon its publication that soon after it was turned to public theatre.  Dickens also raised money for himself and for charities through its public reading for large audiences.

In the 20th Century, the motion picture industry got into the act of bringing Ebenezer Scrooge to the big screen.  There were a few early attempts starting in 1901 with Scrooge or Marley's Ghost, a black and white silent film produced in the UK by RW Paul which was simply an 11 minute short that doesn't tell much of the original story. (You can see a clip here) 

The second iteration was also a black and white silent film starring Thomas Ricketts as Scrooge.  The film was the first American version of Dickens' Christmas Story and was titled A Christmas Carol released in 1908.  It was produced by Essany Studio in Chicago Illinois.  The film duration is 15 minutes long. No clips appear available at this time.

The next version appeared in 1910, another black and white silent film which was titled A Christmas Carol starring Mark McDermott as Scrooge. The film's length was 17 minutes in length although from what I've seen the runtime appears to be only 11 minutes).  Notwithstanding, this is the first version that gets across the basic points of Dickens' classic story.  (Here is the film shown to music here).  The film was created by the Thomas Edison Manufacturing Company - actually shown in the opening credits.

The next film was entitled Scrooge and released in 1913 in the UK (it was later released in 1926 in the United States under the title Old Scrooge) and starred Seymour Hicks as Scrooge. This was a black and white slient film and I was not able to find a clip to share.  It was produced by the Zenith Film Company. 

The next adaptation filmed was called Scrooge and was released in 1935.  Scrooge was played by once again by Seymour Hicks.  The film was produced in the UK by Twickeham Film Studios. The film is also black and white, but it is the first iteration filmed in mono sound which is 63 minutes in length.  (This version is available here and plays after the commerical).

Reginald Owen

The first full feature version was produced in 1938 by MGM and starred Reginald Owen as Scrooge (trailer here). The film's duration is 69 minutes. 

MGM was criticized for dropping the phantom scene outside of Scrooge's window.  It also dropped the scene showing Scrooge's fiance leaving him over his want of money.  The two children depicted as want and ignorance were also dropped. Owen's portrayal of Scrooge was considered rather poor in comparison to later versions.





Alastair Sim

The next film A Christmas Carol (released as Scrooge in the UK) was produced in 1951 by George Minter Productions and starred Alastair Sims as Scrooge (trailer here) (1989 colorized clip here). Film duration 86 minutes.

This version is considered better than the original although the studios altered elements of the story - some of it odd including changing the original name of Scrooge's fiance from Belle to Alice. Only God knows why.  We also learn a newly created double embellishment to the story which claims that Scrooge's mother died giving birth to him and similarly that Scrooge's sister died giving birth to his nephew Fred. 

Albert Finney

It wasn't until 1970 that another adaptation of the original movies was made.  The title given was Scrooge staring Albert Finney as Ebenezer Scrooge, and included Alec Guinness as Jacob Marley.  This was in part a musical and was produced by Waterbury Films in the UK. It is by far one of the most enjoyable version of the film and this author's favorite version. (move part 1 clip from Youtube is here). The entire film is 115 minutes, and is likely the longest iteration.

The fact that this version has musical elements takes nothing away from the story as its originally told.  There are a few embellishments to the original story, one is the scene of a ghostly horse-drawn carriage carrying Marley's coffin coming up around the stairway when Scrooge first comes home from the Counting House, the second (and most criticized) is a scene where Scrooge ends up in Hell and has a conversation with Jacob Marley, who has become Lucifer's personal clerk - the scene was considered largely unnecessary as it added little to the tale.  Even the television studios cut it from the version adapted for television (it has since been restored).  Lastly, there is a ghastly scene where the Ghost of Christmas Future's face is shown as a horrifying skeleton.  I can distinctly remember this scene as a child which intensely frightening for me.

George C. Scott

The next version of A Christmas Carol came out in 1984 and starred George C. Scott as Scrooge.  This version was not a theatre release but was instead created for television movie release.  It was produced by Entertainment Partners, Ltd. (Link to a youtube video of Scrooge meeting Marley here). Film length is 100 minutes.

This version is considered one of the better straight-forward versions of the original story.  I remember seeing its original airing and I actually own a book which contains the actual movie scenes from this version, and
includes a history of the book, along with songs, recipes, and games from the period.  I actually discovered it AFTER writing this entry.  I also discovered that I own a large scale book which contain photographs of the original edited version of the Dickens manuscript.  If I have time I'll take a few photos of the books for this entry.

Patrick Stuart

The latest version was another made for television version of A Christmas Carol which aired in 1999 and starred Star Trek's Patrick Stuart as Scrooge. (Link to the trailer is here).  This movie was produced by Warner Brothers.  The reason that Stuart was chosen for the role is that he spent time in the 90s playing the part of Scrooge on stage in London and abroad.

I have not seen this version so I really can't comment on it with any particular opinions about.  I was aware of it but like some could not separate the years of exposure of seeing Patrick Stuart playing the role of Jean-Luc Picard and flying the Starship Enterprise.  Sorry to have type-casted him, but with some actors its hard to separate them from the roles their best known for. 

Lastly, the film length is 93 minutes.

What I have provided above is by no means the entire list of Dickens adaptations by film (several are quite bad adaptions) and these are not necessarily true to the original story - one in particular stars Henry Winkler in American Christmas Carol, another is a comical version called Scrooged staring Bill Murphy which would have Charles Dickens turning in his grave. 

There are a few animated versions that are actually quite good.  My personal favorite is the 1969 version called A Christmas Carol and the Jacob Marley in this CBS version scared the heck out of me as a kid.  Here is a clip from this version produced by API out of Austrailia.  And this is a clip from the 1971 animated version A Christmas Carol that also aired in the United States. A clip of this version is here produced by Richard Williams Production out of the United States.  It's interesting that this version actually features Alastair Sim reprising his role as the voice of Ebenezer Scrooge.