A Christmas Carol

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Edwin L. Marin directs. Sidney Wagner behind the camera. George Boemler cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Tight 69-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
• 288 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 3Directed by Edwin L. Marin, shot by Sidney Wagner. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Editor George Boemler shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 5Reginald Owen and Gene Lockhart and Terry Kilburn carry the top of the cast.
• 6Marketing tagline: "Greater than "David Copperfield"!".
• 7IMDB entry: tt0029992 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 8Classified under 20 themes, including "based on novel or book", "clerk", "holiday", "redemption".

The technical file

Cinematography

Sidney Wagner

Editing

George Boemler

Costume design

Fred Valles

Runtime

69 min · 1h 9m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

A Christmas Carol (1938) ↗

Also by

Edwin L. Marin

• 
  The Avenger

  1933 · ★ 8.0
• 
  The Chaser

  1938 · ★ 8.0
• 
  The Younger Brothers

  1949 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Bombay Mail

  1934 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Two Tickets to London

  1943 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Fort Worth

  1951 · ★ 7.1

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Jacob Marley Visits Scrooge

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  A Christmas Carol - Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• talisencrw2016-04-11
  ★ 9/10

  I really loved this early version of the Charles Dickens classic. Reginald Owen and Gene Lockhart (born in nearby London, Ontario) were wonderful as Ebenezer Scrooge and his employee Bob Cratchit, respectively. Definitely a film not to be missed o'er the holiday season...

  Read full review ↓
• talisencrw2016-04-11
  ★ 9/10

  I really loved this early version of the Charles Dickens classic. Reginald Owen and Gene Lockhart (born in nearby London, Ontario) were wonderful as Ebenezer Scrooge and his employee Bob Cratchit, respectively. Definitely a film not to be missed o'er the holiday season...This is up there with 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' and the Boris Karloff-version of 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' as ones I have to crack open each and every Yuletide season.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

  US

Key crew

• NovelCharles Dickens
• ProducerJoseph L. Mankiewicz
• MusicFranz Waxman
• EditorGeorge Boemler
• Art DirectionCedric Gibbons
• Set DecorationEdwin B. Willis
• Costume DesignFred Valles

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• based on novel or book
• clerk
• holiday
• redemption
• little boy
• apparition
• black and white
• spirit
• goose
• celebration
• miser
• ghost
• christmas spirit
• christmas
• what if
• bookkeeper
• generosity
• lame child
• sickly boy
• christmas eve

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1938-12-16NR

Also known as

International titles

• Charles Dickens' A Christmas CarolUS
• Noite de NatalBR