This rarely seen version is a nice and short treat to the others I have seen over the many years.It is ONLY 69 minutes long which is why it is not broadcast often at all. Since would only stretch to maybe 90 minutes with commercials.This was made in 1938 by MGM, it has not suffered the ravages of time and lost it's crisp film view on my DVD copy.Reginald Owen plays Scrooge and does a good job of playing the Dickens character. No time is wasted on additions to the script and if not it has been shortened. A few things are different, it starts with seeing Scrooge's nephew playing with kids in the snow and he meets Bob Cratchitt's sons, whom they ask to give a message to his father who is at the Scrooge and Marley office. Cratchitt is sacked (fired) from his job for throwing a snowball at Scrooge with a group of boys and Scrooge's top hat getting run over by a carriage. While on visits from the ghosts Scrooge and other characters are made more endearing then other versions. I only give this 9 out of 10 stars because I would have liked this to be longer. I am glad I picked this version on DVD.This is on the 4:1(old TV) ratio not 16:9 (Letter box).

There's plenty of adaptations of A Christmas Carol out there and it's likely that, if you're going to delve into Christmas past, you may get no further than the 1951 version starring Alastair Sim. However, this one from 13 years earlier is also worthy of a look, even if it does take a few liberties with the story. I'm of the opinion that there's little point deviating too much from the source, as A Christmas Carol might just be the greatest spec script in English literature. Perfectly paced and with endless quotable dialogue, it really shouldn't be too hard to get a serviceable movie out of an adaptation. Perhaps that's why my biggest problems with this version are when it deviates from the source; such as Scrooge sacking Cratchett on Christmas Eve (making Bob Cratchett's toast to him the following day utterly bizarre), or the fact that Tiny Tim seems remarkably healthy for someone who has few Christmasses in their future. The largest oversight is the absence of Scrooge's lost-love Belle from the story, perhaps because it's the biggest indication of just why the old man is so bitter and miserly. Curiously, despite omitting this character, there's a bigger role for Fred's partner (his fiancée in this, rather than his wife). Why the film decides to focus on this couple without counter-balancing it with Scrooge's own sad love-story is a bit of a mystery. Aside from that, it's really not too bad. It tells the story well and doesn't look nearly as old as it actually is. But in a world of countless versions of this story, it is a little forgettable - neither bad enough to stick in the mind, nor interesting enough to join the ranks of Sim, Scott and the Muppets.

In the Nineteenth Century, in London, the bitter, greedy and cranky Ebenezer Scrooge (Reginald Owen) hates Christmas and people. He runs his business exploiting his employee Bob Cratchit (Gene Lockhart) and spends unfriendly treatment to his nephew Fred (Barry MacKay) and acquaintances. In the Christmas Eve, he is visited by the doomed chained ghost of his former partner Jacob Marley (Leo G. Carroll), who died seven years ago and tells him that three spirits would visit him that night. The first one, the spirit of past Christmas, recalls his happy childhood and coming of age; the spirit of the present Christmas shows him the poor situation of Bob's family and the happiness of Fred and his fiancée Bessy; and the spirit of future Christmas shows his fate. Scrooge finds that life is good and finds redemption changing thoughts about Christmas, Bob, tiny Tim, his nephew and people in general."A Christmas Carol" is one of the most beautiful Christmas tales in the cinema. I do not recall how many adaptations of one of the most known Charles Dickens' short story I have seen but this 1938 is also wonderful. I do not have much more to say but recommend this magnificent family entertainment. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Um Conto de Natal" ("A Christmas Tale")

WOW, My first ever movie from the 30's , I never thought I would ever see a movie from 30s This movie version felt bit more different then 1951, I felt there were more fun parts in this movie and very good feel to the movie, while you are you feeling kinda of happy and cheerfully As-well As I only seem the 1951 version for the first time, a few weeks ago, in still fresh in my head, I was comparing both parts.I found scrooge to be a bit more nasty at the start of the movie, as movie goes, I don't feel think it was the right actor who played Scooge in 1951 version. Near the end of the movie, I think it was going little over the top, it went a bit too Jolly. I going to give this movie 7 out of 10, not as good as 1951. Might be seeing 1935 version later,