A Christmas Carol (1951) - full transcript

"Hark the Herald Angels Sing"

"Glory to the new born king!"

"Peace on earth and mercy mild,"

"God and sinners reconciled."

"Joyful all ye nations rise,"

"Join the triumphs of the skies,"

"With angelic hosts proclaim,"

"Christ is born in Bethlehem."

"Hark the herald angels sing,"

"Glory to the new born king!"

Old Marley was as dead as a doornail.



This must be distinctly understood
or nothing wonderful can come of

the story l'm going to relate.

The registry of burial was
signed by Scrooge

and Scrooge's name was good
on the London Exchange

for anything he chose
to put his hand to.

Ah, Mr. Scrooge.

Your servant, sir.

Are you off home to keep Christmas?

l am not in the habit of
keeping Christmas, Sir.

Then why are you leaving so early?

Because, Sir, Christmas is in habit of
keeping men from doing business.

Come it's the nature of things
that ants toil and grasshoppers

sing and play, Mr. Scrooge.

An ant is what it is, and
a grasshopper is what it is,



and Christmas, Sir,
is a humbug, good day.

Ha ha ha ha ha.

Mr. Scrooge, Sir.
- Who are you?

Samuel Wilkins, Sir.

Oh yes, You owe me a little matter of
twenty-odd pounds, l believe.

Well if you want to pay it, come
to my place of business.

l don't conduct my affairs in the
teeth of inclement weather.

l - l can't pay you, Sir.

l'm not surprised.

Not unless you give me more time.

Did l ask you for more time
to lend you the money?

Oh, no, Sir!

Then why should you ask me
for more time to pay it back?

Can't take me wife to a debtors' prison.

Then leave her behind.

Why should she go to a
debtors' prison anyway?

She didn't borrow the twenty pounds,
you did.

Eh, ...what does your wife
got to do with it?

For that matter, what have l
got to do with it? Good afternoon.

But, Mr. Scrooge, it's Christmas!

Christmas has even less to do with it, my
dear sir, than your wife has or l have.

You still owe me twenty pounds and
you are not in the position to repay

if it was in the middle of a heat wave
on August bank holiday. Good afternoon.

"Holy infant so tender and mild,"

"Sleep in heavenly peace."

Be off with you!

Well.

Have l the pleasure of addressing
Mr. Scrooge or Mr. Marley?

Mr. Marley has been dead these seven years.

ln fact, he died seven years ago
this very day.

Well, we have no doubt that his
generosity is well represented

by his...surviving partner.

At this festive season of the year,
Mr. Scrooge,

it is more than usually desirable that
we should make some slight provision

for the poor and destitute.

Are there no prisons?

Plenty of prisons.

And the union work houses,
are they still in operation?

They are.

l wish l could say they were not.

And the Treadmill and the Poor Law,
they're still in full vigor, l presume?

Both very busy, Sir.

Oh, from what you said at first

l was afraid that something had happened
to stop them in their useful course.

l'm very glad to hear it.

l don't think you quite
understand us, Sir.

A few of us are endeavoring to raise a
fund to buy the poor some meat and drink

and means of warmth.

Why?

Because it is at Christmas time, that want
is most keenly felt.

and abundance rejoices.

Uh, what can l put you down for?

Ha! ... nothing.

You wish to be anonymous?

l wish to be left alone.

Since you ask me what l wish, Sir,
that is my answer.

l helped to support the establishments
l have mentioned.

Those who are badly off must go there.

Many can't go there.

And some would rather die.

lf they would rather die,
they'd better do it

and decrease the surplus population.

Besides, it's not my business.

lsn't it, Sir?

No.

lt is enough for a man to
understand his own business

without interfering with other peoples',

mine occupies me constantly.
Good afternoon, gentlemen.

Who's that?

Your nephew, Uncle.

lt's you, is it?

Well, what do you want?

Neither to borrow money
or beg a mortgage, Uncle.

Only to wish you a Merry Christmas!

Keep Christmas in your own way
and leave me to keep it in mine.

But you don't keep it!

And let me leave it alone then.

Much good may it do you to keep it.

Much good it has ever done you.

lt's certainly done me no harm.

No, your wayward nature has done that.

And your marriage.

My marriage was the making of me.

The ruin of you, you mean.

Why don't you come and see for yourself,
if you won't take my word for it.

Come and dine with us tomorrow.

No... thank you.

But why? ... Why?

Why do you marry against my wishes?

Because l fell in love.

You fell in love.

With a woman as penniless as yourself.
Oh, good evening, Nick.

We've never had any quarrel
that l've ever been party to.

l ask nothing of you.

l came here in the spirit of bright good
will and l won't let you dampen it.

So a Merry Christmas to you
any way, Uncle.

Good evening.

And a Happy New Year.
- Good Evening!

Humbug!

How is Mrs. Cratchit and
all the small assorted Cratchits?

Very well, Sir. Thank you.

All chomping at the bit for
Christmas to begin, eh?

Oh yes, Sir, all very eager.

And the little lame boy.
Which one is he?

Tim, Sir.

That's right. How is he?

We're in high hopes
he's getting better, Sir.

Good.

A Merry Christmas to you.

Thank you, Sir, and a
Merry Christmas to you, Sir, l'm sure.

Thank you.

Come along Tim, my dear, l've got to go.

Did you have a lovely time
looking at all the wonderful things?

Yes, thank you, Ma-ma.
Did you get the big goose?

lt's the biggest goose you ever did see.

As big as you and as fat as a beagle.

Wait 'til your father sees it.

His eyes will pop right out of his
head and he'll forget all about

horrid old Mr. Scrooge.

You're not feeling too tired are you, dear?

Not a bit, Ma-ma!

lf your father was here, he'd
carry you home on his shoulder.

Yes, I love having a ride on his shoulder!

l suspect ol' Mr. Scooge will keep him
working in that cold little room

just as late as he possibly can.

Christmas Eve or no Christmas Eve,
the old Ogre.

You want the whole day off
tomorrow, l suppose?

lf quite convenient, Sir?
- lt's not convenient!

And it's not fair.

lf l stopped you half-a-crown for it,
you'd think yourself ill-used,

wouldn't you? Hmm!?

But you don't think me ill-used,
if l pay a day's wages for no work,

do you? Hmph!?

'Tis only once a year, Sir.

That's a poor excuse for picking a
man's pocket every 25th of December.

Yes, Sir. l'm sure. l'm very sorry, Sir, to
cause you such an inconvenience.

lt's the family more than me, Sir.

They put their hearts into Christmas
as it were, Sir.

Yes, and put their hands into my pockets
as it were, Sir.

l suppose you better have the whole day.

But be back all the earlier
the next morning.

l will indeed, Sir! Thank you, Sir!
lt's more than generous of you, Sir.

Yes, l know it is. You don't have to tell me.

Merry Christmas, Sir!

A Merry Christmas, Sir?

You, a clerk on fifteen shillings a week,
with a wife and a family,

talking about a Merry Christmas. Ha ha.

l'll retire to bedlam.

Waiter.

Yes.

More bread.

Take me extra, Sir.

No more bread.
- no, Sir.

Scrooge.

Jacob Marley.

Scrooge.

Hu - hu- humbug!

Oh...

Hum...

- bug.

Scrooge.

Aaaaaaaaah!

Who are you?!

Ask me who l was.

All right, all right!
Who were you then?!

ln life, l was your partner,

Jacob Marley.

Oh!

What do you want with me?!

Much.

Huh, Huh!

Huh, huh, huh!

ln that case, ...

can you sit down?

l can.

Well do it then!

You don't believe in me.

l don't.

Why do you doubt your senses?

Because a little thing affects them.

A slight disorder of the stomach
makes them cheat.

You...you ...
might be an undigested bit of beef.

Huh! ...a piece of cheese...

a fragment of an underdone potato.

There's more of gravy than a grave in you,

whatever you are.

Do you see that toothpick?

l do.

You're not looking at it!

But l see it not withstanding.

Oh.

Well then, l've...
l've just got to swallow this and...

and be tortured for the rest of my life
by a legion of hob goblins,

all of my own creation.

lt's all humbug, l tell you!

Wahahahahaohoh! ! ! !

Mercy! ...mercy, mercy!

Man of the worldly mind,
do you believe in me or not?

Yes, l do, l do, l do, ... l must.

But why do you walk the earth?

And why do you come to me?

lt is required of every man

that the spirit within him should
walk abroad with his fellow men.

lf it goes not forth in life it is
condemned to do so after death.

lt is doomed to wander
through the world! Aaaaaah! Woe is me! ! !

And witness what it cannot share,
but might have shared on earth

and turned to happiness.

Why are you fettered?

l wear the chain l forged in life,
l made it link by link

and yard by yard. l girded it on of my own
free will and of my own free will...

l wore it.

You have my sympathy.
- Ahhhh...

You do not know the weight and length
of strong chain you bear yourself.

lt was full, as heavy and as long as this,

seven Christmas Eve's ago and
you have labored on it since.

lt is a ponderous chain.
Mark me!

ln life, my spirit never roved beyond
the limits of our money changing hole.

Now l am doomed to wander
without rest or peace...

incessant torture and remorse.

But it was only that you were
a good man of business, Jacob.

Business! ! ! Mankind was my business!
Their common welfare was my business.

And it is at this time of the rolling
year that l suffer most.

Hear me!
My time is nearly gone.

l come tonight to warn you that you have
yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate.

A chance and hope of my procuring,
Ebenezer.

Thank you, Jacob.

You were always a good friend of mine.

You will be visited by three spirits.
- What?

Was that the chance of hope
that you mentioned, Jacob?

lt was.
- Oh, well...

ln that case, never-mind.
l think l'd rather not.

Without their visits you can not hope
to shun the path l tread.

Expect the first when the bell tolls One.

Look to see me... no more.

But look here...

that you may remember for your own sake,
What has passed between us.

Why do they lament?

They seek to interfere for good
in human measures.

And have lost their powers...forever.

Are you the spirit who's coming
was foretold to me?

l am.

Who and what are you?

l am the Ghost of Christmas Past.

Long past?
- No, your past.

And what is your business here with me?

Your welfare.

My welfare?
- Your reclamation then.

Take heed, rise, and walk with me.

Through the window.
- Are you afraid?

l-but l- l am a mortal and...
l'm liable to fall.

There but a touch of my hand and
you shall be upheld in more than this.

Good heavens!

You know this place?
- Know it?!

l was a boy here.

They are but shades of the things
that have been.

They do not know we are here.

Look!
There's my old school.

How lonely and deserted it looks.

Not quite deserted.

A solitary boy, yourself Ebenezer,
forgotten by his friends

is left there still.

l know.

Ebenezer!
- Fan!

lt's Fan!

Oh, dear brother, l have come
to bring you home.

Home, home, home!

Home?
- Yes!

Home for good and all!
Home forever and ever.

Father is so much kinder than he used
to be that home is like heaven.

For you, perhaps,
but not for me.

He doesn't know me,
nor even what l look like.

Same as l hardly know you
now that you're quite a woman.

Ma-ma must have looked just
as you look now, just before she died.

Perhaps that is what has changed
his mind towards you.

He spoke to me so gently one night
when l was going to bed,

that l wasn't afraid to ask him, just once
more, that you might come home.

And he said, "Yes, you should," and sent
me in the carriage to bring you,

and you're never to come back here
anymore,

and you're never to be lonely again.
- Never to be lonely again.

Never, as long as l live!

Then, you must live forever, Fan.

Nobody else ever cared for me.
Nobody else ever will.

You must live forever, Fan!

Oh, dear brother, what nonsense!
Everyone loves you very much.

You must forgive Pa-pa
and forget the past.

For our dearest mother's sake.

Oh, Fan...
- There, there.

Bring down, Master Scrooge's box.

Your sister was always a delicate creature
whom a breath might have withered.

But she had a large heart.
- She had.

She died a married woman and had,
l think, children.

One child.
- True, your nephew.

She died ... giving him life.

As your mother died, giving you life.

For which your father never forgave you,
as if you were to blame.

You recall this, no doubt.

Recall it!
Why bless my soul!

lt's Old Fezziwig's!

l was apprenticed here.

Look there's Old Fezziwig and
Mrs. Fezziwig, top couple!

Oh, was there ever a kinder man?

And yet, what does this party cost him
in your mortal money?

Three or four pounds, at most.

ls that so much that he
deserves your praise?

Oh, but it's not that!

The happiness he gave us, his clerks and
apprentices, and everybody who knew him.

lt was as great as if it had...
as if it had cost a fortune.

What's the matter?
- Nothing.

Something, l think.
- No, no, no, no...

Just that l'd like to have a word with my
own clerk, Bob Cratchit, just now.

That's all.

Turn and see yourself in love,
Ebenezer Scrooge.

lt's only a shilling ring, Alice,
but one day, it'll be a gold one.

...when l'm rich enough.
- Oh, it's a beautiful ring!

But l mustn't accept it.

Why not?
Because it's not good enough for you?

Oh, no, no.

Oh, because l'm not rich enough
for you?

How foolish of you,
of course not!

But you're still so young, you may
have a change of heart one day.

Oh, dearest Alice,

if ever l have a change of heart
towards you,

it'll be because my heart has ceased
to beat.

And it makes no difference that l'm poor?

l love you because you're poor,
not proud and foolish.

Will you...
always feel like that?

As long as l live,
...longer...forever and ever.

Then, ...

l accept your ring.

Alice

Ebenezer

God Bless you, Alice,

From now to eternity,
we, two, are as one.

l've seen enough!
- Yet more awaits you.

l won't look!
- You shall.

Now see yourself in business, Ebenezer.

Come, come Mr. Fezziwig,

We are good friends, l think,
besides good men of business.

We're men of vision and progress.

Why don't you sell out while
the going's good?

You'll never get a better offer.

This is the age of the machine
and the factory and the vested interest.

We small traders are all history,
Mr. Fezziwig.

Huh, Doh-Doh's.
- Yes, l dare say we are.

And the offer is a very large one,
l have to admit,

but it's not just for money alone
that one spends a lifetime

building up a business, Mr. Jorkin.

Well, if it isn't, l'd like you to tell me
what you do spend a lifetime

building up a business for?

lt's to preserve a way of life that
one knew and loved.

No, l can't see my way to selling out
to the new vested interest, Mr. Jorkin.

l have to be loyal to the old ways
and die out with them, if needs must.

Well, ha ha ha. You know what they say
about time and tide, Mr. Fezziwig.

They wait for no one.

There's more in life than money, Sir.

Oh, excuse me, Mr. Fezziwig, Sir?

Uh yes, yes, my boy?

The foreman would appreciate a word with
you, if you could spare the time, Sir.

Uh, yes, yes, of course.
Excuse me a moment.

Ha ha ha, you can't teach an old dog
new tricks. Can you, Mr. Scrooge?

Nor teach the leopard to change its spots.

Well l - l think l know what Mr. Fezziwig
means though, Sir.

Oh, so you hate progress
and money too, do you?

Well no, l don't hate them, Sir, but ...

well, perhaps the machines aren't such
a good thing for mankind, after all.

Sage and onions, my dear fellow!
Ha! Gammon and spinach.

Why, suppose l told you,
you could get twice the salary

Old Fezziwig can afford to pay you?

And advancement he can't
afford to offer you...

as a clerk in a new company?

What would you say to that, eh?

Well l - l'd still say money wasn't
everything, Sir.

Ha, well if it ain't,
l don't know what is.

Come and see me one day
anyway, young fellow.

You're smart and you're no fool.

That's the kind of buck they're
looking for these days.

No, Spirit, not here.
- Yes, ...here.

Fan, it's Ebenezer, your brother.
Do you know me?

Ebenezer.

l sent for you.

Promise me...

Promise you what, Fan?
l'll promise you anything, dearest.

Only there, there isn't going
to be any need.

You're going to get well again, Fan.

You are! you are.
Dear God, you must!

Fan you-you-you can't die.
Fan, you mustn't die!

You're going to get well again, Fan.
Fan, you're going to get well again!

Fan...

How could you have brought me here?
Have you no mercy, no pity?

Ebenezer.
Brother?

Ebenezer?

Promise me...
you'll take care of my boy.

Promise me
you'll take care my...

You heard her.

Forgive me, Fan.
Forgive me.

Forgive me, Fan!
Forgive me, Fan.

Well, there you are, me buck.
That's where you'll start.

And you can work your way up as high as
the dome in St. Paul's Cathedral,

if you have a mind to do so.

Control the cash box and
you control the world.

By the way, how did Old Fezziwig take it
when you said you were leaving him?

He wished me luck, Sir.

No hard feelings, eh?
Starting with a clean slate?

Good.

And now let me introduce you to your
fellow clerk. Mr. Marley!

Just a moment please.

Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge, the new clerk.

Mr. Jacob Marley,
our wizard of the accounts.

Your servant, Mr. Marley.
- Your servant, Mr. Scrooge.

l'm sure you two gentlemen
will get along famously.

l'm sure we shall Mr. Jorkin, Sir.

Yes, heh heh, well l'll leave you to it.

Thank you.

The place, no doubt, seems new
and strange to you.

Somewhat.

The world is on the verge of new
and great changes, Mr. Scrooge.

Some of them, of necessity,
will be violent. Do you agree?

No, l think the world is becoming
a very hard and cruel place, Mr. Marley.

One must steel oneself to survive it.

Not be crushed under with
the weak and the infirm.

l think we have many things
in common, Mr. Scrooge.

l hope so, Mr. Marley.

Oh, excuse me, Mr. Scrooge, Sir.
- Yes?

Pardon the liberty, but do you know if
l'm to be kept on here, Sir?

What's your present salary?
- Five shillings a week, Sir.

You can stay for four shillings a week.
- Well yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir.

lsn't that Old Fezziwig?

Alice.

The same Alice you swore to love
for all eternity, Ebenezer.

She is not changed by the
harshness of the world.

But you are.

Then you no longer love me?

You no longer love me.
- When have l ever said that.

ln words? ... Never.
- Well, in what then?

ln the way you have changed.
- But how have l changed towards you?

By changing toward the world.

ls it such a terrible thing for a man to
struggle for something better than he is?

Another idol has replaced me in your
heart. ...A golden idol.

lt's singular.

The world, that can be so brutally
cruel to the poor,

professes to condemn the pursuit of
wealth in the same breath.

You fear the world too much.
- Ha! ... with reason!

But, l am not changed toward you!

Aren't you?

Our promise is an old one.

lt was made when we were both poor
and content to be so.

lf you had never made that promise,
tell me...

would you seek me out and
try to win me now.

Of course, l would.

No.

lf you were free today, would you choose
a direless girl with -

with neither wealth nor social standing?
You, who now weigh everything by gain!

l bring you nothing but
repentance and regret.

That is why ...
l released you.

You know l'm right then?

l must bow to your conviction
that you are.

May you be happy in the life
you have chosen.

Thank you.
l shall be.

Goodbye.

Show me no more.
- But l told you.

These are but shadows of the
things that have been.

That they are what they are.

Do not blame me.
- Take me away!

Very well.
But we have not done yet, Ebenezer Scrooge.

We do, but turn, another page.

And as your business prospered,
Ebenezer Scrooge,

a golden idol took possession
of your heart ...

as Alice said it would.

May we hear those figures, Mr. Snedrig?
At your pleasure.

Certainly, Mr. Groper.

Well, gentlemen,
after seventeen years of existence,

the Amalgamated Mercantile Society's
books show the startling figures

of a liability of three thousand-
two hundred pounds,

eight shillings and 10 pence.

And a total asset of eleven pounds,
eight shillings, and 10 pence.

Well at least the 10 pences
cancel each other out.

How much of this is the
company's capital?

All of it, Mr. Rosebed.

ln short, Sir, you're not only a bankrupt,

you're an embezzler of
the company's funds.

l also beat my wife and skewer innocent
babies when in my cups.

Take a very cool attitude,
if l may say so, Sir.

So do Mr. Scrooge and Mr. Marley.

They're not facing prosecution
for the capital offense.

Oh, but gentlemen it could
have been any one of you.

We're all cut-throats under
this fancy linen, Mr. Snedrig.

l must ask you to speak
for yourself, Mr. Jorkin!

And what would you gain
to prosecute me?

All you would get out of it is
about eleven pounds odd.

And to pack me off to Botany Bay,

would be poor compensation for the panic
that would arise among the share holders.

Panic, Sir?
- Yes, panic.

Would any of you gentlemen care to deny

that if this juicy little scandal
leaked out now

the annual shareholders meeting

would resemble an orchestra
of scorched cats.

Result...
bankruptcy all around.

Strike that speech out of the minutes!
- Yes, Sir.

Mr. Jorkin doesn't exaggerate the
imprudence of allowing his ...

misdemeanors to be made public.

Are you in sympathy with Mr. Jorkin
by any chance, Mr. Scrooge?

Not, l confess, with his methods.

Mr. Marley and l have a proposition
to make to the representatives

of the company which might solve
some of the difficulties

to our general advantage.
- The devil you have!

You want to watch these two fellows,
you know.

They'd skin Jack Ketch alive and
he'd never know they'd done it.

Can we hear the proposition?

Shall l be Spokesman?

Mr. Marley and myself

are prepared to make good
out of our own private resources,

the sum of money appropriated
by Mr. Jorkin.

reprieved, reprieved!

Curfew shall not ring tonight,
Mr. Snedrig.

Order, order!

ln return,

we wish to be allowed the option of buying
up further shares in the company.

To a maximum of fifty-one percent
of the total.

ln short gentleman,

if you wish to save the fair name of the
company by accepting their generous offer,

They become the company.

Fifty-one percent!? Never, never!
Out of question!

and also out of order, Mr. Scrooge!

Pardon me...

if you can find the grace to,

l've just come from Mr. Marley's
with a message for Mr. Scrooge.

Well, can l give it to him?

Well please your great kind self, dear.

l'm to say ...

that Mr. Marley ain't expected to live
through the night,

and that if Mr. Scrooge wants
to take his leave of him,

he should nip along smartly or there won't
be no Mr. Marley to take leave of

as we know the use of the word.

He's breathing very queer

when he does breathe at all.

Excuse me, Mr. Scrooge.
- l'm busy!

lt's about Mr. Marley,
he's dying, Sir.

Well what can l do about it?
lf he's dying, he's dying.

Well, the message was for you
to go at once, Sir.

lt is now a quarter to five.

The business of the office
is not yet finished,

l shall go when the office is closed.
At seven o'clock.

Yes, Sir.

He'll come at Seven.

l'll try and get Mr. Marley to hold out
'til then, l'm sure.

Much obliged.
Good night to ya.

And a Merry Christmas

if it ain't out of keepin'
with the situation.

Thank you, the same to you.

l hope you'll find Mr. Marley well, Sir.
- l should think that's highly unlikely.

Yes, l suppose so, Sir, but ..

seems odd to think of the place
without him, Sir.

Why should it be anymore odd
than it was with him, hmm?

We've all got to die, Cratchit.

l suppose you will want the whole day
off tomorrow, as usual.

lf quite convenient, Sir?

Every Christmas you say the same thing.

And every Christmas, it's

just as inconvenient as it was
the Christmas before. Goodnight.

Ours is a highly competitive
profession, Sir.

ls he dead yet?

l'll have another look, if you'd like?
- No, don't bother.

l'll see for myself.

Goodnight, Sir.

Oh, oh Jacob.

Well have they...have they
seen to you properly?

Last rights and all that, hmm?

There's uh... there's nothing
l can do, hmm?

Oh?

What ... particularly?

While...
- Huh??

...there's still time...

Time? ...
Time for what?

We...

We were wrong.
- Huh?

Wrong.
- Wrong?

Oh ...

Well we - we can't be right
all the time.

Nobody's perfect.

We've been no worse
than the next man.

Or better, if it comes to that.

You mustn't reproach yourself, Jacob.

We are wrong.
- What?

Save ... yourself.

What? Save myself?

Save myself from what?
Hmm?

Speak up...

ls he dead?

Yes.

Just like you said.

l always know.

One shadow more.
- No!

No more.
l cannot bear it.

Jacob Marley worked at your side
for eighteen years.

He was the only friend you ever had.

But what did you feel when
you signed the registrar at his burial

and took his money, his house,
and his few lean sticks of furniture?

Did you feel a little pity for him?

Look at your face, Ebenezer.

A face of a wrenching, grasping,
scraping, covetous old sinner.

No,... no,... no, no, no,... no.

Come in, come in, Ebenezer Scrooge.

l await you.

Yes, l'm - l'm coming.

Come in! ... Come in!

l'm coming.

Ebenezer, come in!

Come in, come in!
And know me better, man.

l am the Spirit of Christmas Present.
Look upon me.

You've never seen the like of
me before. ... Have you?

Never.

And l wish the pleasure had been
indefinitely postponed.

So, ...

is your heart still unmoved
towards us, then?

l'm too old! l'm beyond hope!

Go and redeem some younger,
more promising creature, and

leave me to keep Christmas
in my own way.

Mortal!

We spirits of Christmas do not live
only one day of our year.

We live the whole 365.

So is it true of the child
born in Bethlehem.

He does not live in men's hearts only
one day of the year,

but in all the days of the year.

You have chosen not to seek him
in your heart.

Therefore, you shall come with me

and seek him in the hearts
of men of good will.

Come.
Touch my robe.

"Hark! The herald angels sing,"

"Glory to the newborn King!"
- What place is this?

A place where miners live, who
labor in the bowels of the earth.

But they know me.
Come.

"Joyful, all ye nations, rise,"

"Join the triumph of the skies;"

"With angelic hosts, proclaim,"

"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"

"Hark! The herald angels sing,"

"Glory to the newborn King!"

Why, it's Cratchit!
lt's Bob Cratchit!

He's coming mother!
Father's here with tiny Tim!

Here, Martha.
You hide,

and we'll tell him you've been held up
and who knows when you'll be here.

Yes! Go hide! !
- Oh, goodness! Where?

Behind the scullery door, quickly, Martha!

Hi.

A Merry Christmas.

Why, ...
Where's our Martha?

Oh, she's not coming.

Not coming?
Not coming on Christmas day?

Yes l am, Father!

l can't bear to let them tease you.

Why, bless your heart.

lt never would have been Christmas,
if they'd kept you late.

ls the pudding still singing
in the copper, Peter?

Yes, come and hear it.
You come, too, Mary and Belinda!

You come along as well, Martha.

Come and hear the pudding
singing in the copper.

l'll come in a minute.
- All right.

Sit you down before the fire,

We had such a deal of work
to finish up last night,

that l never did think l'd get away.

We had to clear away this morning,

and then l ran all the way so's
to be here in time.

How did little Tim behave in church?

As good as gold and better.

Sometimes he gets thoughtful sitting
by himself so much

and thinks the strangest things
you ever heard.

He told me,

he wasn't going to feel shy if people
looked at him because he was a cripple,

as it might be pleasant to them,
being in church,

to remember upon Christmas day,

who made lame beggars walk
and blind men see.

He's growing strong and hearty though,
Martha, my dear.

lsn't he, my love?

Spirit, ... tell me...
will tiny Tim live?

l see a vacant seat in the
poor chimney corner,

and a crutch without an owner,
carefully preserved.

lf these shadows remain unaltered
by the Future,

none other of my way
shall find him there.

Oh, no!... No!

Kind Spirit, ...

say that he will be spared.
Why?

lf he be like to die, he better do it
and decrease the surplus population.

Well, my little cock sparrow,

here's your own stool by the fire
all ready for you.

There's such a goose, Martha!

l'm sure of it.
- And the pudding! Oh, the pudding!

lt shant be easy 'til it's eaten.

l confess, l've had my doubts about
the quantity of flour.

lt'll be a perfect pudding my love.
A perfect pudding.

Won't it, Martha, my dear?
Eh, Tim?

lt'll be the finest pudding in the
whole of London this Christmas,

and the goose'll be the finest goose.
- And ours'll be the finest Christmas.

Here's the punch, all steaming hot.
Oh, good!

No, no, no, take your turn,
one and all, if you please.

There's enough for one toast now
and another after that.

Thank you!
There! Bravo! There's bounty for you!

l declare l'd like to know how many
families of our acquaintance

could boast two rounds
of the best gin punch!

None! No one!

Now, has everybody got his drink?
- Yes! Yes!

Good. But before l give the toast,

l have a piece of momentous
information for all,

and Master Peter, in particular.

Master Peter?

Why, that's you, Peter!
What is it, Father? Yeah, what is it?

Master Peter, now grown to full estate
and dignity as son of the house,

and looking every inch the grand fellow
he is, in one of my own collars,

l have waited for this great moment,

to advise him that l have my eye
on a situation for him

which will bring him, if obtained,
full 5 and 6 pence weekly!

YA! ! You'll be quite the independent
gentleman now, Peter!

What next? l wonder.

Then a toast my love, my dearies.

To a Merry Christmas!

God bless us.
- God bless us!

God bless us, ...
every one.

l give you Mr. Scrooge,

the founder of the feast.

Oh no, Father!
He doesn't deserve it!

l wish l had him here now, l'd give him
a piece of my mind to feast himself upon.

My dear, the children ... Christmas Day!

Could only be on Christmas day
that l would drink the health

of such a hard, stingy,
unfeeling man as Mr. Scrooge.

You know he is, Robert, nobody knows it
better than you do, poor fellow.

My dear,
Christmas day.

l'll drink his health for your sake
and the day"s, ... not for his.

Long life to him. A Merry Christmas and
a Happy New Year.

He'll be very happy
and very merry, no doubt.

He said that Christmas was
"humbug", and he believed it, too.

l told you so.

Well, a Merry Christmas and a Happy
New Year to the poor old man.

He wouldn't let me wish it
to him personally,

but here it is, never the less,
Uncle Scrooge!

Yes, to Scrooge!
Uncle Scrooge!

Well, l don't know that our drinking
to him will do him much good.

Or do l. l hate him!
- Oh, l forbid it! l'm sorry for him.

l couldn't feel angry with him,
if l tried.

Who suffers worse from his humors?
Himself always.

Look at the way he's taken it in his head
to disown us without a shilling,

and won't even come to dinner with us.
And what's the consequence?

He's only cheated himself out of
a highly indigestible dinner.

lt was a wonderful dinner!
- Yes, it was a wonderful dinner.

Well l'm really glad you think so, Miss,

because l personally haven't very much
faith in these newlywed housekeepers.

Have you, Tupper?

Alas, as a bachelor,
l'm a wretched outcast,

with no right to express an opinion on
such a tender and delicate subject.

Have l, ... dear,
distant, unmovable, Miss Flora?

Now, you really are quite incorrigible,
Mr. Tupper.

Quite beyond hope.

...and have not charity, l am become
as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

And though l have the gift of prophecy
and understand all mysteries

and all knowledge,

and though l have all faith so
that l can remove mountains,

and have not charity,
l am nothing.

Do you feel more rested now,
my dear?

l do, bless your dear gentle heart.

Alice...

Do you know, me darlin',

l never thought there was
anyone like you

left in the whole wide world.

Cut me throat, rip me liver,
if l'm tellin' a lie.

This is the happiest Christmas
l ever had!

Alice?

Alice!?

Spirit, are these people real
or are they shadows?

They're real, we are the shadows.

Both of us?

Did you not cut yourself off
from your fellow beings,

when you lost the love of
that gentle creature?

Where are you taking me now.

My time with you, Ebenezer,
is almost done.

Will you profit by what l have shown
you of the good in most men's hearts?

l don't know.
How can l promise?

lf it's too hard a lesson
for you to learn,

then learn this lesson.

Spirit, are these yours?

They are man's.

They cling to me for protection
from their fetters.

This boy is lgnorance.
This girl is Want.

Beware of them both, but most of all,
beware of this boy.

But have they no refuge,
no resource?

Are there no prisons? ...
Are there no workhouses?

Are there no prisons?
Are there no workhouses?

l am in the presence of the
Spirit of Christmas yet to come.

And you are going to show me
shadows of things that have

not yet happened, but will happen?

Spirit of the Future, l fear you more
than any other specter that l've seen.

But even in my fear, l must tell you,
l am too old!

l cannot change.
l can't.