Stace Three: The Second of the Three Spirits
Waking in the middle of a prodigiously tough snore, and sitting up in bed to get his thoughts together, Scrooge had no occasion to be told that the bell was again upon the stroke of One. He felt that he was restored to consciousness in the right nick of time, for the especial purpose of holding a conference with the second messenger despatched to him through Jacob Marley’s intervention. But, finding that he turned uncomfortably cold when he began to wonder which of his curtains this new spectre would draw back, he put them every one wide with his own hands; and lying down again, established a sharp lookout all round the bed. For he wished to challenge the Spirit on the moment of its appearance, and did not wish to be taken by surprise and made nervous.
Gentlemen of the free-and-easy sort, who plume themselves on being acquainted with a move or two, and being equally equal to the time-of-day, express the wide range of their capacity for adventure by observing that they are good for anything from pitch-and-toss to manslaughter; between which opposite extremes, no doubt, there lies a tolerably wide and comprehensive range of subjects. Without venturing for Scrooge quite so hardily as this, I don’t mind calling on you to believe that he was ready for a good broad field of strange appearances, and that nothing between a baby and a rhinoceros would have astonished him very much.
Now, being prepared for almost anything, he was not by any means prepared for nothing, and , consequently, when the Bell struck One, and no shape appeared, he was taken with a violent fit of trembling. Five minutes, ten minutes, a quarter of an hour went by, yet nothing came. All this time, he lay upon his bed, the very core and centre of a blaze of ruddy light, which streamed upon it when the clock proclaimed the hour; and which being only light, was more alarming than a dozen ghosts, as he was powerless to make out what it meant, or would be at; and was sometimes apprehensive that he might be at that very moment an interesting case of spontaneous combustion, without having the consolation of knowing it. At last, however, he began to think—as you or I might have thought at first; for it is always the person who is not in the predicament to know what ought to be done in it, and would unquestionably have done it, too—at last, I say, he began to think that the source and secret of this ghostly light might be in the adjoining room: from whence, on further tracing it, it seemed to shine. The idea taking full possession of his mind, he got up softly and shuffled in his slippers to the door.
Scrooge is not especially eager to get out of bed again, but he doesn’t want to be taken by surprise, either. Obviously, this fifteen minute interval has to be cut back for the flicks, but most Scrooges do have a little time to build up suspense, and even for Scrooge to say “Nothing” before trying to go back to bed. At this point, Dickens’s Scrooge believes implicitly in these Spirits; at least two Screen Scrooges are still clinging to a hope that everything up to tis point has been a dream.
Hicks wakes up and declares, “It’s one o’clock. I know it is.” He pulls the covers over his head, but can’t help sliding them down for a peek. Light startles him: a wavering, flickering light that frightens him a great deal. He stumbles out of bed.
Owen is snoring as a clock strikes two; he wakes with a start. After a quick look around, he checks his watch. He sits up, and a startling light makes its appearance.
Sim I is still saying “No” from the last scene when a clock strikes. He sits up, to be greeted by a loud “bong” and a bright light. Just as he realizes the light is coming from the next room, a sinister laugh joins it. He carefully pulls the covers up again, apparently hoping the Ghost won’t know he’s there.
March looks vaguely piratical in that cap and unbuttoned collar. The night watch passes outside, calling “Two o’clock and all’s well.” Light and music make Scrooge sit up in alarm.
In Rathbone, we return to the narrator (Frederic March) and the book; he consults a page to tell us Scrooge was ready for anything from a baby to a rhinoceros. Scrooge, uneasy, shuffles around his room, peeking up the chimney and peering out the window.
Magoo is wakened by his clock striking one, and grumbles about it until summoned to the next room.
In Sim II, the light is already strong and the curtains of the bed drawn. The snoring Scrooge opens his eyes as the clock strikes. He sits up.
Haddrick examines the chair where the Ghost of Christmas Past sat. He decides everything he saw was a dream. There is nothing there, after all, especially g…. A light terrifies him; he dives behind the chair.
Finney lights a candle, still weeping a bit from that last vision. “Stupid old fool: getting yourself all upset over nothing.” Walking around the room, he checks the clock and discovers the time has come for the second visit. He braces himself and shouts, “I’m ready for you, whatever you are!” Nothing happens. He is headed for bed when he notices a shifting light, apparently bright enough to shine through a closed wooden door.
In Matthau, the clock strikes and something laughs. The door to the next room opens, letting a golden glow fill the doorway.
McDuck, still demanding, “Why was I so foolish?”, hears the clock strike two. A bright light appears.
In Scott, the clock outdoors strikes two. Scrooge lies in his bed, waking when his watch in its stand reaffirms the hour. “Two. Well, Jacob Marley. Where is this Spirit of whom you spoke so glibly? You did say on the stroke of two, didn’t you, Jacob? Mistaken in death as you were in life, old partner.” He cheerfully makes himself comfortable against the pillow. Then a voice calls his name.
Caine rolls back in bed. A nearby clock strikes two, echoed by the mechanical clock. Scrooge sits up; Dickens tell us he is waiting. “Nothing,” he announces, just before light and music pour through an open door.
In Curry, the clock on the mantel strikes two. Scrooge is snoring. Debit, more restless in his sleep, kicks in some bad dream. He tears at the blankets, pulling them enough to leave Scrooge’s feet bare. Scrooge is apparently used to this; he merely mutters about it and pulls his knees up to take shelter of what he has left of cover. A bright light manifests itself. Debit barks at it and Scrooge sits up, shouting, perhaps unfortunately, “What in blazes?”
Stewart wakes in the middle of a prodigious snore. He snatches his bedclothes and curtains aside, obviously looking for a ghost. Seeing light under the door, he gets up and moves cautiously toward it.
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