“Lead on!” said Scrooge. “Lead on! The night is waning fast, and it is precious time to me, I know. Lead on, Spirit!”
The Spirit moved away as it had come towards him. Scrooge followed in the shadow of its dress, which bore him up, he thought, and carried him along.
They scarcely seemed to enter the city, for the city rather seemed to spring up about them, and encompass them of its own act. But there they were, in the heart of it, on ‘Change, amongst the merchants, who hurried up and down, and chinked the money in their pockets, and conversed in groups, and looked at their watches, and trifled thoughtfully with their great gold seals, and so forth, as Scrooge had seen them often.
The Spirit stopped beside one little knot of business men. Observing that the hand was pointed to them, Scrooge advanced to listen to their talk.
“No,” said a great fat man with a monstrous chin, “:I don’t know much=h about it either way. I only know he’s dead.”
“When did he die?” inquired another.
“Last night, I believe.”
“why, what was the matter with him?” asked a third, taking a vast quantity of snuff out of a very large snuff-box. “I thought he’d never die.”
“God knows,” said the first, with a yawn.
“What has he done with his money?” asked a red-faced gentleman with a pendulous excrescence on the end of his nose, that shook like the gills of a turkey-cock.
“I haven’t heard,” said the man with the large chin, yawning again. “Left it to his Company, perhaps. He hasn’t ;left it to me. That’s all I know.”
\ This pleasantry was received with a general laugh.
“It’s likely to be a very cheap funeral,” said the same speaker, “for upon my life I don’t know of anybody to go to it. Suppose we make up a party and volunteer?”
“I don’t mind going if a lunch is provided,” observed the gentleman with the excrescence on his nose. :But I must be fed, if I make one.”
Another laugh.
“Well, I am the most disinterested among you, after all,” said the first speaker, “for I never wear black gloves, and I never eat lunch. But I’ll offer to go, is anybody else will. When I come to think about it, I’m not at all sure that I wasn’t his particular friend; for we used to stop and speak whenever we met. Bye, bye!”
Speakers and listeners strolled away, and mixed with other groups. Scrooge knew the men, and looked towards the Spirit for an explanation.
The Phantom glided on into a street. Its finger pointed to two persons meeting. Scrooge listened again, thinking that the explanation might lie here.
He knew these men, also, perfectly. They were men of business: very wealthy, and of great importance. He had made a point always of standing well in their esteem: in a business point of view, that is; strictly in business point of view.
“How are you?” said one.
“How are you?” returned the other.
“Well!” said the first. “Old Scratch has got his own at last, hey?”
“So I am told,” returned the second. “Cold, isn’t it?”
“Seasonable for Christmas time. You’re not a skater, I suppose.”
“No. No. Something else to think of. Good Morning!”
Not another word. That was their meeting, their conversation, and their parting.
Scrooge was at first inclined to be surprised that the Spirit should attach importance to conversation apparently so trivial, but feeling assured that they must have some hidden purpose, he set himself to consider what it was likely to be. They could scarcely be supposed to have any bearing on the death of Jacob, his old partner, for that was Past, and this Ghost’s province was the Future. Nor could he think of any one immediately connected with himself, to whom he could apply them. But nothing doubting that to whomsoever they applied that had some latent moral for his own improvement, he resolved to treasure up every word he heard, and everything he saw; and especially to observe the shadow of himself when it appeared. For he had an expectation that the conduct of his future self would give him some clue he missed, and would render the solution of these riddles easy.
He looked about in that very place for his own image; but another man stood in his accustomed corner, and though the clock pointed to his usual time of day for being there, he saw no likeness of himself among the multitudes that poured in through the Porch. It gave him little surprise, however; for he had been revolving in his mind a change of life, and thought and hoped he saw his new-born resolution carried out in this.
Quiet and dark, beside him stood the Phantom, with its outstretched hand. When he roused himself from his thoughtful quest, he fancied from the turn of the head, and the situation in reference to himself, that the Unseen Eyes were looking at him keenly. It made him shudder, and feel very cold.
There is obvious temptation to the filmmakers to combine the two overheard conversations, the second one being just as trivial as Scrooge thought it. Dickens is making a mild distinction, however: the first speakers would appear to be businessmen at Scrooge’s ;level, while the second conversation is between men who have made so much money that the old Scrooge was always at paints to stay on their good side. (The Basil Rathbone recorded version, put on 78 rpm discs in 1942, makes all the men Cockneys.)
Several versions, though, do skip the men and their chat entirely: March, McDuck, and Matthau have no time for them.
Hicks appears in these scenes as a face inside the dark shadow of his own head. He watches as three well-dressed men hold the first conversation up to the gag about “He hasn’t left it to ME.” The finger then points another direction, and a man says “So Old Nick has hot his own,” and the other conversation follows. Scrooge looks around and complains, “I do not see myself in my accustomed place. Where am I? Why am I not here?”
Owen says “Lead on. I shall follow, gladly.” They move to the Exchange through a great deal of snow. The first conversation goes much as written, save that one man, when asked what was the matter with the deceased replies, “Who knows? Who cares?” When the Spirit moves toward the second conversation, Scrooge exclaims, “I know them! I know them both! Business associates!” When this conversation ends with “No time for it. Business on my mind”, Scrooge looks confused.
Sim I says “Lead on, then.” The camera at last pulls back to show the Spirit: a deeply dark, hooded figure. It moves off and Scrooge follows, not eagerly. There is smoke, and we go first to the Cratchits’. The ragpicker scene follows that, and only after that do we arrive upon ‘Change. The men who discussed the ant and the grasshopper with Scrooge at the beginning of this picture hold the first conversation, with a few flourishes. When one man notes, “I thought he’d never die”, another replies, “So did he, I dare say.” The conversation ends with one man noting , “I don’t mind going if there’s a luncheon provided, but I must be fed, or else I stay at home.” Scrooge muses, “I know those men. They’re men of business: very wealthy, very important. Whose funeral are they talking about? Strange. My usual place is over there: under the clock. I ought to be there at this time of day, but I’m not.” His fear is evident. “I’m not!”
Rathbone also puts this scene after the visit to the Cratchits’./ The Ghost points through the fog, and we watch as two men wheel a coffin past us. We move on to a streetlight beneath which two well-dressed neb, one rather rotund, converse. “When did the old wretch die?” “Last night, I’m told.” “What was the matter with him?” “Heaven knows.” They discuss the weather being seasonal, and not being a skater. The thinner man then takes himself off while the round man takes snuff. Scrooge eases up to ask this man, “Who was that you were talking about so callously?” The man cannot, of course hear him, and the Ghost points on.
Magoo is led down a street; when he sees the three men, he greets them by name, obviously expecting a friendly response. The first conversation is performed through the line about a lunch being provided. Scrooge complains, “Spirit, what connection can these people have with my future? Of whom were they talking? Jacob Marley’s death was in the past, and…where am I? I am always here at this time of day: always!”
Haddrick says, “Lead on. Lead on, Spirit.” He is taken to a dark street, where he observes fairly young men holding that first conversation through “What was the matter with him?” Another suggests, “Maybe he tried to eat some of his money.” “Why would he do that?” “To get closer to it!”
After “Lead on. Lead on, Spirit,” Sim II witnesses a quick conversation. These men are getting on in years; one of them has the nose Dickens describes. “Well, Old Scratch has got his own, I hear.” “Why, what was the matter with him?” “What did he die of?” “God knows.” “I don’t mind going if a lunch is provided, but I must be fed.” They laugh.
“Very well,” says Scott, “Lead on. The night is waning fast, and time is precious to me.” He seems to force himself to follow the Ghost. Night has fallen on the Exchange; the square is lit with torches. Scrooge enters. The first conversation follows, much as written, though the man who says “Left it to his Company, perhaps” adds “Who else did he have?” After the rack about lunch being provided (“I must be fed for the time I’ll waste.”) Scrooge demands, “Have these men no respect for the dead?” The scene blacks out, leaving him in a spotlight; he can, however, still hear the echoing voices of the men. “I suppose I must go. We did considerable business together.” “Well, I must go and find the price of corn.” Scrooge is less uneasy than irritated. “Why was I privy to that conversation? What purpose could it have for me?”
Caine is unnerved by the Ghost’s silence after the jovial Christmas present. “Oh, yes. Yes. The night is waning fast. Lead on, Spirit.” They move through a sort of wormhole effect into a rainy London day where four jovial pigs we saw earlier in the city crowd now stand chatting under umbrellas. “No, I don’t know much about it either way. I only know he’s DEAD.” “When?” “Last night, I believe.” “Wonder what he died of; I thought he’d never GO.” “Well, I don’t know or care why he’s gone; I’d just like to know what he’s done with his money.” “Wouldn’t we all?” “Well, he didn’t gib it to me.” “No no no.” “It’s likely to be a very cheap funeral; I don’t know a single soul who’d go to it.” “I wouldn’t mind going.” Everyone grunts surprise at this speaker, who adds, “If a lunch is provided!” They all laugh and decide to go now to lunch themselves. “I know some of those gentlemen,” Scrooge observes. “Spriit, of what poor wretch do they speak?”
Curry says, “Lead on.” The Spirit raises its arm and Scrooge finds himself in “The Business Exchange! I come here often. But where am I today?” Some men nearby are chatting. “No, I don’t know much about it either way. I only know he died last night.” “Well, the devil has got his own at lat, hey?” They laugh. “What’s he done with his money?” “Well, e hasn’t left it to me. That’s all I know.” Scrooge steps over to ask them “Which of our colleagues has died?” “It’ll probably be a cheap funeral, because nobody’ll go to it.” “I don’t mind going, if a lunch is provided.” “Well, good day.” Scrooge is honestly puzzled. “I don’t understand the meaning of this. Who has died?”
Stewart’s version begins just as written; Scrooge seems to try to smile. He is obviously relieved to find himself in the Exchange. “I know these men.” He is confident, sure of his ground. “Here profit is worshipped. Profit is everything.” A more varied group than usual chats. “Find out the truth about Old Scratch?” and the conversation from there goes much as Dickens had it, with minor abridgements. This is the only version to include the man who never wears black gloves and never eats lunch. To the proposal that they make up a party, another man replies, “Let’s just say…we’ll think about it”, disappointing the man who suggested it. Scrooge glances at the Spirit in some confusion, but is simply led on.
Finney substitutes a major musical production with similar intent, addressing directly the question of who has died, and explaining why Scrooge doesn’t catch on. Scrooge speaks to the Ghost about the night waning fast, and there is a flash of fire. Ton Jenkins, the hot soup man, is found polishing the brass plate which reads “Scrooge and Marley”. It is daylight, and a large crowd has assembled, apparently just to watch him do this. Tom turns and addresses them, announcing that they have all of course assembled to express their common gratitude to Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge is much impressed by this Future; he recognizes the whole crowd as people who owed him money. “They love me and I never knew it!” Tom calls for three cheers. Scrooge, anxious to thank everyone, mounts his front steps to address the group. Thus he has his back to the door when it opens so his coffin can be carried from the counting house. He misinterprets the reaction of the crowd, the rest of Tom’s speech, and the musical number “Thank You Very Much.” He comes to believe that the impromptu funeral procession is a parade in his honor and capers along with it, completely failing to notice the men dancing atop the coffin. Ony the sudden reappearance of the Spirit shuts off his glee. He freezes at the sight, and the procession rollicks on without him.
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