The Ghost conducted him through several streets familiar to his feet; and as they went along, Scrooge looked here and there to find himself, but nowhere was he to be seen. They entered poor Bob Cratchit’s house; the dwelling he had visited before; and found the mother and children seated around the fire.
Quiet. Very quiet. The noisy little Cratchits were still as statues in one corner, and sat looking at Peter, who had a book before him. The mother and her daughters were engaged in sewing. But surely they were very quiet!
“And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them.”
Where had Scrooge heard those words? He had not dreamed them. The boy must have read them out, as he and the Spirit crossed the threshold. Why did he not go on?
The mother laid her work upon the table, and put her hand up to her face.
“The colour hurts my eyes,” she said.
The colour? Ah, poor Tiny Tim!
“They’re better now again,” said Cratchit’s wife. “It makes them weak by candle-light; and I wouldn’t show weak eyes to your father when he comes home, for the world. It must be near his time.”
“Past it, rather,” Peter answered, shutting up his book. “But I think he’s walked a little slower than he used, these few last evenings, Mother.”
They were very quiet again. At last she said, and in a steady, cheerful voice, that only faultered once.
“I have known him walk with—I have known him walk with Tiny Tim upon his shoulder, very fast indeed.”
“And so have I,” cried Peter. “Often.”
“And so have I!” exclaimed another. So had all.
“But he was very light to carry,” she resumed, intent upon her work, “and his father loved him so, that it was no trouble—no trouble. And here is your father at the door!”
Some filmmakers are in a hurry to get to the BIG scenes, and skip past this, with Bob Cratchit already on the scene, or just arriving. Those screenplays which do include it do most of it as written, but generally have Mrs. Cratchit’s eyes weakened not by the color, but by something else handy. Those who know about such things have explained that the women are sewing funeral garments, which are naturally black: hence the line about “The colour? Ah, poor Tiny Tim!” The boom Peter is holding is likely a Bible, the line spoken is from Matthew 18, and, if continued, would have reached the admonition to turn and become like a child. Dickens’s first generation of readers would have known this, and correctly applied the line to Tiny Tim.
March. Magoo, Matthau, and McDuck skip the scene. Sim II sweeps through the streets to the Cratchits’, but enters in the next sequence. In Stewart, the Spirit raises the sleeve it did not raise in that previous transition, and we see Bob coming home.
Hicks sees Mrs. Cratchit weeping as she leaves an upstairs room; She descends to where her daughters are definitely sewing away at black garments. Peter reads as in the text. Tucking away her handkerchief, Mom smiles encouragement to them all. Sitting to sew, she has to turn away, saying “The colour hurts my eyes–makes them weak by candle-light” and so on, trying to smile throughout to show she’s all right, really. The children are all very solemn. We see a shot of Bonb trudging home, and she exclaims, “There’s your father at the door!”
Owen peers through the window (the Cratchits ALWAYS have a large window just where it’s convenient for passing Spirits and misers) and finds Cratchits at work on black garments. Peter himself is all in black. The dialogue is performed as written.
Sim I arrives as Peter is reading from Psalm 91, concerning the long life granted to those who know the name of the Lord. At one point, apparently in her thoughts since her lips aren’t moving, Mrs. Cratchit takes over the reading; our eyes stray to the empty seat in the chimney corner. Peter begins to feel the silence; he turns and asks “Shall I stop reading?” “No, no. It’s only the colour. It hurts my eyes.” The dialogue proceeds as written, Peter staring straight ahead throughout. Mrs. Cratchit breaks down just after “no trouble—no trouble”, as we hear Bob’s footsteps at the door.
This is Rathbone’s first stop with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Martha and Mrs. Cratchit are sewing while Peter just stands and watches. Most of the dialogue is here, except for the colour hurting Mrs. Cratchit’s eyes.
Haddrick drops through a sky shot to the house in time to hear Mrs. Cratchit wondering where Bob is. The dialogue proceeds from there, with one shot of the empty stool and the ownerless crutch. “And there’s your father at the door!”
The Spirit directs Finney away from the parade in his honor. Pouting a bit, Scrooge walks over to the window indicated. Mrs. Cratchit complains about her eyes and Bob’s lateness. Peter notes that his father has walked a little more slowly the last few evenings. She replies with the line about carrying Tiny Tim; they all look to the crutch. “Where is Tiny Tim?” Scrooge pleads. “Take me to him?”
Scott recognizes the neighborhood. “There must be some confusion. Your fellow Spirit brought me here earlier.” The Ghost points, and Scrooge moves on, grumbling, “Very well.” He glances back at his companion. “You’re devilish hard to have a conversation with.” Peter reads as in the text; the women are sewing ordinary rags. The children are solemn as Mrs. Cratchit complains about her eyes. “This work makes my eyes red, and I wouldn’t show red eyes to your father when he comes home. Not for the world.” The rest of the sequence proceeds as written.
Caine pleads, “Let me see some tenderness connected with this world, or I’ll be haunted by that terrible conversation forever.” He is profoundly grateful to recognize the Cratchit house, and says so, calling it “A place of joy and laughter.” Then he hesitates. “It’s so quiet. Why is it so quiet, Spirit?” The Ghost merely points; after another pause, Scrooge looks through the window. We discover Mrs. Cratchit in the same position as in our first sight of her, and, just as at that juncture, her daughters come up to accuse her of something. This time, though, they say she is crying. And once again, she denies it all immediately. “Oh, it’s just the lamplight…it hurts my eyes.” Scrooge guesses. “Not Tiny Tim!” Mrs. Cratchit explains about not wanting to show weak eyes to their father, and remarks how late he is. Peter, turning the spit for Christmas dinner as before, haltingly notes that his father has walked a little slower these last few evenings. Bob enters.
Curry exclaims, “This is too harsh to bear. Let me see some tenderness connected with a death, I beseech you.” “The lamp is so bright it hurts my eyes,” Mrs. Cratchit explains to her family around the kitchen table. “I must not show weak eyes to your father when he comes home. It must be near his time.” Martha answers that her father has walked more slowly these last few evenings. The two speeches about Tim follow.
Blogsy Babbles 