Interlude
Even the movies which do not cheat the ending like to toss in a scene showing the arrival of a prize turkey at the home of the Cratchits. They NEED to see that turkey done all the way through.
None I have seen quite discuss the effect of the arrival of a new entrée on the doorstep on Mrs. Cratchit’s dinner plans. Even if it arrived first thing in the morning, can you COOK a turkey twice the size of Tiny Tim by dinnertime? (One or two critics suggest this is a plot on the part of Ebenezer Scrooge, who wants to make Bob late for work on December 26th.)
Sim I shows us the Cratchits confused. They can’t imagine where the bird might have come from. Tiny Tim DOES wonder whether Mr. Scrooge sent it. This confuses his parents still further: what, they ask him, would make Mr. Scrooge so take leave of his senses? Grinning, Tim answers “Christmas!”
Matthau goes shopping. Later, we see the Cratchits marveling at the mysterious arrival of a turkey and gifts. They sing again that there IS a Santa Claus.
In Scott, the ppoulterer’s man kicks at the door in Camdentown to make the delivery, first having to convince Bob that there is no mistake about the address. On being told that “a gentleman” has sent the turkey, Bob demands, “What gentleman? What’s his name?” The deliveryman cries, “Anonymous! He wishes to remain anonymous!” The children are agog. Mrs. Cratchit suggests that the thing to do is to eat the turkey; Bob feels she has had the right idea. Tim calls, “And God bless us all, every one!” The family approve this idea as well.
THE CHEAT ENDING
Some movies cannot wait for the ending Dickens wrote. We must rush to the Cratchit household, where the textual Scrooge is never seen, in the flesh, and have Scrooge present the family with its new prosperity. Those versions which omitted Fred have no choice in the matter, of course: Scrooge really has noplace else to go.
You see how this happens. For some people, this is the center of the story: Tiny Tim, the Cratchits, and how Scrooge learns to be nice to such people. Showing this by having the reformed miser visit them upon Christmas Day is the only logical outcome. You may prefer Dickens’s ending with its joke on poor Bob (showing the old man DOES have a waggish sense of humor, no matter what Dickens says about him) but the cheat ending gives a better excuse for a big closing musical number, as well as bringing Tiny Tim on stage in person to bless us, every one.
In Owen, the cheat comes later than this, after a scene at Fred’s. Scrooge, with Fred and Bess (who is not yet Mrs. Fred) ride together to Camde Town. Scrooge goes into the Cratchit house first, leaving the young couple in the carriage. Bob is stunned at the appearance of his former employer bearing gifts; Martha, the only other witness to this (besides being the only other person who knows her father was fired last night) is also amazed. Bob is dispatched to the kitchen with the turkey, and Martha is sent to bring in all the other little Cratchits. Bob informs his wife, in the kitchen, that Mr. Scrooge has gone quite mad; she does not believe this until she gets a good look at the turkey the old miser has given them. They hear the children shriek; Mrs. Cratchit pushes Bob to go rescue the little Cratchits from this maniac. The children are, in fact, shrieking with glee at the mechanical carousel Mr. Scrooge has brought. Bob doesn’t know what to make of this; when he spots Fred and Bess, he assumes they have come to pack the poor old man off to the hospital. Instead, Fred reveals that Scrooge has made him a partner in the firm, and now he can marry Bess. Bob runs to fetch his own wife, who is hiding in the pantry, and brings her out to confront the whole event. Scrooge now becomes exceedingly stern. “Bob Cratchit!” he snaps. “Yes, sir?” “Pass out the punch!” Bob’s salary, he goes on, is about to be doubled, and once Peter is old enough, a job will be found for the lad as well. “Everything for everybody, eh, Fred?” Mrs. Cratchit is still unconvinced. Scrooge admits he is rusty at this, never having done it before, but proposes a toast. “Merry Christmas to us all, my dears!” Tiny Tim adds, “God bless us, every one!” We move to “Silent Night” and the closing credits.
March goes first to Fred’s, singing, “A Very Merry Christmas”. Fred, smoking a little clay pipe, os wode-eyed throughout his uncle’s visit, and never does find voice to reply. “I’m rejoining the human race, Fred! I’ll be back in an hour or so. Save me some mince pie!” He runs to his office, and is distressed to realize it is the only one on the street with no display of seasonal greenery. Breaking a sprig of holly from a neighbor’s sign, he tucks this behind his own. When he arrives at the Cratchits’, a daughter opens the door. Scrooge is saying he has no wish to intrude when Bob comes to see who it is. Bob is struck with anxiety, but Scrooge wishes him “A Merry Christmas, Bob! A merrier Christmas, my good fellow” and the rest of the speech we will find in the canonical ending. Only after saying the bit about the best of care for Tim and the smoking bowl of hot bishop does he ask if he can come in. Bob, still stunned, lets him enter; Mrs. Cratchit, who has heard all, positively glows. Nonetheless, the family are a bit uneasy when Scrooge sits down to dine with them. Bob notices Peter is wearing one of his collars, and starts to berate him until Scrooge interrupts with “You don’t mind, do you, Bob?” “I don’t now.” Scrooge is introduced to the children; Tim is the only one who accepts the old man at once. He says he’s glad Mr. Scrooge is there, and offers to sing his Christmas song. A chorus joins in in the background; we watch emotions play over Scrooge’s face as the song continues (for QUITE a long time. My guess is that the song was written to be extended or cut short, depending on how the live performance was doing for time, and the director realized they were way short of the required time slot.) At the end, Tim rises to call “God bless us, every one!” and the invisible chorus sings “Amen”
. When Magoo arrives, the Cratchits are just sitting down to table. The toast to “The Founder of the Feast” appears here, somewhat abbreviated. The children, as in the text, show no enthusiasm for the toast, and their father reproves them: they must be jolly I order to do justice to this glorious bird. He unveils the enigmatic turkey, and immediately there is a knock at the door. Tim guesses it is Father Christmas; a scowling Peter says it is more likely some beggar who has smelled the turkey. Bob declares that if it is, then the beggar shall have some. A stern and savage Scrooge storms into the house. The Cratchits huddle together, terrified, as he delivers the line about “I am not going to stand for this any longer!” following it with the canonical dialogue right through “A merrier Christmas than I have given you in many a year.” They reprise “Ringle Ringle”, during which Scrooge presents gold coins to the children. A Christmas tree is delivered, and Scrooge gives Tiny Tim a horsey ride on his back. Bob declares, “You’re a child again, sir!” Scrooge proposes a toast. “A merry Christmas, and God bless all of you.” Tim replies, “God bless us, every one!” They now reprise “The Lord’s Bright Blessing (Razzleberry Dressing)” amd rimg down the curtain. Mr. Magoo leads the curtain calls, during which all the characters EXCEPT The Ghost of Christmas yet To Come appear.
Haddrick goes shopping and then knocks on the Cratchit door. Bob is dismayed to see his employer, and wonders what he has done wrong. Scrooge wishes him a merry Christmas. “Are you feeling well, sir?” “Better than you’ll ever know, Bob, my boy.” Scrooge then informs Mrs. Cratchit that he is here at his most ill-mannered, for he is inviting himself to dinner. As he moves in, the adult Cratchits retreat to the kitchen for a whispered conference. “What’s gotten into him, I wonder.” “The Christmas Spirit, I’d say.” “Look at the turkey! From the looks of it, it was more than one spirit.” Out front, sitting in Bob’s chair, Scrooge finally manages to sneeze, resolving THAT unnecessary subplot and providing an excuse for the Cratchits to say “Bless you.” “Ah yes, I truly have been.” They sing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Our Dear Nr. Scrooge”, followed by closing credits over a darkened London.
Finney sets off on a shopping spree, terrifying the toyshop owner by ordering plenty of everything, paying for it all with a handful of gold coins, and announcing that he will require the services of several small boys to deliver all this. Each boy will be given half a crown. “Mr. Scrooge, what has happened?” “What’s happened is perfectly simple, Pringle! I’ve discovered that I like life.” This is, of course, the cue to reprise “I Like Life”. Scrooge spends more money at the wine shop, handing out bottles to people on the street. After a quick slide on the ice, aided by the carolers he tangled with earlier, he spots Henry (this version’s Fred substitute) and Mrs. Henry, who are amazed. He hands them wine and gifts “from an old fool who deeply regrets the Christmases gone by that he might have shared.” Mrs. Henry invites him to Christmas lunch at three; he cries just a little and accepts. Shortly thereafter, he spots a Father Christmas suit in a window and buys that, giving him a disguise AND an excuse to reprise “Father Christmas”. His procession grows as he enters Camden Town, adding dancers and bell ringers. The Cratchit children watch this parade approach their house. Scrooge continues right into the house, surprising Mrs. Cratchit so much that she drops the Christmas goose. Father Christmas suggests she uses this little bird as stuffing for the prize turkey, and starts handing out toys to the children. The girl who coveted it earlier gets the “dolly in the corner”. Father Christmas now pretends to leave without giving anything to Tiny Tim, and then “suddenly remembers” a mechanical carousel. Tim is agog, but, being a man of the world, inquires “You didn’t steal it, did you?” Scrooge assures him he has not, and then asks if Bob has recognized him yet. Totally at sea, Bob guesses “Father Christmas?” Scrooge jerks his beard down for a moment; Mrs. Cratchit recognizes him and screams that the man has gone mad. Bob assures her there is nothing to fear, but on being told his salary is about to be doubled, agrees that Scrooge has gone completely insane. Once he has convinced the Cratchits he is sane and sober, Scrooge dances back out into the street to confront Tom Jenkins about that loan. Tom is pleading for more time when Scrooge tells him the debt is cancelled: in fact, he is forgiving everyone’s debt. THIS is an excuse to reprise “Thank You Very Much”; all his debtors now join the merry parade. Spotting the Chairty Solicitors, he calls to them to come to his office tomorrow for a hundred guineas, and the same every Christmas. They don’t seem particularly surprised at this. The parade now passes a church, where the choir is reprising “Sing a Christmas Carol”. Scrooge’s energy flags at last; he slips away from the parade. Humming his way home, he greets his doorknocker and calls out to Jacob Marley that, between them, they made a merry Christmas at last. Now he must excuse himself. He is going to have Christmas Dinner WITH HIS FAMILY. We move to the closing credits.
McDuck, out on the street, frightens Fred’s horse, and Fred, too: Fred is understandably concerned to see his uncle abroad in hat, coat, nightshirt, and slippers. Scrooge says he’s coming to Christmas dinner, and is so merry about it he convinces even the horse. Shopping, he fills a huge bag, which he carries himself to the Cratchits’. Struggling to keep his face stern, he storms in, pretending he has another bag of laundry. Tim sees a Teddy bear bounce loose. Scrooge hides this; scowling, he turns to Bob and growls “You leave me no alternative but to give you….” “Toys!” shouts Tiny Tim, who is not fooled. Scrooge now explains that Bob will be getting a raise, and become Scrooge’s partner. Bob thanks him, Scrooge wishes him a merry Christmas, Tiny Tim says “God bless us, every ine”, and to the tune of “Oh, What a Merry Christmas Day”, we focus on the happy group and the closing credits.
Caine orders “Follow me!” Singing “With a Thankful Heart”, a little musical sermon on what he has learned, he does his shopping, leaving plentiful coal for his bookkeeping staff. Hugs and gifts are distributed at Fred’s; Mrs. Fred is left glowing while Fred himself can only blink in amazement. The next stop is an old folk’s home, where he leaves gifts for Fozziewig and his old schoolmaster. The mice and other poor families seen earlier are not forgotten. Je finally moves on to the home of the Cratchits. He has his gift-bearing procession hide, and makes his face very stiff. “Bob Cratchit! Ah! Here you are!” “M…Mr. Scrooge, sir!” “You were not at work this morning, as we had discussed.” “But Mr. Scrooge, sir, we did discuss it. It’s Christmas Day. You gave me the day off!” “I? I, Ebenezer Scrooge? Would I do a thing like that?” “No. Er, yes. But you did.” “Bob Cratchit, I’ve had my fill of this.” Scrooge goes through with the rest of his mock scolding of his clerk, with interjections from a pugnacious Mrs. Cratchit, who in fact orders him out of the house and threatens him with physical violence before she realizes he has just raised Bob’s salary. He then adds that he intends to pay Bob’s mortgage on this house, smiling a genuine smile. He is invited in, and in turn invites the Cratchits to join him in a little Christmas feast of his own. Now his procession of gifts can be brought in.
In Curry, there is a knock at the door just as the Cratchits are admiring the mystery bird which has been delivered. Fred and Mrs. Fred enter, and are invited to stay for dinner. Fred explains he has had an order from his uncle to meet Mr. Scrooge here. Bob wonders what he’s done wrong now. Outside, Scrooge and Debit force their faces into familiar scowls. Marching in, Scrooge demands to know what Bob is doing at home at this time of day. “It’s only once a year, sir.” Fred protests on Bob’s behalf, but is silenced by Debit’s growl. “I’m not going to stand for this sort of thing any longer. Therefore, I am about to….” “Oh no, sir.” “Double your salary!” Mrs. Cratchit embraces him. Bob can say only “I give you Mr. Scrooge, the Founder of the Feast!” Everyone joins the toast. An old fiddler, possibly the very one from Fezziwig’s party, enters, and a small caroler drags in a bagful of presents. Scrooge vows to teach them all “Santa’s Sooty Suit” and asks for Fred’s forgiveness. He also promises to get Tim healthy again. Fred cries out “God bless us!”. Scrooge and Tim reply, “God bless us, every one!”
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