Sim was Hurst's first choice to play Scrooge. Hurst was immensely proud of the film and that it was shown endlessly.[5]
Teresa Derrington, who played Fred's maid who gives Scrooge quiet encouragement to see Fred, said Alastair Sim was not as encouraging to her during filming, and asked her sneeringly if it was her first film role.[3]
Comparison with the source material
In the film, Mrs. Dilber is the name of the charwoman, whereas in the book the woman was unnamed and the laundress was named Mrs. Dilber. Dilber’s role is greatly expanded in the film, to the point that she receives second billing in the list of characters. The interactions of the two benefactors; Scrooge's nephew; and his clerk Bob Cratchit in the office are not in the same orders as in the book.
Samuel Wilkins who is in debt to Scrooge was not in the original book. The film also expands on the story by detailing Scrooge's rise as a prominent businessman. He was corrupted by an avaricious new mentor, Mr. Jorkin (played by Jack Warner), a role created for the film, who lured him away from the benevolent Mr. Fezziwig and also introduced him to Jacob Marley. When Jorkin is discovered to be an embezzler, the opportunistic Scrooge and Jacob Marley offer to compensate the company's losses on the condition that they receive control of the company for which they work – and so, Scrooge and Marley is born.
The character of Scrooge's fiancée, named Belle in the book, and shown at the end of the Ghost of Christmas Past chapter to have become a happily-married mother of several children, is renamed Alice and is given an extra scene during the Ghost of Christmas Present sequence, where she is not married, and working at a shelter, tending to the needs of the poor.
The film reveals that Ebenezer's mother died giving birth to him, causing his father to resent him. In the book, Fan is much younger than Ebenezer, and the cause of her death is not mentioned. In the film, Ebenezer is younger than Fan, who dies after giving birth to his nephew, Fred, thus engendering Scrooge's estrangement from him, and causing him to resent his nephew like his father did before him.[6]
Music
Richard Addinsell wrote several pieces for the film's underscore, ranging from dark and moody to light and joyous. One of the more notable tunes is a polka, used in the two different versions of Fred's dinner party: the one Scrooge observes while with the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the other with Scrooge attending the party after atoning for his past coldness to Fred and his wife. The tune is similar to a traditional Slovenian polka called "Stoparjeva" ("hitch-hiker") or just "Stopar".
The film also contains excerpts from some traditional Christmas carols and other tunes. "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" is sung over part of the opening credits, and by the miners when Scrooge is with the Ghost of Christmas Present. An instrumental version of "I Saw Three Ships" is played when Scrooge gives a coin to Mrs. Dilber, and again just before the end of the film. "Silent Night" is played and sung at various times, including over the last part of the final scene and "The End".
The English country dance "Sir Roger de Coverley" is played and danced during the scene where Scrooge visits the office of Old Fezziwig with The Ghost of Christmas Past.
The tragic folk song "Barbara Allen" is played as an instrumental when young Scrooge is talking with his sister Fan, and sung by a duet at Fred's Christmas party. Scrooge turns up in the middle of the line "Young man, I think you're dying", thereby causing the singers to stop before the last two words.
