The First Adaptation Of A Classic Charles Dickens Christmas Story Is Impossible To Watch Today

The allure of lost media lies in the mystery of the unknown, along with the chase of the hunt. This curiosity intensifies when something is only partially lost, giving us a glimpse into what could have been. A famous example of this is Alfred Hitchcock's "The Mountain Eagle," which is considered one of the most sought-after lost films (only six intriguing stills have managed to survive). While some experts believe that lost media like "The Mountain Eagle" can still be found and salvaged, there are other works of art that seem to have been lost to time forever. The first American adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" is one such example, as no prints of this 1908 silent film are known to exist today.

Before we dig deeper into the history of this lost film, let's take a quick look at Dickens' most celebrated novella. You might already be familiar with the core of the story, in which the irritable miser Ebenezer Scrooge undergoes a change of heart after encountering spirits who nudge him toward redemption. Apart from the obvious themes of kindness and forgiveness embedded into the novella, Dickens' use of "Merry Christmas" popularized the phrase among Victorian readers (which found a way to persist through a century, and more). It also fostered the idea of Christmas as an event that brought neighbors together in an increasingly industrialized (and alienated) cityscape, reframing it more as a social gathering marked with feasting and merrymaking.

Given these connotations, it would have been interesting to watch the first American adaptation of the story, if only to gauge how these ideas translated into the silent medium at the time. Unfortunately, its lost status can be attributed to the fact that 90% of films made before 1929 are impossible to find, even with The Film Foundation's dedicated efforts to preserve and restore as much as possible.

While we do not have any surviving prints to go off of, a review in the Moving Picture World magazine (thankfully) provides a scene-by-scene written description before the release of the 1908 film. These descriptions denote that the plot mostly remained the same as Dickens' novella, but combined the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come into a single entity. This might've been done for creative or budgetary reasons, but we do know that Scrooge was played by Thomas Ricketts, who is best known for his character acting and for directing one of the first motion pictures in Hollywood. While it's tough to gauge Ricketts' quality of performance, the text description frames the character as someone who is shunned by the local neighborhood due to his cantankerous behavior.

The rest sticks to what we know, ending with Scrooge hosting a massive banquet for everyone, while promising to be kinder in his perception of those around him. We also have a rough idea about the runtime (15 minutes!), which fits the short film classification by today's standards but may have been perceived as the standard at the time. Critics' reviews for the film have also found a way to survive, with The Moving Picture World having the following to say about it (via The Lost Media Wiki):

"It is impossible to praise this film too highly. It reproduces the story as closely as it is possible to do in a film, and the technical excellence of the work cannot be questioned. The photography, the staging, and the acting are all of the best, and the story told is always impressive. ... Such films cannot be too highly commended."

While these descriptors are a tad vague (which is understandable, as there weren't too many titles to compare to), they give us a good enough idea about its artistic merit. The film reels might've been destroyed/thrown away to make room for new ones; whatever the case, no stills or footage exist in any form at the moment. This is a shame, as the existence of this 1908 silent film inherently paved the path for every adaptation that came after. Maybe one of these Christmases, we'll get the gift of someone uncovering a long-lost copy of the movie somewhere in the world.