undefined

Collection of five festive family features. 'The Pickwick Papers' (1952) is based on Charles Dickens' comic novel concerning a group of bachelors who travel around Victorian England. Naming themselves the Pickwick Club after their founder, Samuel Pickwick (James Hayter), the gents' journey brings them many surprises and a host of revelations about themselves and the current state of the world. Along the way they encounter a wealth of comic characters and are swindled, sued and thrown into a debtors' prison. In 'Scrooge' (1935) Ebenezer Scrooge (Seymour Hicks) is a miserly, old moneylender who, on the seventh anniversary of his former business partner's death, is visited by the man's ghost in an attempt to make him mend his ways. Over the course of the night Scrooge is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future (voices of Marie Ney, O Asche and C.V. France). But have the efforts of the ministering spirits come too late to save Scrooge's soul from eternal torment? In 'Scrooge' (1951) Alastair Sim stars in the title role as the mean-spirited old man who even begrudges having to give his clerk, Bob Cratchit (Mervyn Johns), the day off for Christmas. Alone at home on Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his late partner, Jacob Marley (Michael Hordern), who warns him that he will be visited by three spirits in an attempt to make him change his hard-hearted ways. In 'Tom Brown's Schooldays' (1951) John Howard Davies stars as the title character as he begins his schooldays at the Rugby School for Boys. There, he must contend with the school's harsh discipline and accepted bullying from the older boys, the cruellest being Flashman (John Forrest). Brown's one hope is headmaster Dr. Thomas Arnold (Robert Newton), who tries to temper the bullying and discipline with kindness - something that goes against the grain of his fellow masters. Finally, in 'Home for Christmas' (1990) Mickey Rooney stars as an elderly homeless man who is taken in by a family at Christmas. Elmer (Rooney) is offered the chance to stay with the family after volunteering to do chores for them. This is good news for six-year-old Amanda (Chantellese Kent), who only really wants a grandher for Christmas. But will Elmer be able to fulfil the role?