{"id":39576,"date":"2014-12-12T02:48:44","date_gmt":"2014-12-12T02:48:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owegopennysaver.com\/?p=39576"},"modified":"2014-12-15T02:53:24","modified_gmt":"2014-12-15T02:53:24","slug":"tinseltown-talks-june-lockhart-remembers-a-christmas-carol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2014\/12\/12\/tinseltown-talks-june-lockhart-remembers-a-christmas-carol\/","title":{"rendered":"Tinseltown Talks – June Lockhart Remembers \u2018A Christmas Carol\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tinseltown<\/a>

A Christmas Carol 1938 with the Lockharts \u2013 June (left), Gene, Kathleen, and Terry Kilburn. (Provided by June Lockhart)<\/p><\/div>\n

Released last month on Blu-ray, the 1938 version of Charles Dickens\u2019 \u201cA Christmas Carol\u201d has long been a favorite seasonal TV movie.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a short film, only about an hour, so there was no premiere when it first came out,\u201d recalled June Lockhart, who made her film debut at the age of 13 as Belinda Cratchit in the Christmas classic. \u201cThe studio just put it out as a program filler with their feature Christmas movie for that year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA Christmas Carol\u201d is especially memorable for Lockhart because her father and mother also appear in the film.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought my parents were wonderful as the Cratchits, and it was just great fun to see how a film was made,\u201d said Lockhart. \u201cI loved the Victorian costumes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior to filming, Lockhart was very familiar with the story.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to perform it every Christmas at home for our dinner guests,\u201d she recalled. \u201cSo I had already appeared in it, with my parents, in our living room for many years prior to doing it for MGM. We read from a script that my father had prepared from the original story. We would have wonderful actors like Doris Lloyd or Walter Kingsford playing parts and Leo G. Carroll would play Scrooge. In the film, Scrooge was played by Reginald Owen who was just a lovely, lovely man.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tinseltown<\/a>

Gene, Kathleen, and June Lockhart in 1953. (Provided by June Lockhart)<\/p><\/div>\n

Carroll, who portrayed Mr. Waverly in the \u201860s TV spy series \u201cThe Man from U.N.C.L.E.,\u201d was a close friend of the Lockhart family and always \u201cUncle Leo\u201d to young June.\u00a0 He was cast as Marley\u2019s ghost in the movie.<\/p>\n

A decade later, when Lockhart made her 1947 Broadway debut in \u2018For Love or Money,\u2019 for which she won a Tony Award, Carroll visited her dressing room after the first matinee.<\/p>\n

\u201cStanding at the door in a great coat with big black collar, cane, homburg hat, gloves, and with his blue eyes sparkling, he said \u2018Oh June, much better than I expected!\u2019\u201d recalled Lockhart. \u201cComing from him, it was a great accolade.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, \u201cA Christmas Carol\u201d is a favorite of Lockhart\u2019s family who are fond of quoting her first scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy daughter, Junie, and granddaughter, Christianna, have never let me forget that the first words I ever spoke in movies were: \u2018I know, I know \u2013 sausages!\u201d laughed June.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s become a family joke and we all shriek with laughter when we watch it now. Watching the film has become a family tradition each year. And now, to be able to watch it with my grandchildren \u2013 well, who gets to do something like that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tinseltown<\/a>

June, left, smiles at Reginald Owen (Scrooge) at the movie’s conclusion.<\/p><\/div>\n

However, the film did leave Lockhart with one unpleasant memory.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I do remember was feeling quite nauseated on the set one day from something I had eaten the night before,\u201d she recalled. \u201cThen they placed a bowl of mashed parsnips in front of me during the Christmas dinner scene. The stench made me so ill, the prop man had to replace the dish with potatoes. I\u2019ve avoided parsnips ever since!\u201d<\/p>\n

Lockhart went on to star in several TV series including \u201cLassie\u201d and \u201cLost in Space.\u201d Her father, Gene Lockhart (1891-1957), was one of Hollywood\u2019s most recognizable character actors throughout the \u201830s and \u201840s.\u00a0 And her mother, Kathleen Lockhart (1895-1978), had a 26 year movie career appearing in 40 films, about half alongside her husband.<\/p>\n

But \u201cA Christmas Carol\u201d was the only time June appeared on film with either of her parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it always had a sweet spot in the hearts of the Lockhart family,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s grand to see it on TV every year and it certainly lives on as a charming little picture.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA Christmas Carol\u201d (1938) is scheduled to air on TCM on Dec. 18 and 25.<\/i><\/p>\n

Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, Ala., and has written features, columns, and interviews for over 450 magazines and newspapers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Released last month on Blu-ray, the 1938 version of Charles Dickens\u2019 \u201cA Christmas Carol\u201d has long been a favorite seasonal TV movie. \u201cIt\u2019s a short…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-living"],"yoast_head":"\nTinseltown Talks - June Lockhart Remembers \u2018A Christmas Carol\u2019 - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2014\/12\/12\/tinseltown-talks-june-lockhart-remembers-a-christmas-carol\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tinseltown Talks - 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