The Christmas holiday season is the most popular time of the year for the movie industry. More people go to the movies on Christmas Day than any other day of the year. Everybody has their favorite Christmas movie. More than likely their favorite would be the movie that most touched them as a child. At the top of that list for so many would be A Christmas Carol, the film adaptation of the Victorian classic masterwork by Charles Dickens.
Some of the finest actors in the world have taken on the role of the cantankerous old miser, Ebenezer Scrooge. Seymour Hicks, George C. Scott, Albert Finney, Alastair Sim, Michael Caine, and others played the role. More recently Patrick Stewart, Jim Carrey, Kelsey Grammar, Bill Murray, Henry Winkler, all took heed to the warning of the enchained ghoulish apparition of the deceased Jacob Marley, and were reluctantly guided into the terrifying haunting reality of one man’s regretful life as others see him, and for the very first time, as he sees himself. So many terrific portrayals and interpretations, like a favorite Christmas movie everybody has their favorite Scrooge.
Christmas, a holy day celebrated throughout the world as the birth date of Jesus, means so many things to different people. Spending special time with family and friends, listening to music you wouldn’t listen to any other time of the year, shopping for gifts to give one another, going to parties, indulging in holiday treats and extravagant meals, decorating the Christmas tree, driving around neighborhoods and marveling at the beautiful displays, and giving to those less fortunate.
Christmas is also a time of remembrance. Thinking of loved ones who are no longer here, how much they meant to you, and maybe how you miss them just a little bit more this time of year.
I was talking to a friend a while back and we were chatting about the greatest movies of all time. I mentioned my two all-time favorites being Sunset Boulevard (1950) and, Casablanca (1942). My friend has two grown children with families of their own, told me his kids won’t watch a movie if it’s in black and white. Understanding full well the generational differences in preferences and taste, I couldn’t help feel a bit dismayed knowing how they’re missing out on some the finest motion picture entertainment ever made, all in glorious black and white.
The other night I turned on the TV just in time to see, A Christmas Carol. A movie I’ve seen and enjoyed many times over the years. I fondly remembered the gentleman lead who portrayed Scrooge in such a remarkable way, Reginald Owen.
An extraordinary actor with over 80 (some sources site more than a 100) film and television credits to his name. With such a long and storied career, chances are you’ve seen him in Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, or even the television show Bewitched. Maybe you’re familiar with the story when the Beatles came over in 1964 for their historic performance at the Hollywood Bowl. No hotels would rent the band rooms for fear of “Beatlemania” and mobs of screaming teenagers. It was Reginald Owen who wasn’t using his Bel Air mansion at the time and kindly rented it out to the Beatles for four days so his fellow Brits would have a nice place to stay.
Who was the greatest Scrooge? Well, that’s hotly debated like the greatest baseball player, or president. While this particular adaptation may not be the most accurate reflection of Dickens literary classic, the film is only 69 minutes long and considered a lighter interpretation adapted for the entire family. At the time, Metro-Goldwin-Mayer had good reason to soften some of the harshness of the tale. The country still suffered the devastating effects of the Great Depression and was now facing WWII.
It’s Reginald Owen’s magnificent and whimsical portrayal that is so memorable and sets this film apart from all the others and for many their absolute favorite. I can’t help to wonder how many people may not have ever seen this version solely because it was released way back in 1938. Or maybe, they haven’t seen it because it’s in black and white.
Reginald Owen was born in England in 1887. A student at Sir Herbert Tree’s Academy of Dramatic Arts, he made his professional stage debut in 1905. He earned his first film credit in 1911, came over to the United States, performed in New York Theater, then moved on to Hollywood. The rest is cinematic history.
With my recent viewing, once again I was so enchanted with this version that I decided to do a little research. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Mr. Owen, this remarkably talented “movie star” resides right here, in Boise, Idaho.
The Spirit stood among the graves, and pointed down to One. He advanced towards it trembling. The Phantom was exactly as it had been, but he dreaded that he saw new meaning in its solemn shape.
“Before I draw nearer to that stone to which you point,” said Scrooge, “answer me one question. Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of the things that May be only?”
Still the Ghost pointed downward to the grave by which it stood.
Reginald Owens journeys took him around the world. So how did this esteemed and renowned British thespian end up here, in Boise, at the beautiful Morris Hill Cemetery?
In 1956 Mr. Owen married Barbara Haveman, daughter of Russian Princess Barbara Argoutinsky Dolgoroukoff.
In 1972 he was back on Broadway performing and suffered an ankle injury. Barbara’s son from a previous marriage was living in Boise at the time so he came here to get better and stayed with her son, Robert. In November of that year after a series of strokes he suffered a fatal heart attack. He died at 85. A memorial service was held in Beverly Hills, and private graveside services were held here in Boise. The New York Times did a fitting obituary that can still be found on-line. His wife Barbara passed away in 1998, but she was buried in Virginia. I was unable to find the whereabouts of Robert. Nor, why Barbara ended up in Virginia. To the best of my ability, I could find no family ties any longer here in Boise.
Like I do every Memorial Day after making my rounds, I adopt a grave. I thought why not do something special for Mr. Owen that might at the very least let cemetery visitors during the Christmas season know Boise is now home for this fascinating fellow. So I went to Signs Etc. in Meridian and a terrific graphic artist named Maddi, made this.
Since we’re all his family now, maybe you’d like to come and pay your respects to ol’ Ebenezer. He’s rather easy to find. Morris Hill Cemetery is up on the Central Bench at the Corner of Latah and Emerald.
From Emerald drive south up Latah and turn right at the 2nd entrance nearest the office and groundskeeper outbuildings. In the map below you can see the outbuildings and the mausoleum in the middle. Drive past the mausoleum and pass the road directly behind it. You’ll come to a Y in the road.
Directly in front of you is Section Q, where you’ll find Mr. Owen. There’s a trash can and a sign post with Sec Q on it, park right there. Here’s the view looking toward the back of the mausoleum.
Here’s the view in the other direction facing the trash can and the Sec Q sign. In the distance you’ll notice a red circle around his plot.
Section Q, Block 46, Space 3. From the Sec Q sign its 61’ to the west (approximately 24.5 paces) and 37’ (14.5 paces) to the south. Lat: 43.606827 , Lng -116.231765
“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.”
A very special and heartfelt thank you to the staff and all the grounds crew whom for years have worked so hard to keep Morris Hill Cemetery such a heavenly place. They are to be commended.
I do have some hopes for the future. One would be to get Mr. Owens brass plaque restored to it’s original luster. It’s a bit rustic over all these years, and certainly could use it. What about doing an annual showing of A Christmas Carol on the big screen right here in Boise? Then after the movie, everyone could make a pilgrimage up to Morris Hill. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Maybe a theater would help out, and it could become an annual fundraiser. My thought is, Mr Owen has such a legendary and storied film and entertainment career spanning decades, he is so deserving of a much more celebratory memorial marker. That would be incredible!
We don’t really know where this web site is going to go. It may expand with additional pages for fans, photos, info about other films of Mr. Owens….We’re certainly open to it. If anybody has any information you would like to contribute, please take a moment and reach out. Or, if you don’t and just want to say hello and have us post your picture at Mr. Owen’s marker, we have a Comment section. We’d LOVE to hear from you. Just tell us who you are and where you’re from. We also have an area for News. If something interesting happens, we’ll post it there.
Thank you.
“God Bless Us. Every One!”
Curt Caldwell
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