It is revealed that, if Scrooge does not repent his miserly ways, he will be condemned in the afterlife as Marley was, carrying a heavy chain forged by his own selfishness and greed.

They next visit Harry's Christmas party, where he defends his uncle from his guests' snide remarks, hoping to know a better side to Scrooge.

Finding that it is Christmas Day, he decides to bring happiness to London's citizens and goes on a shopping spree, buying food and presents, with the help of children.

Dressed as "Father Christmas", Scrooge then delivers a giant turkey, presents and toys to the Cratchits and promises to double Bob's salary and that they will work to find the best doctors to make Tim better.

The film features an opening title sequence of numerous hand-painted backgrounds and overlays by British illustrator Ronald Searle.

[3] Finney was in his mid-thirties and wore makeup to look older and was able to draw effectively upon his theatrical training and incorporate various vocal inflections and physical mannerisms as the old miser.

[14] Gene Siskel of The Chicago Tribune awarded the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, praising Finney's "masterful performance".

[15] Arthur D. Murphy, reviewing for Variety, called Scrooge "a most delightful film in every way" and praised Finney as "remarkable", and also complimented Bricusse's "unobtrusive complementary music and lyrics; and Ronald Neame's delicately controlled direction which conveys, but does not force, all the inherent warmth, humor and sentimentality.

"[17] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four, feeling it "works very nicely on its intended level and the kids sitting near me seemed to be having a good time."

[18] Reviewing for the New York Daily News, Ann Guarino wrote Scrooge was "bright with humor and moves along at a lively pace in 19th Century settings."

[19] Vincent Canby of The New York Times called Finney's performance "absurd, sentimental, pretty, never quite as funny as it intends to be, but quite acceptable, if only as a seasonal ritual."

Overall, Canby felt the adaptation was "surprisingly faithful", and he complemented Ronald Neame for directing "the movie with all of the delicacy possible after a small story has been turned into a comparatively large, conventional musical.

"[20] Pauline Kael, writing in The New Yorker, found Scrooge to be an "innocuous musical version of A Christmas Carol, starring Albert Finney looking glum.

Cocks was also critical of Bricusse's songs, and summarized the film as "a high-budget holiday spectacular, a musical extracted from Dickens' A Christmas Carol that turns out to be a curdled cup of holiday cheer [...] First frame to last, Scrooge is a mechanical movie made with indifference to every quality but the box office receipts.

The musical was revived at London Palladium in October 2012 with Steele again playing the title role in a run that lasted until 5 January 2013.

[27] The stage adaptation was mounted in Melbourne, Australia, in 1993, starring Keith Michell, Max Gillies, Tony Taylor, William Zappa, Dale Burridge, Emma Raciti, Ross Hannaford, Paul Cheyne, and Glenda Walsh.

[29] The remake features the vocal talents of Luke Evans as Scrooge, Johnny Flynn as Bob Cratchit, Fra Fee as Harry, Giles Terera as Tom, Olivia Colman as the Ghost of Christmas Past, James Cosmo as Fezziwig, Jessie Buckley as Isabel, Trevor Dion Nicholas as the Ghost of Christmas Present, and Jonathan Pryce as Jacob Marley.