When 9-year-old orphan Oliver Twist (John Howard Davies) dares to ask his cruel taskmaster, Mr. Bumble (Francis L. Sullivan), for a second serving of gruel, he's hired out as an apprentice. Escaping that dismal fate, young Oliver falls in with the street urchin known as the Artful Dodger (Anthony Newley) and his criminal mentor, Fagin (Alec Guinness). When kindly Mr. Brownlow (Henry Stephenson) takes Oliver in, Fagin's evil henchman Bill Sikes (Robert Newton) plots to kidnap the boy.

Ebenezer Scrooge (Seymour Hicks) is a curmudgeonly businessman who hates the Christmas season because it interferes with making money. His meek employee, Bob Cratchit (Donald Calthrop), dutifully serves Scrooge despite his mistreatment because Bob needs to provide for his family. On the night of Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by a number of visions, including the Spirit of Christmas Present (Oscar Asche), which shows him things he cannot normally see, changing the miser's attitude forever.

The unscrupulous businessman Scrooge doesn't think much of Christian charity; but then the ghost of his deceased business partner appears to him, trying to get him to change his mind; Scrooge should learn to open his heart.

A Christmas television special narrated by Vincent Price. This short movie compresses Charles Dickens' classic 1843 story of Ebenezer Scrooge and three Christmas Ghosts into a half-hour. It is stated to be "the oldest extant straight adaptation of the story" for television.