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Before The Grinch, there was Scrooge - the original Christmas killjoy, the anti-Christmas if you will. Until, that is, he is paid a visit by the Christmas spirit and realises that Christmas time is less about worldly possessions and money and more about giving, family and spreading cheer.

A Christmas Carol is certainly the perfect little read come Christmas time.

They were not a handsome family; they were not well dressed; their shoes were far from being water-proof; their clothes were scanty; and Peter might have known, and very likely did, the inside of a pawnbroker’s. But they were happy, grateful, pleased with one another, and contented with the time;

“A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us!” Which all the family re-echoed. “God bless us every one!” said Tiny Tim, the last of all.

Treasure the woman or man you decide to marry, more than worldly acclaim or gold. The latter will buy you things that cannot make you as happy as the first.

Treat your employees with the same love and respect you would your own family

First spirit / Ghost of Christmas past

Never forget where you come from

“A poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every twenty-fifth of December!” said Scrooge, buttoning his great-coat to the chin. “But I suppose you must have the whole day. Be here all the earlier next morning!”

If I could work my will,” said Scrooge, indignantly, “every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas,’ on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!” “Uncle!” pleaded the nephew. - Ebenezer Scrooge

Dickens is buried in the Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey.

Originally conceived as a pamphlet against exploitative capitalism

Its reception was so ecstatic that it is credited with helping to revive interest among the Victorians in Christmas traditions, including caroling and holiday cards, as well as inciting an unexpected wave of charitable giving from Britain’s Industrial Age robber barons.

Standing in the bright spotlight, I attracted a host of fans from the insect world, ending up with a moth in my bra, another in my eye, and one in my mouth. Since I was mid-song, I pocketed the latter in my cheek and eventually swallowed it at a discreet moment. Yuck.

we were invited to a party at the home of a very powerful Hollywood agent. I can’t remember why we chose to attend; we were so seldom partygoers. When we arrived at the house, we were confronted by a classic “scene” for those days, but one that I had yet to witness. A group of guests were doing lines of coke in the sunken living room. During dinner, the coke was passed around as dessert.

Blake and I spent the first two months of the New Year writing. He was finishing the screenplay he had started in Switzerland, a western called Wild Rovers. I was trying to push forward with Mandy (children’s book)

I was frightened he’d be unapproachable and that we wouldn’t connect, but he turned out to be just the opposite. He was funny and lugubrious about himself, and I learned that he was a great connoisseur of wine and art. I left feeling excited to be working with him. - Julie on meeting Alfred Hitchcock

I missed Tony’s friendship, his dignity and gentleness, and wanted to hold on to that. I worried that I risked losing it by not making up my mind. My sleep was chaotic and disrupted, and I wrestled with fearful dreams, loneliness, and depression.

the villa is now a museum devoted to the von Trapp family and there is no mention of the German occupation, you can literally feel the evil that once permeated those walls.

I never visited the real von Trapp villa while filming The Sound of Music, but fifty years later, when Diane Sawyer and I were in Salzburg for the anniversary of the film, we went there and we both got chills.

home is a feeling as much as it is a place; it is as much about loving what I do as being where I am. - Julie Andrews

To me, it’s an anthem that speaks to one’s homeland, no matter where that may be, and it moves me deeply. I spent so much of my early life trying to unify my need for home with my commitment to work. These days, I’ve come to realize that home is a feeling as much as it is a place; it is as much about loving what I do as being where I am.

“Edelweiss” is the last song Oscar Hammerstein ever wrote, and it is my favorite song in the film, despite the fact that I only sing it with the von Trapp ensemble. I have, however, sung it many times in the years since.

I had expected 20th Century Fox to be bustling with activity, but it seemed eerily quiet. The studio had just produced Cleopatra, starring Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rex Harrison, at enormous cost, and as a result Fox was virtually bankrupt.

Four days after the assassination, we resumed filming.

we were filming a party scene at MGM when we received the devastating news that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. All work ground to a halt, and a pall descended over the entire studio.

Though I totally understood why Audrey had been chosen for the role (I’d never made a movie, and was a relative unknown compared to her worldwide fame), I felt sad that I would never have the chance to put my version of Eliza on film. In those days, archival tapes of an original stage production were still a thing of the future.

Walt visited the set from time to time, and when he did, everyone was thrilled to see him. He was always very encouraging and full of bonhomie—I never heard him critique what he saw. He was clearly very excited about this new project.

I noticed that the wart was shrinking. As the days passed it became smaller and smaller, until finally, to my delight, it vanished altogether, leaving my thumb smooth and unblemished. It has never returned. I can only attribute it to some magical ingredient in the fuller’s earth.

years, I had been plagued by a wart on my thumb, which I had attempted to treat in a number of different ways. It had become large enough for me to want to hide it by any means possible; mostly by clasping my hands, one thumb over the other. After several days of shooting “Step in Time,”

The chimney soot needed for the rooftop sequence was actually a kind of mineral-rich clay compound known as fuller’s earth. It was often used in Hollywood films to create effects involving dirt and dust.

One of my favorite scenes to film was “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” The song so resembled the patter songs I’d heard in my vaudeville days, and I instantly embraced it.