In the novel, Scrooge waits till the day after Christmas & surprises Cratchit (coming in late after all that hot gin punch--ah, Victorian England, God bless us, every one!) at the office by doubling his salary. For authenticity in "feel" and look, I really like the early '80s version w/George C. Scott as Scrooge; it was filmed in Shrewsbury, & has good costumes, music, etc.

I'm also quite partial to the BBC's "A Child's Christmas in Wales" w/Denholm Elliott, "It's A Wonderful Life", and the original animated version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" w/Boris Karloff---classics!