Poor clerk Gregory Scott has a sick wife. The doctor's prescription is "good food and wine" and in desperation he breaks into his employer's money drawer. The next morning, he is dismissed, a week before Christmas in this British two-reeler.
It's posted to the BFI site on Youtube and the description alludes to Dickens. There is that about it, with its Cratchett-like hero and hard-hearted employer, although the circumstances and attitudes are significantly different. Although the structure and acting may seem primitive compared to American standards of the period, it is reasonable to assume that the distinction is more a matter of national cinema rather than backwardness. Certainly, the technical aspects (composition, set dressing and so forth) seem fully developed.