Dickens
Charles Dickens' most notable works plus "our mutual friend" as mentioned being one of top 5 best Dickens adaptations.
A crash course in Dickens :-D
A crash course in Dickens :-D
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- StarsNigel StockClive SwiftAlan ParnabyThe story follows Samuel Pickwick and three other members of The Pickwick Club as they travel throughout the English countryside by coach observing the phenomena of life and human nature, and recording their experiences for the other members of The Pickwick Club. Their memoirs of these experiences are the Pickwick Papers of the novel's title. During their travels Pickwick and Friends manage to land themselves in many humorous and sometimes hair-raising misadventures.1837
A 1985 mini-series was filmed as an adaptation of Dickens' novel about a group of friends and fellow club members who travel England and then report their adventures back to one another. The movie was praised for its inclusion of details from the book, which was made possible by its six-hour running time. Nigel Stock, playing Mr. Pickwick, the founder of the club, and Patrick Malahide as Mr. Jingle, an actor with memorably odd speaking patterns, won particular praise for their performances. - DirectorDavid LeanStarsRobert NewtonAlec GuinnessKay WalshIn Charles Dickens' classic tale, an orphan wends his way from cruel apprenticeship to den of thieves in search of a true home.1839
They say this is the best version - DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsBarney ClarkBen KingsleyJeremy SwiftAn adaptation of the classic Dickens tale, where an orphan meets a pickpocket on the streets of London. From there, he joins a household of boys who are trained to steal for their master.1839
"The news that Polanski was to direct a new version of Oliver Twist was greeted with a shrug of the shoulders and a 'do we really need another version of Oliver Twist?' - and yet, it turned out that Polanski had much to offer and has arguably supplanted earlier turns to take on the mantle by providing the definitive cinematic Twist. What Polanski offers that earlier versions lacked is scope - this feels like an epic treatment of an epic novel - but what makes the film special is a tenderness at the heart of the action, a sense that Polanski has sympathy for his young orphan and sympathy (as any true Dickens acolyte will tell you) is what Dickens is all about." - DirectorStephen WhittakerStarsJohn DallimoreJames D'ArcySophia MylesA young, compassionate man struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his cold-hearted, grasping uncle.1839
- DirectorBrian PercivalStarsDerek JacobiToby JonesSophie VavasseurA kindly shop owner whose overwhelming gambling debts allow a greedy landlord to seize his shop of dusty treasures. Evicted and with no way to pay his debts, he and his granddaughter flee.1840
Brian Percival is no stranger to period drama, having enjoyed great success with North & South and received acclaim for his adaptation of The Ruby in the Smoke, starring Billie Piper and future Doctor Who Matt Smith. His solid compositions and steady hand behind the camera allow him to get the very best out of his cast. The stand-out is the still-underrated Toby Jones, who conveys as much menace here as he later would in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Derek Jacobi also turns in a fine performance as Nell’s grandfather, atoning for his subsequent involvement in the risible Charles Dickens’s England. - DirectorBrian Desmond HurstStarsAlastair SimJack WarnerKathleen HarrisonEbenezer Scrooge, a curmudgeonly, miserly businessman, has no time for sentimentality and largely views Christmas as a waste of time. However, this Christmas Eve, he will be visited by three spirits who will show him the error of his ways.1843
Everyone from Kelsey Grammar to the Muppets has filmed a version of Dickens' classic story about a miser named Ebenezer Scrooge who is taught the true meaning of a good life on Christmas Eve. But for many, the holiday wouldn't be complete without the 1951 film version starring Alastair Sim (which is sometimes just titled "Scrooge"). Sim got praise for his multi-layered portrayal of Scrooge, who before then had often been depicted as a cranky one-note curmudgeon.
Other versions worth considering (and watching, I mean, it's a good story)- The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
- A Christmas Carol (1984)
- A Christmas Carol (2009)
- DirectorLaurent JaouiStarsChristophe MalavoyDéborah FrançoisLola GiovannettiThe dream of Paul Dombey, the wealthy owner of the shipping company, is to have a son to continue his business. Tragically, Dombey's wife dies shortly after giving birth to their son.Dombey and Son 1848
- StarsDaniel RadcliffeTrevor EvePauline QuirkeA gentle orphan discovers life and love in an indifferent adult world.1850
The 1999 BBC mini-series version was also praised for its stellar cast in addition to garnering praise for its script. A very young (pre-Potter) Daniel Radcliffe acquits himself very well alongside several of his future Potter colleagues, including Zoe Wanamaker and Maggie Smith. There are also very fine performances by Bob Hoskins as the eternally optimistic Wilkins Micawber and Nicholas ‘Rodney’ Lyndhurst as Heep. It’s also beautifully directed by Simon Curtis, who went on to helm Cranford and My Week with Marilyn. - DirectorGeorge CukorStarsFreddie BartholomewFrank LawtonEdna May OliverA gentle orphan discovers life and love in an indifferent adult world.The 1935 film of Dickens' semi-autobiographical novel is still held up by many as the gold standard for adaptations of the book. The movie was praised not only for its adaptation of the book and its cinematography but also for its memorable cast, which included Freddie Bartholomew, who launched his movie career with his portrayal of David; comedian W.C. Fields as Micawber; Basil Rathbone as David's stepfather Mr. Murdstone; Lionel Barrymore as the kindly Dan Peggotty; and Edna May Oliver (also known for playing imperious dowagers Aunt March "Little Women" in 1933 and Lady Catherine de Bourgh in "Pride and Prejudice" in 1940) as Aunt Betsey.
- StarsAnna Maxwell MartinCarey MulliganDenis LawsonA suspenseful tale about the injustices of the 19th Century English legal system.1853
"Quite possibly the best adaptation of a Dickens' novel ever to grace the small screen, Andrew Davies' treatment of Bleak House (itself a masterpiece of masterpieces) boasts a cast to die for (Charles Dance, Gillian Anderson and Johnny Vegas to name but three) and plunged the viewer head first into a grimy London filled with virulent cripples (Philip Davies' Smallweed forever croaking, 'Shake me up, shake me up'), disease-ridden back alleys, interminable legal cases and poisonous secrets - all of which kept them on the edge of their seats. What's more, Davies' Bleak House actually benefits from repeated viewings - which is not something you can say about a lot of period costume drama." - StarsPatrick AllenTimothy WestRosalie CrutchleyThomas Gradgrind, a wealthy, retired merchant in the industrial city of Coketown, England, devotes his life to a philosophy of rationalism, self-interest, and fact. He raises his oldest children, Louisa and Tom, according to this philosophy and never allows them to engage in fanciful or imaginative pursuits.1854
"Hard Times is Dickens’ shortest novel, so it makes sense that only four episodes would be produced. Like the BBC’s take on Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy around the same time, the production is handsomely mounted, thoroughly adapted and very well-cast. Timothy West, who will also turn up later on this list, is a very convincing Bounderby, and Edward Fox turns in a typically caddish performance as Captain James Harthouse, who tempts Louisa into adultery. Best of all, however, is the late Patrick Allen, who casts an intimidating shadow as Gradgrind himself." - DirectorChristine EdzardStarsDerek JacobiAlec GuinnessJoan GreenwoodArthur returns to London after working abroad for many years with his now deceased father. Almost at once he becomes involved in the problems of his mother's seamstress Amy and of her father residing in the Marshalsea debtors' prison.1857
"Although Andrew Davies has signed up to work on an adaptation for the BBC (to run in sixteen 30-minute instalments, like a period costume soap opera), he'll have to go some way to top Christine Edzard's sumptuous 1988 version of Little Dorrit starring Derek Jacobi and Alec Guinness. Clocking in at a whopping 360 minutes (although broken into two relatively stand-alone three hour films, 'Nobody's Fault' and 'Little Dorrit's Story'), Edzard was arguably the first to produce a Dickensian adaptation that attempted to tackle the multitude of plot strands Dickens' fans know and love." - StarsMatthew MacfadyenClaire FoyTom CourtenayThe Dorrits are a family whose life revolves around the Marshalsea, a debtor's prison. Amy Dorrit's kind nature brings the family into contact with a wide swath of English society, from the poorest to the richest, and back again.While Davies’ adaptation of Dickens’ novel is typical adept, and the direction is suitably moody and bleak, the factor which separates this adaptation above the others is Claire Foy’s performance in the title role. Even when surrounded by established, talented actors like Andy Serkis, Alan Armstrong and Amanda Redman, she manages to hold her own and deliver a performance of great range and control. She brings a depth to Dorrit whether other actresses have made her shrill and pitiful, and in doing so she makes the story all the more memorable.
- DirectorJack ConwayRobert Z. LeonardStarsRonald ColmanElizabeth AllanEdna May OliverA pair of lookalikes, one a former French aristocrat and the other an alcoholic English lawyer, fall in love with the same woman amidst the turmoil of the French Revolution.1859
"This stunning classic is considered by many movie reviewers to be the best film adaptation yet of Dickens' masterpiece. It's an epic drama filmed in dazzling Hollywood tradition, yet stays quite true to the original work. Features an excellent cast starring Ronald Colman, Elizabeth Allan, Reginald Owen, Basil Rathbone, Donald Woods, and Edna May Oliver, and was produced by David O. Selznick. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Picture and Best Film Editing.)" - DirectorDavid LeanStarsJohn MillsValerie HobsonTony WagerA humble orphan boy in 1810s Kent is given the opportunity to go to London and become a gentleman, with the help of an unknown benefactor.1861
"Written when Dickens was in the midst of a mid-life crisis that saw him eventually abandon his wife of many years (allegedly in favour of a young actress, depending on who you believe), Great Expectations is perhaps his strangest novel - although revered and loved for its rags to riches story, it is also awash with abortive love, dislocation and ambiguity. David Lean's great triumph was to marry both sides of the novel in a film that still stands as the definitive cinematic version. With casting that enshrined John Mills as Pip and Alec Guinness as Herbert Pocket for many a subsequent reader, and a tone that easily shifted between hope and despair, Lean's Great Expectations might well be the best single adaptation of Dickens ever." - StarsPaul McGannKeeley HawesDominic MafhamIntertwining tales of love, greed, and secret identities in Charles Dickens's 1860s London.1865
"Dickens' last completed novel (he died whilst writing The Mystery of Edwin Drood), Our Mutual Friend is a bit of a King Lear - in other words, a dark oddity that has come to be seen in some quarters as the best of the best. Given the darkness of the source material (the novel opens with a bloated corpse emerging from the Thames), it isn't surprising that adaptations occasionally tended to favour the ripe Dickensian comedy (as an earlier 1976 adaptation did). Thankfully, Julian Farino's 1998 version (itself coming hard on the heels of a successful adaptation of Martin Chuzzlewit) gets the tone just right. " - DirectorLawrence Gordon ClarkStarsDenholm ElliottBernard LloydReginald JessupA lonely Signalman is visited by a stranger.1866
"The Signal-Man is a ghost story written in 1866, the year after Dickens had been involved in the Staplehurst rail crash and five years after the Clayton Tunnel crash which made national headlines.
Dickens was famously criticised by fellow novelist Henry James, who set the template for most modern ghost stories with The Turn of the Screw (later filmed as The Innocents). But there’s still a lot of potential in this story, and the 1976 version by Andrew Davies realises a great deal of it. Denholm Elliot, best known for playing Marcus Brody in Indiana Jones, is thoroughly convincing in the title role, and director Lawrence Gordon Clark does a pretty good job creating a creepy Gothic atmosphere."