Dickens on Screen
Charles Dickens, most celebrated of English novelists, was born on 7 February 1812. As a contribution to the worldwide celebrations of his 200th anniversary, the BFI is pleased to be making the following titles available to cinemas for screening in 2012.
Great Expectations
Dir. David Lean | UK 1946 | 118 mins. | Cert PG
Starring: John Mills, Valerie Hobson, Alec Guinness
Lean's brilliant adaptation of Great Expectations is widely considered to be the greatest of all the many film versions of Dickens' novels.
19-20 March
Filmhouse Edinburgh
Dickens Before Sound
Pre-1914 Short Films (82 mins total)
Almost 50 short films were made from Dickensian sources before feature-length productions became the norm. This selection from those which still exist includes the first version of the oft-filmed A Christmas Carol.
Oliver Twist
Dir. Frank Lloyd | US 1922 | 74 mins.
Frank Lloyd’s 1922 Oliver Twist marked the forth time since 1909 that the Dickens classic was filmed. It is one of the best adaptations of Dickens’ story and shares many similarities of treatment with later versions.
Oliver Twist
Dir. David Lean | UK 1948 | 116 mins. | Cert PG
Starring: Alec Guinness, Robert Newton, Kay Walsh
Dickens’ extravagant vision of Victorian London is perfectly balanced by
superb performances and Lean’s fierce grip on the sprawling narrative.
5 May
QFT Belfast
Arena: Dickens on Film
Bleak House
Dir. Maurice Elvey | UK 1920 | c. 80 mins.@ 20 fps
Starring: Constance Collier, Berta Gellardi.
This early British Bleak House is an interesting adaptation that takes just one strand of Dickens' much more complex original, focusing solely on the narrative of Lady Dedlock's life.
David Copperfield - The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences and Observations of David Copperfield the Younger
Dir. George Cukor | USA 1935 | 130 mins. | Cert U
Starring: W C Fields, Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O’Sullivan
The first of the lavish 1930s MGM Dickens adaptations spearheaded by mercurial producer David O Selznick and directed with great verve by George Cukor.
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Dir Stuart Walker | USA 1935 | 87 mins. | Cert PG
Starring: Claude Rains, Frances L Sullivan, Valerie Hobson
A somewhat unfairly neglected and rarely screened film version of
Dickens’ final (and unfinished) novel.
The Pickwick Papers
Dir. Noel Langley | UK 1952 | 109 mins. | Cert U
Starring: James Hayter, Nigel Patrick
This exuberant, good-natured romp at times almost captures the shambolic anarchy of the brilliant original, ranging from the slapstick of men behaving badly to the descent into purgatory of Pickwick’s incarceration in the debtors’ prison.
A Tale of Two Cities
Dir. Ralph Thomas | UK 1958 | 117 mins. | Cert U
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Dorothy Tutin, Christopher Lee, Donald Pleasance
Impressive 1950s British adaptation of Dickens’ ever-popular story of tragic self sacrifice, with one of Dirk Bogarde’s most accomplished performances.
