Pre-1914 Dickens Short Films (Programme Two)

Leaves from the Books of Charles Dickens (UK 1912. Dir Frank Powell. With Thomas Bentley. c8min) + The Pickwick Papers: (i) The Honourable Event / (ii) The Westgate Seminary (UK-USA 1913. Dir Laurence Trimble. With John Bunny, Arthur Ricketts, HP Hunt. 2 x 10min) + Scrooge (UK 1913.Dir Leedham Bantock. With Seymour Hicks. c25min) + A Christmas Carol (UK 1914. Dir Harold M Shaw. With Charles Rock. c15min).

A follow-up to our January selection of early silent Dickens-derived material. A rare screening shows Thomas Bentley in his role as 'Dickens Character Actor' before becoming a director of Dickens adaptations. The portly American comic John Bunny crossed the Atlantic to play in three films extracted from The Pickwick Papers, of which these are the two that remain. Seymour Hicks - well known for his depiction of Scrooge on stage - portrays the miser for the first time on screen, before memorably reprising the role in 1935 in the first talkie of A Christmas Carol.

Introduction by Michael Eaton on Fri 9 Mar. With live piano accompaniment by Wendy Hiscocks on Fri 9 Mar and Neil Brand on Fri 23 Mar.

We are pleased to announce that the recently discovered, earliest known Dickens screen adaptation, The Death of Poor Joe (1901), will be included in this programme. Please note, the print of Leaves from the Books of Charles Dickens is unsuitable for screening. It will be replaced by The Boy and the Convict (UK 1909. Dir David Aylott. c11min).