Charles DickensFilmography

David Copperfield

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Rowan Atkinson

Synopsis: Mr. Bean star Rowan Atkinson steps into the role of comic landlord Mr. Micawber for director Peter Howitt's screen adaptation of the classic novel by revered author Charles Dickens. Widely regarded as one of the author's most autobiographical works, David Copperfield follows a young orphan coming Read More

Barbie in A Christmas Carol

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: This adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol features Barbie in the role of Eden Starling, singer extraordinaire for a grand theater in Victorian London. When Eden decides to force her fellow performers to work on Christmas day, three spirits arrive to take her on a magical Read More

Little Dorrit

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Tom Courtenay, Matthew MacFadyen, Claire Foy, Andy Serkis

Synopsis: Screenwriter Andrew Davies' adapts Charles Dickens' tale of struggle and hardship in 1820s London. Returning to England after many years abroad, Arthur Clennam (Matthew Macfadyen) sees a sparkle in the eye of diminutive young seamstress Amy Dorrit (Claire Foy). But "Little Dorrit" works for his Read More

Oliver Twist

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Timothy Spall, William Miller, Adam Arnold, Tom Hardy, Sophie Okonedo

Synopsis: As directed by Coky Giedroyc and originally screened on the BBC, this epic adaptation of Charles Dickens' second novel, the classic 1838 tome Oliver Twist, checks in at just under three hours. In the principal roles, it stars William Miller as Oliver, Timothy Spall (Intimacy) as Fagin, Adam Arnold Read More

The Old Curiosity Shop

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Sophie Vavasseur, Derek Jacobi, Toby Jones, Adrian Rawlins, Gina McKee

Synopsis: A young girl and her doting grandfather flee from a vicious debt collector and a mysterious stranger in this made-for-BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic tale. Deep in the heart of London, Little Nell Trent (Sophie Vavasseur) lives with her grandfather (Sir Derek Jacobi) in his Old Read More

Oliver Twist

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Ben Kingsley, Barney Clark, Jamie Foreman, Harry Eden, Leanne Rowe

Synopsis: Director Roman Polanski gives one of Charles Dickens' best-loved stories a new and dynamic interpretation in this period drama. Oliver Twist (Barney Clark) is a young orphan in Victorian England who has been sent to a dank workhouse run by the miserly Mr. Bumble (Jeremy Swift) when it is learned Read More

Bleak House

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Gillian Anderson, Patrick Kennedy, Carey Mulligan, Nathaniel Parker

Synopsis: A trio of orphans becomes embroiled in a mysterious and long-running lawsuit in this sprawling BBC adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel. A legend in the legal circles of Victorian London, the messy inheritance case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce has been trickling through the courts for years with no Read More

Karroll's Christmas

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: Just before Christmas, idealistic greeting-card writer Allen Karroll (Tom Everett Scott) cooks up a "special moment" wherein he will propose to his sweetheart Carrie (Deanna Milligan) in a public place before thousands of oohing and aahing spectators. Alas, Carrie turns him down flat, so Read More

Christmas Carol: The Musical

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Kelsey Grammer, Jesse L. Martin, Jane Krakowski

Synopsis: Differentiating this TV-movie version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol from the hundreds of other adaptations of the same Yuletide classic is its tongue-in-cheek ambience and a bundle of memorable tunes by perennial Disney composer Alan Menken and former Schoolhouse Rock lyricist Lynn Ahrens. Read More

A Boy Called Twist

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: Writer/director Tim Greene takes Charles Dickens' classic novel of an orphan in Victorian England and transports it to present-day Cape Town, South Africa, for his feature debut, Boy Called Twist. Newcomer Jarrid Geduld stars as the boy, who is sent to an orphanage when his mother dies shortly Read More

Nicholas Nickleby

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Jamie Bell, Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtenay, Alan Cumming, Edward Fox, Anne Hathaway, Charlie Hunnam, Christopher Plummer, Juliet Stevenson

Synopsis: One of Charles Dickens' best-loved (and most complex) stories receives its fourth feature film adaptation in this lively historical comedy-drama. Nicholas Nickleby (Charlie Hunnam) is a 19-year-old who becomes the head of the family when his father dies unexpectedly. Keeping watch over his mother (Stella Gonet Read More

Christmas Carol: The Movie

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Simon Callow, Kate Winslet, Nicolas Cage, Michael Gambon, Jane Horrocks

Synopsis: This animated version of Charles Dickens classic story Christmas Carol adds some new touches, but primarily follows the traditional tale of the miserly and cruel Ebenezer Scrooge being confronted by a series of ghosts who show him the true meaning of Christmas. His experience leads to his Read More

Nicholas Nickleby

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Charles Dance, James D'Arcy, Sophia Myles

Synopsis: This 2000 TV miniseries is based on an 1839 Charles Dickens novel, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. The film begins with the burial of Mr. Nickleby beneath snow-covered earth. Attending are Nickleby's wife and teenage children, Nicholas (James D'Arcy) and Kate (Sophia Myles). Because Read More

A Diva's Christmas Carol

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: "Christmas Can Be Such a Bitch" was the tasteful advertising tag line for this updated and revised TV-movie adaptation of Dickens' oft-filmed fable A Christmas Carol. This time around, Victorian penny-pincher Ebenezer Scrooge as been transformed into a beautiful, imperious, foul-mouthed pop singer Read More

David Copperfield

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: Hot on the heels of the BBC's multipart 1999 adaptation of Charles Dickens' semiautobiographical novel David Copperfield came this American-financed version, prepared for the TNT cable network as part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame. Child actor Max Dolbey and adult performer Hugh Dancy share the Read More

Oliver Twist

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Alex Crowley, Andy Serkis, Sam Smith, David Ross, Julie Walters, Roger Lloyd Pack, Michael Kitchen, Robert Lindsay

Synopsis: This 2000 television adaptation of Charles Dickens' Victorian classic was originally released as a six-hour, three-part miniseries on PBS. Adapted by Alan Bleasdale, this version of Oliver Twist gives viewers a new look at an old story, waiting 90 minutes to even introduce its eponymous hero Read More

A Christmas Carol

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant, Joel Grey, Ian McNeice, Saskia Reeves

Synopsis: Patrick Stewart stars as Ebeneezer Scrooge in this made-for-TV adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic holiday fable. Scrooge is a skinflint businessman who loathes the Christmas season and begrudges having to give time off to his best employee, Bob Cratchit (Richard E. Grant). On Christmas Eve Read More

Great Expectations

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Ioan Gruffudd, Justine Waddell, Charlotte Rampling, Ian McDiarmid, Bernard Hill

Synopsis: Charles Dickens' classic novel, which has been brought to the screen at least six times in the past (including a modernized adaptation released in 1998), is committed to film once again in this production for television by the BBC. Pip is an orphan who lives with his older sister and her husband Read More

David Copperfield

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Bob Hoskins, Maggie Smith, Ian McKellen, Ciarán McMenamin

Synopsis: A distinguished cast highlights this made-for-TV adaptation of one of Charles Dickens' best-loved novels. Young David Copperfield (Daniel Radcliffe) is loved by his mother Clara (Emilia Fox), but does not get along with his foul-tempered stepfather, Murdstone (Trevor Eve). After biting Murdstone Read More

Great Expectations

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hank Azaria, Chris Cooper, Anne Bancroft, Robert De Niro

Synopsis: Alfonso Cuaron (The Little Princess) directed this Mitch Glazer screenplay, a modernization of the 1860-61 classic by Charles Dickens. Some situations in the film are presented as memories -- the way the central figure, Finnegan Bell (Ethan Hawke) recalls events many years later. At a Florida Read More

Our Mutual Friend

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Paul McGann, Keeley Hawes, Anna Friel, Steven Mackintosh

Synopsis: One of several British miniseries adaptations of Charles Dickens' novel Our Mutual Friend, this four-part version debuted over the BBC in 1998. The production's generous running time (total: six hours), enabled scenarist Sandy Welch to include virtually every important detail in this complex Read More

Ms. Scrooge

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Cicely Tyson, Katherine Helmond, Michael Beach, John Bourgeois, Rae'Ven Larrymore-Kelly

Synopsis: In 1974, Cicely Tyson and director John Korty (The Ewok Adventure) worked together on the acclaimed The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (winner of nine Emmys), and they reteamed for this updating of Charles Dickens' 1843 classic, A Christmas Carol. When miserly banker Ebenita Scrooge (Tyson) is Read More

A Christmas Carol

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Tim Curry, Whoopi Goldberg, Michael York, Ed Asner

Synopsis: This animated retelling of the Charles Dickens classic makes for light holiday viewing. The familiar tale begins with the miserly Ebeneezer Scrooge (voice of Tim Curry), who would rather count his money than celebrate the season with his put-upon employee, Bob Cratchit (voice of Michael York). In Read More

Hard Times

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Richard E. Grant, Alan Bates

Synopsis: The difficult realities of life in Britain during the early Industrial Age are explored in this made-for-television adaptation of the novel by Charles Dickens. Thomas Gradgrind (Bob Peck) is a schoolteacher working in Coketown, a grim industrial town in the North of England, who believes that Read More

Martin Chuzzlewit

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: Charles Dickens' 1844 novel Martin Chuzzlewit was given one of its few TV presentations in this six-part British adaptation, which originally aired on BBC2 from November 7 to December 12, 1994. The youngest son of a mercenary London family, Martin Chuzzlewit was sent to America to learn the Read More

The Old Curiosity Shop

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: In this Disney version of Charles Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop, Nell Trent is well cared for by her kind and gentle grandfather (Peter Ustinov) at his London curiosity shop. She, in turn, looks after him, cooking meals and keeping him company with her angelic smile and loving nature, vowing Read More

A Christmas Carol

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: This version of the Dickens tale has been animated for kiddie consumption. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide Read More

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Robert Powell, Jonathan Phillips

Synopsis: This drama is adapted from Dicken's unfinished novel and centers upon a choirmaster who is insanely jealous of his fiancee. This jealousy causes him many problems down the road. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

The Muppet Christmas Carol

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Michael Caine, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz

Synopsis: Brian Henson, the son of Muppet founder Jim Henson, took over directing duties after the untimely death of his father for The Muppet Christmas Carol, a sluggish re-telling of the Charles Dickens tale. Michael Caine, surrounded by legions of fuzzy, felt puppets, plays it straight as the crotchety Read More

A Tale of Two Cities

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: Masterpiece Theatre's 1991 production of A Tale of Two Cities is a faithful adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic French Revolution drama. The story focuses on English lawyer Sydney Carton, who has an unrequited love for Lucie Manette, the wife of French aristocrat Charles Darnay. After Charles' Read More

Charles Dickens' Ghost Stories

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: This children's video features a trio of Pickwick Papers animated ghost stories. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide Read More

Great Expectations

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Anthony Calf

Synopsis: Produced for British television, this multipart adaptation of Dickens' Great Expectations stars Anthony Hopkins as the mysterious convict Magwich, who secretly finances the education and entree into society of young Pip. With 6 hours at its disposal, this version is able to cover the length and Read More

A Tale of Two Cities

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: The fourth presentation of Masterpiece Theatre's 1989-90 season, a four-part adaptation of Dickens' Tale of Two Cities, was so lavish an undertaking (especially for TV) that it ended up a Production of Two Cities. Part of the program was taped at London's Granada studios, while the remaining Read More

Hard Times

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Henrique Viana, Joaquim Mendes, Julia Britton, Ruy Furtado, Eunice Munoz

Synopsis: This classy drama is an updated version of Dickens' novel. Filmed entirely in black and white, the tale is set in the Portuguese industrial town of Poco do Mundo (World's End). The story centers on the schoolmaster's two children. The sister is married to a prominent factory owner. She is terribly Read More

Oliver and Company

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Joey Lawrence, Billy Joel, Cheech Marin, Bette Midler

Synopsis: This animated musical retells Dickens's Oliver Twist amongst animals in New York City, with Oliver as an innocent kitten who joins a gang of law-breaking dogs. When Oliver is adopted by a wealthy young woman, the gang's evil human owner hatches a kidnapping scheme to tap into the girl's fortune. Read More

Little Dorritt: Nobody's Fault

Crew: Book Author

Little Dorrit

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Alec Guinness, Derek Jacobi, Cyril Cusack, Sarah Pickering, Joan Greenwood, Miriam Margolyes

Synopsis: Little Dorrit was intended as the cinematic equivalent to the mammoth, eight hour Royal Shakespeare Company's staging of Dickens' Nicholas Nickelby. The film was released to theatres in two parts, each running approximately three hours. The first part, subtitled "Nobody's Fault," introduced us to Read More

Little Dorritt: Dorritt's Story

Crew: Book Author

Ghost Stories

Crew: Book Author

Oliver Twist

Crew: Book Author

Black Adder's Christmas Carol

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Patsy Byrne

Synopsis: The cast and crew of the satirical British comedy series Blackadder reunited for this perverse one-hour spin on Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Rowan Atkinson stars as Ebeneezer Blackadder, a kindly and beloved London businessman. Alas, Ebeneezer is too warm-hearted and generous to suit his greedy Read More

Great Expectations: The Untold Story

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: Budgeted at six million dollars -- a hefty sum for Australian television -- the six-hour miniseries Great Expectations: The Untold Story helpfully endeavored to plug the plot holes thoughtlessly left behind by Charles Dickens in his original novel. The emphasis was on the escaped convict Magwitch (John Stanton Read More

Oliver Twist

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: This animated version of Oliver Twist tells the familiar Charles Dickens' tale of the title orphan who falls under the guidance of the criminal Fagan and the evil Bill Sykes before finding happiness. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide Read More

Pickwick Papers

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: Based on Charles Dickens' classic tale, this animated film chronicles the exploits of a curious gentleman as he and his friends travel about looking to broaden their intellectual horizons. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Oliver Twist

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: The second British miniseries adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist aired over the BBC in 1985. Ben Rodska essays the title character, a much-maligned orphan boy who, unbeknownst to himself, is heir to a vast fortune. Before finding this out, Oliver falls into the clutches of the Read More

Nicholas Nickleby

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: One of Charles Dickens' best-loved stories comes to the screen in this animated adaptation suitable for the whole family. Nicholas Nickleby tells the tale of a young man born into a family of privilege who is forced to learn the ways of the real world when his father dies, leaving the family in Read More

Bleak House

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: This 1985 television production faithfully adapts Charles Dickens' Bleak House, an indictment of Victorian England's corrupt legal and class systems that prey on the weak and the innocent. Esther Summerson (Suzanne Burden), a kind and level-headed young woman introduced as an orphan, is the link Read More

The Old Curiosity Shop

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: Charles Dickens' richly detailed story of a young girl and her grandfather struggling against difficult circumstances is given an animated interpretation in this screen version created for family audiences. In The Old Curiosity Shop, Little Nell lives with her grandfather, and together they run a Read More

A Christmas Carol

Crew: Book Author

Actors: David Warner, George C. Scott

Synopsis: Charles Dickens' classic holiday tale of one man learning the true meaning of Christmas is brought to the screen once again in this made-for-TV movie. Ebenezer Scrooge (George C. Scott) is a cynical old man whose greatest concern is money, and who regards compassion as a luxury he can't afford. On Read More

A Tale of Two Cities

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: This animated version of Charles Dickens' classic novel, tells of the selfless act one man performs for the sake of the woman he loves. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide Read More

Dombey and Son

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Julian Glover

Synopsis: Julian Glover portrays Mr. Dombey in the drama Dombey and Son. Dombey is a proud man who wants most in his life to have a male heir he can pass his business on to. His wish eventually comes true, but at great cost when his wife dies during the birth of the boy. Dombey also fractures his Read More

Mickey's Christmas Carol

Crew: Book Author

David Copperfield

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: Charles Dickens' classic story of a young man trying to overcome poverty and a blighted family life returns to the screen in this animated adaptation designed for family viewing. In David Copperfield, a young man is thrown into the world of adult responsibilities after the death of his mother. Read More

Scrooge's Rock 'n' Roll Christmas

Crew: Book Author

Great Expectations

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: In this animated feature, Charles Dickens' classic story of the adventures of the young orphan Pip and his mysterious benefactor is told. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide Read More

Oliver Twist

Crew: Book Author

Actors: George C. Scott

Synopsis: Clive Donner directs Oliver Twist, the 1982 made-for-TV version of the classic Dickens novel. Richard Charles plays Oliver Twist, an orphan boy who gets kicked out of his juvenile workhouse when he asks for some more food. He is sent to work as an apprentice, but he quickly escapes and joins a Read More

Great Expectations

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Patsy Kensit, Gerry Sundquist

Synopsis: Dickens' oft-filmed novel Great Expectations has been adapted several times for British television. This version was offered as a two-parter in 1980, then distributed to the U.S. in 1981. Gerry Sundquist stars as Pip, a young boy of humble means whose subsequent career in London is subsidized by a Read More

A Tale of Two Cities

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Peter Cushing, Chris Sarandon, Flora Robson

Synopsis: Chris Sarandon does the "far, far, better thing" when he tackles the dual role of Syndey Carton and Charles Darnay in this Anglo-American TV adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. The ubiquitous producer/screenwriter combination of Norman Rosemont and John Gay was responsible for Read More

A Christmas Carol

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: This version of the Dickens classic features music and choreographed dance to tell the old, old story. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide Read More

An American Christmas Carol

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Henry Winkler

Synopsis: Made up to look like a septuagenarian, Henry Winkler plays Benedict Slade, a Scrooge-like miser living in a tiny New England town during the Depression. Slade goes Scrooge one further by repossessing items from a poor farm couple and an orphanage on Christmas eve. While reading a copy of Dickens' Read More

The Old Curiosity Shop

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Natalie Ogle, Sebastian Shaw

Synopsis: Previously adapted for British television in 1962, Charles Dickens' novel The Old Curiosity Shop was given the BBC miniseries treatment a second time beginning December 9, 1979. On this occasion, Natalie Ogle starred as Little Nell, resourceful granddaughter of an elderly shopkeeper (Sebastian Shaw Read More

The Stingiest Man in Town

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: Walter Matthau gives voice to Scrooge in this animated version of A Christmas Carol. Other noted voices include Tom Bosley, Theodore Bikel, Robert Morse and Dennis Day. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

The Charles Dickens Collection: Great Expectations

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: This animated adaptation of Dickens' novel Great Expectations tells the story of a young working-class boy whose entree into society is financed by a mysterious benefactor. Produced in Canada by WBTV productions, Great Expectations continued to make the cable-TV rounds into the 2000s. ~ Hal Read More

Rich Little's Christmas Carol

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: In this one-man rendition of A Christmas Carol, Rich Little is Ebenezer Scrooge and the rest of the famed classic's characters. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Nicholas Nickleby

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Nigel Havers, Derek Godfrey, Robert James

Synopsis: Nigel Havers (Chariots of Fire, Empire of the Sun) heads a five-star British cast including Kate Nicholls and Derek Godfrey, in the 1977 BBC miniseries Nicholas Nickleby, an adaptation of Charles Dickens' seminal 1838-1839 serial. The bittersweet story recounts the passing of Nickleby's (Havers) Read More

A Christmas Carol

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Michael Hordern, John Le Mesurier, Bernard Lee, Patricia Quinn, Clive Merrison

Synopsis: In this adaptation of Dickens' classic, Scrooge and company are animated. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Hard Times

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Patrick Allen, Timothy West, Jacqueline Tong, Edward Fox

Synopsis: Strange as it seems, the 1977 adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Hard Times was the first full-scale adaptation of this work ever seen on British television. Set (of course!) during the Industrial Revolution, the multiplotted story line was held together by the travails of Louisa Gradgrind (Jacqueline Tong Read More

The Old Curiosity Shop

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Anthony Newley, David Hemmings, David Warner, Michael Hordern, Paul Rogers

Synopsis: The musical Mr. Quilp was based on one of Dickens' grimmest works, The Old Curiosity Shop, which has as its highlight the death of its heroine. The principal character is a villain, a hunchbacked usurer who wishes to take over the business of an antique dealer. Anthony Newley plays the horrid Mr. Read More

The Passions of Carol

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Mary Stuart, Marc Stevens, Jamie Gillis, Kim Pope

Great Expectations

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Joss Ackland, Margaret Leighton, James Mason, Michael York, Sarah Miles

Synopsis: This third talking-picture version of Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations stars Michael York as Pip, the humble British lad whose aspirations to become a gentleman are financed by a mysterious benefactor. We first see young Pip (played by Simon Gipps-Kent) coming to the aid of escaped Read More

David Copperfield

Crew: Book Author

Actors: David Yelland, Patience Collier, Collette O'Neill

Synopsis: The 1974 BBC adaptation of David Copperfield -Charles Dickens's 1850 bildungsroman about a young Brit's coming of age in mid-nineteenth century London - sports David Yelland in the title role, alongside such luminaries as Arthur Lowe (O' Lucky Man, Sweet William) as Wilkins Macawber, Anthony Read More

Oliver Twist

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Josh Albee, Les Tremayne

Synopsis: Oliver Twist is an animated version of the Dickens classic. Josh Albee is heard as the voice of the orphaned Oliver, while radio veteran Les Tremayne invokes all the tricks of his trade to portray the underhanded Fagin. This adaptation was a rare theatrical release from the TV-cartoon factory of Read More

A Christmas Carol

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Alastair Sim, Michael Hordern, Melvyn Hayes, Joan Sims, Paul Whitsun-Jones

Synopsis: This well-animated version of Dickens' classic Christmas story stays quite faithful to its source as it chronicles the painful lesson learned by a bitter old miser whose money lust alienates him from humanity. His lesson comes in the form of ghostly intervention from a trio of spirits who force Read More

Scrooge

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Albert Finney, Alec Guinness, Edith Evans, Kenneth More, Laurence Naismith

Synopsis: Scrooge was designed as a follow-up to 1968's Oliver!, the Oscar-winning musicalization of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. The umpteenth musical version of Dickens' 1843 novelette A Christmas Carol, Scrooge features several sprightly Leslie Bricusse songs, including the bona fide hit "Thank You Read More

David Copperfield

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Richard Attenborough, Cyril Cusack, Edith Evans, Pamela Franklin, Susan Hampshire

Synopsis: This lackluster 1970 version of Charles Dickens' classic novel, David Copperfield (made as a film twice before) turns Dickens' picaresque tale into an extended flashback, with David Copperfield (Robin Phillips) as a young man, brooding on a deserted beach, recalling his youth. The characters are Read More

Oliver!

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, Oliver Reed, Harry Secombe, Hugh Griffith, Mark Lester, Jack Wild

Synopsis: Inspired by Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist, Lionel Bart's 1961 London and Broadway musical hit glossed over some of Dickens' more graphic passages but managed to retain a strong subtext to what was essentially light entertainment. For its first half-hour or so, Carol Reed's Oscar-winning 1968 Read More

Cricket on the Hearth

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Danny Thomas, Marlo Thomas, Roddy McDowall

Synopsis: The Cricket on the Hearth is based on one of Charles Dickens' lesser-known Christmas stories. Bertha, the toymaker's daughter, is the central character. She searches for love and understanding from her father Caleb, who just wants his family to be happy. With the appearance of a good luck cricket Read More

A Tale of Two Cities

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: Of the many media adaptations of Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities, only a handful have emulated Dickens by offering the story in a serialized, episodic fashion (as it was originally published). One such serialization was offered by BBC Television in 1965. John Wood headed the cast as Read More

A Carol for Another Christmas

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: Charles Dickens' classic tale A Christmas Carol is revisited yet again in this made-for-television holiday drama. Told with a different twist, in this version, a melancholy father spends his Christmas Day mourning the son he lost in World War II. His holiday grieving is interrupted by the visiting Read More

Martin Chuzzlewit

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: This British TV adaptation of Charles Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit was told in progressive 25-minute installments. Gary Raymond and Barry Jones shared the title role of Martin Chuzzlewit, the youngest son of a conspicuously greedy London family. Shipped off to America to learn the harsh facts of Read More

Oliver Twist

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: One of the most frequently dramatized of Charles Dickens' novels, Oliver Twist has been transformed into a British TV miniseries on at least three different occasions. The first of these was telecast by the BBC from January 7 to April 1, 1962. Bruce Prochnik starred as beleagured orphan Oliver Read More

The Old Curiosity Shop

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: One of Charles Dickens' most popular novels (and one of his most controversial, inasmuch as he boldly killed off a principal character despite great public outcry), The Old Curiosity Shop has been adapted for television on several occasions. One of the earliest serialized versions was assembled by Read More

A Christmas Carol

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Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: Having made a bundle on their 130-episode package of Mr. Magoo TV cartoons, the folks at UPA studios decided to star Magoo in a 60-minute musical version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. First telecast over the NBC network on December 18, 1962, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol deftly uses the Read More

A Tale of Two Cities

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Dirk Bogarde, Dorothy Tutin, Cecil Parker, Marie Versini, Stephen Murray, Athene Seyler

Synopsis: Screenwriter T.E.B. Clarke, the writer of such fifties British comedies as The Lavender Hill Mob and Passport to Pimlico, dips his pen into a more stately inkwell in this stilted adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel A Tale of Two Cities. Dirk Bogarde takes the lead role of worn-down Read More

A Christmas Carol

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Fredric March, Basil Rathbone, Richard Miles

The Pickwick Papers

Crew: Book Author

Actors: James Hayter, James Donald, Alexander Gauge, Nigel Patrick, Kathleen Harrison, Lionel Murton, Joyce Grenfell

Synopsis: John Hayter is Samuel Pickwick is this delightful filmization of Dickens' seriocomic novel. Mr. Pickwick is chairman of the Pickwick club, a scholarly league operating in mid-19th century London. The club's avowed purpose is to scrupulously study everyday life in England-not to improve or Read More

A Christmas Carol

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Alastair Sim, Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn Johns, Michael Hordern, Hermione Baddeley

Synopsis: Widely considered to be the definitive of the many film versions of Charles Dickens' classic novel is this 1951 British adaptation, starring Alastair Sim (entitled "Scrooge" in its U.K. release). Sim plays Ebenezer Scrooge, a London miser who, despite his wealth, refuses to make charitable Read More

Oliver Twist

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Robert Newton, Alec Guinness, Kay Walsh, Francis L. Sullivan, John Howard Davies

Synopsis: The second of director David Lean's adaptations of a Charles Dickens novel (Great Expectations (1946) was the first), Oliver Twist expertly boils down an enormous novel to a little less than two hours' screen time. The film begins with baby Oliver left on the doorstep of an orphanage/workhouse by Read More

Nicholas Nickleby

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Jill Balcon, Derek Bond, Cedric Hardwicke, Fay Compton, Sally Ann Howes, Sybil Thorndike, Alfred Drayton, Cyril Fletcher, Mary Merrall

Synopsis: Though it pales in comparison to the Royal Shakespeare Company's epic staging of the original novel in the early 1980s, this compact adaptation of Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby is most entertaining on its own terms. Derek Bond plays the title character, a resourceful young Britisher forced to protect Read More

Great Expectations

Crew: Book Author

Actors: John Mills, Valerie Hobson, Finlay Currie, Francis L. Sullivan, Alec Guinness, Jean Simmons

Synopsis: Immediately grabbing the audience's attention with a heart-stopping opening scene in a dark graveyard, acclaimed British director David Lean realizes the cinematic potential of Charles Dickens' classic 1861 novel, and the result is considered by many to be one of the finest literary adaptations Read More

A Christmas Carol

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart, Leo G. Carroll, Terry Kilburn, Barry Mackay

Synopsis: For a generation of radio fans, Lionel Barrymore was the definitive Ebeneezer Scrooge. Alas, Barrymore was crippled by arthritis by the time MGM got around to filming Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol in 1938, so the Scrooge role went to contract player Reginald Owen - who, though hardly in the Barrymore Read More

David Copperfield

Crew: Book Author

Actors: W.C. Fields, Lionel Barrymore, Freddie Bartholomew, Maureen O'Sullivan, Madge Evans, Frank Lawton, Edna May Oliver

Synopsis: David Copperfield was MGM's major Christmas release for its 1934-1935 season and also the first of producer David O. Selznick's major "literary" films for that studio. While a great deal of editing and streamlining was necessary to distill Charles Dickens' massive novel into 133 minutes of screen Read More

The Old Curiosity Shop

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Ben Webster, Elaine Benson, Hay Petrie, Beatrix Thomson, Gibb McLaughlin

Synopsis: Hay Petrie ingests the scenery as the demonic, hunchbacked Mr. Quilp in this 1935 British adaptation of Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop. Quilp is the wicked landlord who dominates and later ruins the lives of shopkeeper Trent (Ben Webster) and his resourceful granddaughter Little Nell (Elaine Read More

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Claude Rains, Douglass Montgomery, Heather Angel, David Manners, Valerie Hobson

Synopsis: Charles Dickens' unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, has been a source of speculation and controversy ever since its posthumous publication. Even so, the ending concocted by scenarists John Balderston and Gladys Unger for the 1935 film version of Edwin Drood met with near-unanimous Read More

A Tale of Two Cities

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Ronald Colman, Elizabeth Allan, Edna May Oliver, Reginald Owen, Basil Rathbone

Synopsis: It is a tale known well, filmed many times over the years, but never better than this early black and white version from the MGM Studios, David O. Selznick producing. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"-- Charles Dickens juxtaposes England and France, George and Louis, tradition Read More

Scrooge

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Seymour Hicks, Donald Calthrop, Robert Cochran, Mary Glynne, Garry Marsh

Synopsis: Starring Seymour Hicks as the title character, Scrooge is a faithful adaptation of the classic Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol about a heartless miser who discovers the true meaning of Christmas when three ghosts visit him on Christmas Eve. Hicks co-wrote the screenplay to this film Read More

Klein Dorrit

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Gustav Waldau, Anny Ondra, Hilde Hildebrand, Kurt Meisel, Mathias Wiemann

Synopsis: This German period piece is a relatively faithful adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Little Dorrit. The title character, a seamstress named Amy Dorrit, is played by former Hitchcock leading lady Anny Ondra then better-known as the wife of heavyweight boxing champion Max Schmeling. Loyally living Read More

Great Expectations

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Phillips Holmes, Henry Hull, Jane Wyatt, Florence Reed, Alan Hale

Synopsis: Twelve years before David Lean's definitive filmization of Dickens' Great Expectations, Hollywood had a go at the novel, with mixed results. The story is the familiar one of young Pip (George Breakstone as a boy, Phillips Holmes as an adult) whose future wealth is assured through the auspices of a Read More

Oliver Twist

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Dickie Moore, Irving Pichel, William "Stage" Boyd, Doris Lloyd, Barbara Kent

Synopsis: Based on Dicken's classic novel, this is the first sound version of the oft-filmed tale of a plucky orphan who struggles to survive on the rough, unforgiving London streets. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Rich Man's Folly

Crew: Book Author

Actors: George Bancroft, Frances Dee, Robert Ames, Julie Compton, David Durand

Synopsis: Charles Dickens' novel Dombey and Son is set in 1931 America in this interesting drama that centers on an egotistical, over-ambitious owner of a shipbuilding company. So focused is he on succeeding that he forgets his family and their needs. He begins looking for a successor to his wealth and Read More

Cricket on the Hearth

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Paul Gerson, Virginia Brown Faire, Josef Swickard, Fritzi Ridgeway, Paul Moore

Synopsis: Although its popularity didn't endure, The Cricket on the Hearth was originally the favorite of Charles Dickens' Christmas Books (the most well-known today is, of course, A Christmas Carol. Director Lorimar Johnston makes an imposing Josiah Tackleton (also known as "Old Gruff"), and producer Paul Read More

David Copperfield

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Buddy Martin, Frederick S. Jensen

Synopsis: Even though it was made in Sweden this version of the classic novel, filmed by the Nordisk Film Corporation, manages to capture many of the colors and nuances that Charles Dickens originally set in print. Buddy Martin does well as young David, earning much sympathy when he is cruelly beaten by his Read More

Oliver Twist

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Jackie Coogan, Lon Chaney, Gladys Brockwell, George Siegmann, Lionel Belmore

Synopsis: Ostensibly a vehicle for Jackie Coogan, the 1922 Oliver Twist refuses to realign the Charles Dickens novel to accommodate the personality of its star. This Frank Lloyd-directed silent film is one of the most faithful of all cinematic adaptations of the Dickens work. The orphaned Oliver, labelled a Read More

Oliver Twist, Jr.

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: Modernizing any classic story is a questionable pursuit, and few are successful (the musical West Side Story, which took Romeo and Juliet to the rough streets of 1950s Manhattan comes to mind). It's especially dangerous with most of Charles Dickens' tales, since the atmosphere of nineteenth Read More

Our Mutual Friend

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Peter Walton

Synopsis: Wid Gunning, who founded the trade paper Wid's, decided to go for bigger game in the world of motion pictures -- this Swedish production of Charles Dickens' darkly hued final novel was one of the films he distributed. For those not familiar with the story, it borders on the macabre, opening up Read More

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Rodney Hicock, Vinnie Burns

Synopsis: World Film was the first motion picture company that tried to tack an ending onto Charles Dickens' unfinished novel. Screenwriter Tom Terriss, who also starred as choirmaster John Jasper, gave it a happy ending which, despite the raves of the trade papers, must have horrified Dickens' fans. Read More

A Tale of Two Cities

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: In this video, a silent version of Tale of Two Cities is accompanied with another silent film, In the Switch Tower, with director Frank Borzage appearing in the cast. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide Read More

A Christmas Carol

Crew: Short Story Author