1934 British film
| The Old Curiosity Shop | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Directed by | Thomas Bentley |
| Written by | Charles Dickens (novel) Ralph Neale Margaret Kennedy |
| Produced by | Walter C. Mycroft |
| Starring | Elaine Benson Ben Webster Hay Petrie Polly Ward |
| Cinematography | Claude Friese-Greene |
| Edited by | Leslie Norman |
| Music by | Herman Finck |
| Production company | British International Pictures |
| Distributed by | Wardour Films First Division Pictures (US) |
| Release date |
|
| Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Old Curiosity Shop is a 1934 British drama film directed by Thomas Bentley and starring Elaine Benson, Ben Webster and Hay Petrie. It is an adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1841 novel The Old Curiosity Shop.
Production
The film was produced by British International Pictures, one of the two most prominent British film studios of the time, at its base at Elstree Studios. Bentley was a well-established director who worked on several of the company's presigous historical films during the decade. He had previously directed a number of Dickens adaptations during the silent era, but this was his only Dickens talkie. The film sought to achieve a "painterly" effect in its interpretation of the original work. The recreation of the grotesque elements of Dickens' novel has led to it being described as an "expressionist nightmare".
Cast
- Elaine Benson as Nell
- Ben Webster as The Grandfather
- Hay Petrie as Quilp
- Beatrix Thomson as Quilp's Wife
- Gibb McLaughlin as Sampson Brass
- Lily Long as Sally Brass
- Reginald Purdell as Dick Swiveller
- Polly Ward as The Marchioness
- James Harcourt as The Single Gentleman
- J. Fisher White as The Schoolmaster
- Dick Tubb as Codin
- Roddy Hughes as Short
- Amy Veness as Mrs. Jarley
- Peter Penrose as Kit
- Vic Filmer as Tom Scott
References
- BFI.org
- Harper, p.41
Bibliography
- Harper, Sue. Picturing the Past: The Rise and Fall of the British Costume Film. British Film Institute, 1994.
External links
- The Old Curiosity Shop at IMDb
- The Old Curiosity Shop at the BFI's Screenonline
| Charles Dickens's The Old Curiosity Shop | |
|---|---|
| Characters | |
| Films | |
| Television | |
| Related | |
 | This article related to a British film of the 1930s is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |
- 1934 films
- 1934 drama films
- Films shot at British International Pictures Studios
- 1930s English-language films
- Films based on The Old Curiosity Shop
- Films directed by Thomas Bentley
- Films set in England
- Films set in the 1840s
- British drama films
- British black-and-white films
- 1930s British films
- English-language drama films
- 1930s British film stubs