good back-story, and good acting

Admirable film.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

My first exposure to The Old Curiosity Shop was through the Derek Jacobi/Toby Jones adaptation, that respective year's literary adaptation of the Christmas break. Without having read the book beforehand, that was surprisingly good, Jones' Quilp was particularly memorable. Since then, I saw two other adaptations and read the book. The book is not one of Dickens' masterpieces(better than Barnaby Rudge though at least) but if you love Dickens everything you love about his writing is in The Old Curiosity Shop, so it is a highly recommended book. Whimsical, intense and with some of Dickens' best comic scenes.The other two adaptations were a 80s low-budget animated version from Australia and this one, the 1979 TV series is very high on the must-see-but-not-yet-watched list. The animated version was pretty poor really and only had the background art going for it.But this version is very good and really nicely done, of the three adaptations seen it's the best. It's very beautifully photographed with countryside scenery to die for, true to period costumes and is reasonably evocative. The city settings could have looked a little more grim though, occasionally they did look too clean. One of only two things that the Jacobi version did better, the other being the handling of Little Nell's death. Still moving here but also a little discreet whereas it was heart-breaking in Jacobi's. The music never overbears things, neither does it feel too low-key, while the dialogue is intelligently adapted and easy to understand.The story keeps one's attention throughout and doesn't feel overly-simplified(certainly not to the extent of the 1974 TV film of Great Expectations), the basic gist of Dickens' writing and such are intact. The pacing is fine on the whole, with only a couple of scenes like the schoolmaster scene that were a little on the rushed side.And the performances are excellent, the secondary roles are very well filled and true to Dickens. Peter Ustinov is in more restrained mode here than usual, and gives a charming and compassionate performance that is capable of both quirks and nuances. At no point to this viewer did he feel hammy. Sally Walsh is radiant and innocent as well as allowing us to identify and sympathise with her. She's also closer in age to the Little Nell of the Jacobi version and doesn't fall into the trap of being cloying and bland. But it's Tom Courtenay who takes the acting honours, a fine and sometimes under-valued actor Courtenay is literally unrecognisable and gives an extremely vivid and sinister performance(especially in the facial expressions). Toby Jones brings out more of the twisted dwarf part of the character but Courtenay is much creepier and much more vivid.So all in all, very good version that works as an adaptation and on its own. 8.5/10 Bethany Cox

Despite the weaknesses of the book, I have long wanted to see a really good adaptation of The Old Curiosity Shop.This is not quite it.It was shot in Ireland with a largely local cast and crew, but it is Disney through and through.The production design is mediocre. Nothing looks quite right or quite in period. The sets are all too raw and new and because nothing was properly aged even the dank alleys and crumbling wharves of Victorian London look too clean and pristine. The cinematography doesn't help. The whole film is flooded with light and there is too little contrast between the grimy gloom of the city and the freshness and vibrancy of the countryside. Overall, it is one of the less atmospheric Dickens adaptations I have seen.The director, Kevin Connor, was obviously under instructions to keep the tone fairly light and he tends to downplay the menace and danger and anguish of many of the scenes. He does have fun with the dream sequences and these scenes give a glimpse of what the whole film might have looked like if Connor had been given a freer hand to direct it in his own way.It also seems to have been made very quickly and on a tight budget. Although it was filmed as a TV movie, it often looks like a cheap videotape recording. Much of it is shot very simply through the 'fourth wall', with a minimum of camera set ups and relatively little cutting. I even noticed a couple of fluffed lines that were probably left in to avoid the expense of retakes.The screenplay is a reasonable condensation of the novel. The picaresque, episodic story needs plenty of time if it is to develop at the right pace, but even at three hours this film sometimes feels a bit hurried. For example, the sequence with the kind schoolmaster passes so quickly that the character barely registers, which is unfortunate, because he later reappears to play an important role in the story. As I remember, the 1979 BBC version was over an hour longer and even that felt a bit rushed in places.This production is not particularly well served by the actors. Some give typically ripe 'Dickensian' performances (Julia McKenzie, Adam Blackwood, Christopher Ettridge). These are fine, except that this approach is not consistent and some of the key characters are actually slightly underplayed.For example, Tom Courtney is a good Quilp but has clearly been instructed to stay away from the 'twisted dwarf' aspect of the character. I like his performance but it could do with a bit more of the demonic energy of Trevor Peacock in the 1979 version.Similarly, Sally Walsh is fairly restrained as Nell. She manages to steer clear of the sickly sweetness of the character, but at a cost. Her placid, undemonstrative performance is ultimately just too calm and too composed. I would like to say her performance is subtle and understated but, in truth, it is just bland.James Fox simply walks through his scenes, probably because that is all he is capable of doing.Peter Ustinov is wretched. No surprises there. He is a classic ham. I don't mean he overacts here; merely that everything he does is bogus. His Grandfather is just a succession of shallow tricks drawn from his over-familiar repertoire. In the right context, Ustinov can be fun and his tricks have enlivened some poor movies, but this part requires a performance not a show. However, my real objection to him is the way he seems to upstage young Sally Walsh; treading on her lines and continually drawing attention away from her with his characteristic burbling, murmuring and fluttering.I realise I am probably being too hard on this Old Curiosity Shop because I had hoped it was going to be better. In truth, it is a reasonably accurate and faithful telling of the story and a good introduction to the book for people who have not yet read it. There are no other versions that are significantly better. I do slightly prefer the darker and more comprehensive BBC version, but it has flaws of it own and I cannot really argue it is especially better than this one.The only real problem is that this bright and breezy production has no personality or viewpoint of its own and feels too safe and too untroubled. You hardly notice that it all ends in tragedy. The death of Little Nell, famously mocked by Oscar Wilde, is treated so discreetly that I felt they might just as well have ditched the Dickens ending and let her live. The best (and worst) I can say of this production is that it is harmless.But Dickens is not harmless and his books are not really meant for children, so they are probably not suitable material for release under the Disney brand. If Disney had handed this project over to its Miramax or Touchstone subsidiaries and made it for general sale, rather than for showing on the Disney Channel, I suspect it would have ended up looking very different from this.It might even have been the version I have been waiting for.PS: I cannot change my reaction to this production, but my speculation about what went wrong has now been called into question. I have just watched Kevin Connor's Great Expectations. It is a very faithful and comprehensive adaptation of the book and one of the best and most atmospheric Dickens dramas I have seen.It was co-produced by Disney.

First-rate adaptation of a typical Dickens story. An old man given to gambling (Ustinov) and his granddaughter, Little Nell (Sally Walsh), find themselves broke and being dunned by the money lender, Quilp (Tom Courtenay). Unable to pay off Ustinov's debts, the pair sneak off with very little money and make for the West Country, by the sea, where they run into various sorts of strangers, some kind, some treacherous. All the way, Quilp's minions are after them. It isn't the money that bothers Quilp. It's the possibility that if Ustinov and Walsh escape, others will no longer fear him.A surprising number of names have entered our Lexicon from Dickens' works, considering that he was an English novelist from the 1840s who is rarely read by most of the people who recognize names like Ebeneezer Scrooge, Mr. Bumble, Fagin, The Artful Dodger, and Little Nell. What better name can we have for the lawyer in this movie than Sampson Brass? Dickens sort of edges crabwise into our consciousness every once in a while. You know, "God bless us, every one." Or, "If that is the law, then the law, sir, is a ass." Or, "Please, sir, I want some more." He didn't make up Simon Legree, although he should have. Dickens was all alight with social conscience, especially where children were concerned. And when poverty hit, it could be severe, as his works illustrate.This film captures some of the poverty but not as well as David Lean's earlier adaptation of Dickens. The film is made for TV but the production values are still good and the design evocative. The Old Curiosity Shop is filled with all kinds of junk -- ticking clocks, suits of armor, stuffed antelope heads, dolls. Looks rather like my place. The sets and outdoor locations are hardly vast. This isn't an epic production. But they're evocative and clever.The performances are all fine as well. The cockney accents are sometimes daunting and some words must be understood in context, as when "child" becomes "chow." Of course, the Dickensian dialog can be peerless. "Oh, joy! What a reversal of desolation!" (Sometimes it sounds like W. C. Fields, only Dickens makes it less deliberately pompous.) Acting: Good, all around, but Tom Courtenay, as Daniel Quilp, has never given a better performance. Courtenay is no longer recognizable as the clean-cut innocent young man of forty years ago. (Who is?) Quilp's criminally fraudulent money lender is an affable, greedy, kyphotic, snaggletoothed hobgoblin of a bugaboo. He's as coarse as they come. It would have been easy to treat the role seriously and turn Quilp into an unalloyed and generic personification of evil, but Courtenay gives him character. He smiles with sarcasm and makes gargoyle faces at people.Peter Ustinov is stiff with age, alas, though it fits the role, and Sally Walsh as Little Nell is winsome, perceptive, and ultimately vulnerable. Infectious diseases abounded in 1840s Europe. Quilp's office is located on the London docks where an early scene shows us fishermen with nets. It's hard to imagine what they might have caught in the Thames of 1849 except cholera.Pretty much a winner, given that the story isn't as gripping as some of Dickens' other tales. Little Nell may die a peaceful but tragic death, yet she doesn't have to wait around to have her head cut off by a guillotine.

This is a great movie. Very well acted by all the main characters, and the setting is superb. A wonderful story of human tragedy and triumph. Anyone who is a fan of Charles Dickens will love this movie. The attention to period detail in the costumes and scenery is very good. Some lessons can be learned about human nature as well from this story. Highly recommended.