The Pickwick Papers

I saw this movie many years ago when my literature teacher arranged for it to be shown at school. I loved the characters and thought the actors were wonderful in the roles. I finally had the chance to tape it and have brought my family in as fans of the movie. A must see for students of British films in that time period.

Although he wrote "Sketches By Boz" (hence his lifelong nickname) before this novel, "Pickwick Papers" was the work which grounded Dickens reputation. His third book "Oliver Twist" cemented it - by showing him a perceptive social critic and serious (rather than comic) novelist. George Orwell, in his essay on Charles Dickens, says that many people regretted he never could have continued writing the pure comic novels like "Pickwick", but Orwell pointed out that no serious novelist can do that if they wish to show growth. It's true, although some (P.G.Wodehouse, for example) could continue to turn out successfully funny books all the time. But we would have missed "David Copperfield", "A Tale of Two Cities", and "Great Expectations" if Dickens just remained a funny writer.

"Pickwick" is about 850 pages long, and has a shaggy dog construction. Dickens wrote a picaresque novel here, with the Pickwick Club members exploring England, and falling into many misadventures. They are supposed to be sending papers back to their club about their adventures, for they are a learned society. In one great moment in the novel (but not in the movie, unfortunately), they think they find a curiosity - a stone with the words "Bilst umpshi mark +). Their paper on this gains them immense public adulation for their scholarship, but one critic (who is kicked out of the Pickwick Club) investigates and says it should say "Bill Stumps, his mark "+". Nobody cares about the nay-sayer.

One aspect of the novel that is not in the film was Dickens addition of about seven or eight short stories the group hears or reads while on their tours. Dickens wanted to vary his novel, and he would do this again in "Nicholas Nickleby" briefly at the start of that novel. In 1841 Dickens began a large scale literary project called "Master Humphrey's Clock" in which Master Humphrey and his friends (including Samuel Pickwick, Sam Weller, and Tony Weller) tell stories, but two of the stories expanded into full scale novels: "The Old Curiosity Shop" and "Barnaby Rudge". After "Master Humphrey's Clock" Dickens never again wrote a book of just short stories (his "Christmas Novels" were not written and published together but over the years). An occasional short story like "Hunted Down" was published on its own.

The film is a nice distillation of the best sequences in the novel, such as the great lawsuit of "Bardell v. Pickwick" (Dickens first magnificent swipe at British law). Of particular notice in the film is the performances of Nigel Patrick as the trouble making scamp Jingle, and James Hayter as Pickwick (his only real starring role). Jingle (who's dialog looks like a telegram in the novel)is played as a charming rogue by Patrick. When he nearly gets Mr. Winkle (James Douglas) into a duel with two dyspeptic military doctors (with the immortal names of "Dr. Payne" and "Dr. Slammer"), after one diatribe from them Patrick riffles a deck of cards like a "Bronx Cheer". Hayter, a popular character actor in British film and television, had a smooth and warm sounding voice, and (in observing prison conditions) makes the phrase "How pitiable" actually sound correct for the first time. It is not the complete novel - which you should read and enjoy - but it is a nice introduction to it.

Splendid adaptation of Dickens at his most hilarious, a kaleidoscopic odyssey around old England with a potpourri of intrigue and adventure squeezed into 100 minutes of virtuoso entertainment of English theatrical art at its best. Every single character is absolutely perfectly Dickensian and convincing as such, and it's a miracle to observe how such an extensive novel of so many characters and complicated intricacies of unexpected turns of events at every corner has been so successfully concentrated in Dickensian essence, which will certainly keep you busy through every minute of it, with even some human pathos to it - the prison scene with Mr. Jingle's change of fortune is perhaps the most impressive part. It's even impossible to say who is the best of all these acting paragons of excellence, but dominating are certainly James Hayter as Mr. Pickwick, Nigel Patrick as Mr. Jingle, James Donald as the besotted Mr. Winkle and Harry Fowler as Sam Weller, the most pleasurable character of them all, but Donald Wolfit crowns them all as Sergeant Buzfuz. It's as superb as a Dickensian entertainment as it was 65 years ago, it hasn't grown one day older but instantly established itself in the timeless zone of cinematic literary classics. It was about 50 years since I last saw it, and although I remembered it well, it was all perfectly fresh again as if it was an entirely new movie. These films cannot age.

I remember this movie with great affection from the days of my childhood when it was broadcast several times on the CBC. When it became available on DVD I had to purchase it if only to mark Dickens bicentennial year of 2012. All the major comic episodes of the novel are covered with the exception of the Eatanswill election and the cricket match between Dingley Dell and All-Muggleston. As noted by another reviewer the movie by necessity omits the rather gloomy moral tales that Dickens chose to insert at intervals. The movie is further enlivened by the presence of a roster of great British character actors - Hattie Jacques, Hermione Gingold and James Hayter as Mr. Pickwick. Canadians will know him best as Mr. Tebbs, the senior salesman in the Mens Department, on the sitcom Are You Being Served. I notice that the actor who played Sam Weller died in January 2012 just a few days before I purchased the DVD - he was the last survivor among core cast.

'The Pickwick Papers' is not one of my favourite Charles Dickens works, speaking as someone who appreciates him highly and completely understands his importance in literature. It is though a very colourful and entertaining read, one of Dickens' most accessible with a lighter tone than most of his work even if some of the story structure is sprawling in places, with some of the great man's most memorable characters.

Dickens has been variably adapted on film and television, though will say that even the misfires/disappointments (and there are nearly as many of those as there are classics) deserve a little credit for even taking on the challenge of adapting the work of one of the (from personal perspective) most difficult to adapt authors. This 1952 film version of 'The Pickwick Papers' may not be one of the definitive adaptations of any of Dickens' work, and there is a slight preference for the 1985 mini-series with Clive Swift and Patrick Malahide. It is though very, very good, with many great qualities, and as good a film version of this particular story as one can make do with. As an adaptation it is a very solid and respectful one, with the spirit certainly intact and lots of recognisable elements. There are omissions/abridgements, but they were tasteful and didn't affect the coherence of the storytelling at all and it is completely understandable as to why there would be some condensation with literature as lengthy and complicated as that of Dickens.

It, the film that is, may be on the slightly primitive side visually, though the production and particularly costume designs are handsome enough.

Some parts are played a little too broadly, such as the romantic misadventures.

However, as said, a nice job is done with the production design and the costumes. Antony Hopkins' music score has an appealing jauntiness that matches the atmosphere and spirit of the storytelling to a tee. 'The Pickwick Papers' is from start to finish directed with precision and class by Noel Langley, who allows the story to have plenty of momentum without rushing, letting parts breathe when necessary too without grinding things to a halt.

On a writing and acting level, 'The Pickwick Papers' is pretty much a triumph. A great job is done with the adapting of the material, it is episodic (so is the book) but it doesn't read too much of a series of highlights which can be a danger with Dickens. Another danger is keeping sprawling and complicated storytelling coherent and not disjointed or choppy, 'The Pickwick Papers' to me suffered from neither of those two things and had no issues following what was going on (one could argue though that familiarity with the source material may be in order). The script is literate and thought-provoking, as well as wonderfully witty, Dickens' prose really shines here. The script and film have been criticised for being talky and wordy, don't consider them fair criticisms as Dickens is talky and wordy and am not saying that in a bad way despite how that sounds.

James Hayter is the full embodiment of Pickwick, while Nigel Patrick is similarly on superb form as a deliciously rouguish Jingle. Harry Fowler is a memorable Weller, James Donald is appealing as Winkle and Kathleen Harrison is especially excellent of the female cast.

All in all, very good film and adaptation. 8/10 Bethany Cox