I love Dickens but I've never cared for THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP. Even by Dickens standards, it sprawls.
To do any Dickens novel properly would take as many hours as the RSC's "Nicholas Nickleby" (if you're intrigued by Dickens catch that; it's the best version of any Dickens book--theatrical, but he loved the theater). He wrote for serial purposes and though he claims he always worked to a plan he didn't think like a modern novelist.
The double draw to this "Old Curiosity Shop" is the acting powerhouse and Oscar winner Peter Ustinov, who blusters his way through as the weak-willed grandfather; and Tom Courtenay, who is a truly menacing Quilp (when some people who have undertaken the part merely look silly).
In the novel the death of Quilp, like the hanging of Ralph Nickleby in NICHOLAS NICKLEBY or the fall of any of Dickens' truly evil characters, feels like the fall of a Titan. That feeling is missing here, but Courtenay doesn't cheat on his performance. Unlike his limp William Dorrit in "Little Dorrit," he's as strong here as he's ever been.
Unfortunately, it's still a simpering story and I paraphrase Oscar Wilde that it would take a heart of stone to watch the death of Little Nell without laughing. Another wag suggested that when the fires of his imagination burned low Dickens threw another child on the flames. Dickens' kids were often doomed, like Jo in BLEAK HOUSE.
And as with any "Old Curiosity Shop" keep an eye peeled for Samson and Sally Brass. They always liven up proceedings but I've seen better.
Damning it with faint praise, it's better than some Dickens adaptations I've been exposed to. The main problem with this "The Old Curiosity Shop" is its story, and no matter how it may have been altered that's a problem with Dickens himself.
When I was young I doted on weird, sprawling stories. Children today might have different notions and be bored by anything taking more than five moments together. Then again, the odd young person might admire it.
To do any Dickens novel properly would take as many hours as the RSC's "Nicholas Nickleby" (if you're intrigued by Dickens catch that; it's the best version of any Dickens book--theatrical, but he loved the theater). He wrote for serial purposes and though he claims he always worked to a plan he didn't think like a modern novelist.
The double draw to this "Old Curiosity Shop" is the acting powerhouse and Oscar winner Peter Ustinov, who blusters his way through as the weak-willed grandfather; and Tom Courtenay, who is a truly menacing Quilp (when some people who have undertaken the part merely look silly).
In the novel the death of Quilp, like the hanging of Ralph Nickleby in NICHOLAS NICKLEBY or the fall of any of Dickens' truly evil characters, feels like the fall of a Titan. That feeling is missing here, but Courtenay doesn't cheat on his performance. Unlike his limp William Dorrit in "Little Dorrit," he's as strong here as he's ever been.
Unfortunately, it's still a simpering story and I paraphrase Oscar Wilde that it would take a heart of stone to watch the death of Little Nell without laughing. Another wag suggested that when the fires of his imagination burned low Dickens threw another child on the flames. Dickens' kids were often doomed, like Jo in BLEAK HOUSE.
And as with any "Old Curiosity Shop" keep an eye peeled for Samson and Sally Brass. They always liven up proceedings but I've seen better.
Damning it with faint praise, it's better than some Dickens adaptations I've been exposed to. The main problem with this "The Old Curiosity Shop" is its story, and no matter how it may have been altered that's a problem with Dickens himself.
When I was young I doted on weird, sprawling stories. Children today might have different notions and be bored by anything taking more than five moments together. Then again, the odd young person might admire it.