The Old Curiosity Shop (1934 film)

The Old Curiosity Shop
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	December 1934
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 the Charles Dickens 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 - Nell
• Ben Webster - The Grandfather
• Hay Petrie - Quilp
• Beatrix Thomson - Quilp's Wife
• Gibb McLaughlin - Sampson Brass
• Lily Long - Sally Brass
• Reginald Purdell - Dick Swiveller
• Polly Ward - The Marchioness
• James Harcourt - The Single Gentleman
• J. Fisher White - The Schoolmaster
• Dick Tubb - Codin
• Roddy Hughes - Short
• Amy Veness - Mrs. Jarley
• Peter Penrose - Kit
• Vic Filmer - Tom Scott

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