Nicholas Nickleby

The second release to celebrate Dickens’ bicentenary is the 1947 version of Nicholas Nickleby, a movie that provided ample opportunity for its cast to go wild and barmy!

Derek Bond plays the title character who, after the death of the family’s patriarch, is left to look after his mother (Mary Merrall) and younger sister Kate (Sally Ann Howes) but doesn’t have the financial means to do so. The trio make their way to London to seek help from their rich yet cold-hearted uncle Ralph (Sir Cedric Hardwicke), who finds Nicholas a position as tutor and young Kate employment as seamstress. Nicholas is aghast to find that the alleged boarding school – run by the sadistic Mr. and Mrs. Squeers – is run like a boot camp and the young charges suffer regular abuse (lots of hysteric yelling, punch-ups and fist fights going on here). Deciding that enough is enough, Nicholas escapes and takes the young and crippled Smike (Aubrey Woods) with him. Taking up lodgings with one Newman Noggs, his next job as a tutor ends in similar disaster and Nick and Smike hit the road again. It’s not before long when they come across a travelling theatre troupe and are promptly hired by tour manager Vincent Crummles (Stanley Holloway) to act in a Shakespeare production. Just as things seem to take a turn for the better, Nick receives news that his sister is in jeopardy and – abandoning his position once again – returns to London to encounter evermore mishaps, dramas and adventures.

As usually with Dickens’ stories, The Life And Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby boasts lots of characters and complex plotlines that can be challenging to keep track of. The cast in this b/w version are magnificent although the story (or adaptation, rather) is not as streamlined as that of other Dickens adaptations. Elements of tragic-comedy are interwoven with elements of pure tragedy and vice versa, but at least – unlike in The Old Curiosity Shop – there is a happy ending in this movie. Well, sort of.

Bonus material on the DVD includes ‘New Interview with BFI Dickens Season Curators Adrian Wootton & Michael Eaton’, ‘New Interview with Dickens biographer Michael Slater’, ‘Nicholas Nickleby, a silent film from 1912’ directed by George O. Nichols and ‘Behind the scenes’ stills gallery.
Picture is full frame and sound is mono.