Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film

provide formidable barriers that have rarely been totally
overcome. All of the thirteen novels have been filmed at
one time or another, but the choice has consistently been
skewed toward the more realistic, usually early, works, or
to those that contain the best-known characters—where
the filmmaker is often assisted by the illustrations of
George Cruikshank (1792–1878) and ‘‘Phiz’’ (Hablot
Knight Browne) (1815–1882), which accompanied the
original publications. The complex, densely structured,
darker books like Bleak House, Little Dorrit, and Our
Mutual Friend have generally met with far less favor.
Though few, if any, of the film adaptations have
coped with all the challenges presented by the books,
there have been several at least partial successes. David
Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol,
Oliver Twist, and Great Expectations have been the most
frequently filmed, with, in almost every case, the focus
being fixed on character and plot rather than the social
Adaptation
Bill Mauldin and Audie Murphy in The Red Badge of Courage (1951), one of the many literary adaptations directed by
John Huston. EVERETT COLLECTION. REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION.
criticism that made Dickens such an important figure in
his time. The most notable of these include the MGM
David Copperfield of 1935, sensitively directed by George
Cukor (1899–1983) and with inspired casting that
included W. C. Fields (1880–1946) as Micawber, and
the same studio’s A Tale of Two Cities (also 1935), with a
memorable performance by Ronald Colman (1891–
1958) as Sydney Carton. These two films still stand as
the best adaptations of these books. David Lean’s (1908–
1991) Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948)
are generally considered the classic treatments of these
works and the definitive A Christmas Carol is widely
acknowledged to be the 1951 Scrooge, starring Alastair
Sim (1900–1976). Though Lean’s Great Expectations is
often considered the finest of Dickens adaptations, it can
be argued that his version of Oliver Twist succeeds better
in capturing the many dimensions of Dickens’s work—
the realistic, the grotesque, the comical, the social
SCHIRMER ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FILM 43