Charles Dickens

A supernatural, time-travelling, musical adaptation of Charles Dickens's cult Christmas story (imdb.com).

The life of David Copperfield is chronicled from his youth into adulthood. (Wikipedia)

A radical animated retelling of the holiday classic that starts with a Victorian performance of the Charles Dickens tale before diving into the imagination of one of the children in the audience, taking the story to a darker fantasy realm.

Follows a young Kashmiri boy Noor, his muse Firdaus and a mercurial Begum.

An outstanding roster of British acting talent -- including Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Sally Hawkins, Jason Flemyng, Ewen Bremner -- bring Charles Dickens' universe to life in this magnificent new screen version of the classic novel from director Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral). (tiff.net)

An exploration of Charles Dicken's unfinished work in which the mystery of the murder of Edwin Drood is examined.

BBC's version of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. (imdb)

An animated retelling of Charles Dickens classic novel about a Victorian-era miser taken on a journey of self-redemption, courtesy of several mysterious Christmas apparitions. (imdb)

Since her birth, Amy Dorrit has lived in the Marshalsea Prison for Debt, where she cares for her father William, who is held in great esteem by the other inmates. To help financially assist her family, she works as a seamstress for Mrs. Clennam, a semi-invalid who is confined to her crumbling home with her servants, the sinister Jeremiah Flintwinch and his bumbling wife Affery. (wikipedia)

A kindly shop owner whose overwhelming gambling debts allow a greedy landlord to seize his shop of dusty treasures. Evicted and with no way to pay his debts, he and his granddaughter flee.

Adaptation of Dickens' classic in five half hour episodes.

Director Roman Polanski and writer Ronald Harwood re-imagine Charles Dickens' classic story of a young boy who gets involved with a gang of pickpockets in 19th Century London. (Sony Pictures Entertainment)

A web of deceit and mystery surrounds the chancery trial of Jarndyce and Jarndyce that draws a large group of disparate individuals together. But are they more closely related than they think? And what's the connection between the Jarndyce case and the orphan Esther Summerson?

An old bitter miser is given a chance for redemption when he is haunted by ghosts on Christmas Eve in this musical adaptation of the classic story.

A calmly lucid re-telling of Charles Dickens' classic Oliver Twist, updated to current times and moved out of the poor house and onto the streets of Toronto. (Strand Releasing)

Young Nicholas and his family enjoy a comfortable life, until Nicholas' father dies and the family is left penniless. Nicholas, his sister and mother venture to London to seek help from their Uncle Ralph, but Ralph's only intentions are to separate the family and exploit them. Nicholas is sent to a school run by the cruel, abusive and horridly entertaining Wackford Squeers. Eventually, Nicholas runs away with schoolmate Smike, and the two set off to reunite the Nickleby family. (imdb)

Another Version of the Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

TV adaptation of the Dickens classic. Ralph Nickleby (Charles Dance), the wealthy and cold-hearted uncle whom Nicholas (James D'Arcy) and his sister, Kate (Sophia Miles), turn to when their father's death leaves them destitute. Nicholas eagerly takes on a teaching job at a boys' boarding school, but flees after rebelling against the unspeakable horrors there. With powerful enemies marshalled against him, Nicholas struggles to find his way in the world and rescue his family... (play.com)

In this modern day adaptation of Charles Dickens classic novel, a mean loan shark is the subject of a haunting, attempting to make him see the error of his ways. (imdb)

A remake of the Dicken's classic, "A Christmas Carol" featuring a very nasty pop singer who gets a reality check by three Christmas spirits.

Scrooge is a miserly old businessman in 1840's London. One Christmas Eve he is visited by the ghost of Marley, his dead business partner. Marley foretells that Scrooge will be visited by three spirits, each of whom will attempt to show Scrooge the error of his ways. Will Scrooge reform his ways in time to celebrate Christmas? (imdb)

The life of David Copperfield, who is sent away from home as a child by his mean stepfather and meets many obstacles and adversaries on his way to become a man.

Young Pip is expected to become a blacksmith, but, hating the soot and smoke, he secretly dreams of becoming a gentleman. When he meets the mysterious Miss Havisham and her haughty niece Estella, Pip is confident that his dream is to come true. (imdb)

Based on Charles Dickens' timeless tale, this is a story of the love of a man for an unreachable woman. Updated to modern day New York City, the story concerns a man of modest background who falls in love with a rich girl. But when a mysterious benefactor greenlights the man to make his dreams come true, everything done has the ultimate goal of making Estella fall in love with him... (imdb)

Charlie B. Barker (Steven Webber) & Itchy Ford (Dom Deluise) are back with Sasha (Sheena Easton) and the gang having a Dicken's of a time as they try to save Christmas from Carface (Ernest Borgnine) and an evil spirit that wishes to use dogs all over the world to ruin Christmas forever. (imdb)

Based on Dickens' novel about a rich misanthrope who leaves his estate to his estranged son with an odd condition.

Charles Dickens' classical story about the young orphan boy in 1837 England is again re-filmed in grand fashion. Richard Dreyfuss portrays Fagin, the unscrupulous leader of the young pick-pockets Oliver (Alex Trench) initially falls in with after escaping from a sweat shop and going to London to find his relatives. (John Sacksteder - imdb)

A retelling of "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens

When young Nell Trent's grandfather loses the investment money of wharf owner Daniel Quilp with cards, Quilp develops an everlasting urge to get him put in the madhouse. Nell and her grandfather flee the city.

Life imitates art, when Fred is cast as Ebenezer Scrooge in a play.

BBC miniseries adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel.

Gothic adaptation that emphasizes the horror and degradation rather than the mystery - there is little mystery about the murderer's identity by half way through.

The Muppet character tell their version of the classic tale of an old and bitter miser's redemption on Christmas Eve. (imdb)

A cynically selfish TV executive gets haunted by three spirits bearing lessons on Christmas Eve.

"Little Dorrit" was released to theaters in two parts, each running approximately three hours. The first part, subtitled "Nobody's Fault," introduced us to the seamstress title character, who chooses to live in debtor's prison with her father. Good Samaritan Arthur Clennam endeavors to help both father and daughter. The second part, also known as "Little Dorrit's Story," details Dorrit's escape from penury to lasting happiness. (AllMovie)

Inspired by Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist". A homeless kitten named Oliver, roams the streets of New York, where he is taken in by a gang of homeless mutts who survive by stealing from others. During one of these criminal acts, Oliver meets a wealthy young girl named Jenny Foxworth. This meeting will forever change his life. (imdb)

Pleasant Ebenezer Blackadder is turned into a cruel and witty miser after seeing visions of his ancestors and descendants.

A Portuguese adaptation of the classic Charles Dickens novel.

An orphan named Oliver Twist meets a pickpocket on the streets of London. From there, he joins a household of boys who are trained to steal for their master.

Made for television version of the Charles Dickens classic of the same name. An old man who hates Christmas is taught the true meaning and spirit of Christmas by ghosts who show him his own past and present. He is also shown what the future holds for him if he doesn't change his behavior. (imdb)

The classic Disney animated characters play the roles in this animated retelling of the Charles Dickens masterpiece. (imdb)

Young Nicholas Nickleby sets out to make his fortune in order to prevent his mother and sister from depending upon his uncle, Ralph Nicklby. But he finds his first job as master at a Yorkshire school to be cruel, and runs away with one of the students. Meanwhile, Kate is subjected to the unwanted attentions of Sir Mulberry Hawk, aided by her uncle. Nicholas and his new friend, Smike, begin their adventures and eventually set out to rescue Kate, with the usual Dickensian twists, turns and asides. (imdb)

Another retelling of the classic Dickens Christmas tale. This one is actually a filmed stage play.

The classic Charles Dickens tale of an orphan boy who escapes the horrors of the orphanage only to be taken in by a band of thieves and pickpockets. (imdb)

Dissolute barrister Sydney Carton becomes enchanted and then hopelessly in love with the beautiful Lucie Manette. But Lucie loves and marries Charles Darnay, and remains oblivious to Carton's undimmed devotion to her. When Darnay is ensnared in the deadly web of the French Revolution and condemned to die by the guillotine, Sydney Carton concocts a dangerous plot to free the husband of the woman he loves. (imdb)

In Depression-era New England, a miserly businessman named Benedict Slade receives a long-overdue attitude adjustment one Christmas eve when he is visited by three ghostly figures who resemble three of the people whose possessions Slade had seized to collect on unpaid loans. (imdb)

Anime based on Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol... (Wikipedia)

The Dickens classic is interpreted by comedian-impressionist Rich Little in a very unique way: He plays all the major characters in the film! His vast repertoire of characters are employed to act out the characters in this much-loved story. W.C. Fields is the sourest Scrooge you'll ever see.

Miser Ebenezer Scrooge hates Christmas, but then gets a visit from his companion Jacob Marley, who has been dead for seven years. He urges Scrooge to change his life.

A musical version of Dickens' "The Old Curiosity Shop".

Charles Dickens' classic tale of Pip, a poor orphan who befriends an escaped convict and who grows up in the company of a bitter old woman, Miss Havisham, and her haughty young ward, Estella. Pip learns the rewards of both vindictiveness and gratitude as a result of these events. (imdb)

An old bitter miser is given a chance for redemption when he is haunted by ghosts on Christmas Eve. (imdb)

This is a delightful musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol. Cold-souled Ebenezer Scrooge has a change of heart after spirit visitations on Christmas Eve. Folks might not have had much to sing about in 1840's England, but this musical will make you believe otherwise. Kenneth More's musical number as the Ghost of Christmas Present is especially entertaining. (imdb)

This lackluster 1970 version of Charles Dickens' classic novel, David Copperfield (made as a film twice before) turns Dickens' picaresque tale into an extended flashback, with David Copperfield (Robin Phillips) as a young man, brooding on a deserted beach, recalling his youth. The characters are all trotted out in choppy flashbacks as David remembers his life as a young orphan, brought to London and passed around from relatives, to guardians, to boarding school. (allmovie.com)

Musical adaptation about an orphan who runs away from an orphanage and hooks up with a group of boys trained to be pickpockets by an elderly mentor. (imdb)

A cricket seeks to rescue a poor toymaker and his blind daughter from an exploitative miser. (imdb)

A humble orphan suddenly becomes a gentleman with the help of an unknown benefactor.

A man sits back on Christmas and mourns his son who died 20 years before in World War II. He sits and listens to "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" and becomes more and more sullen. He is visited by three ghosts who center the experience they supply on not just Christmas, but War. (imdb)

An animated, magical, musical version of Dickens' timeless classic "A Christmas Carol." The nearsighted Mr. Magoo doesn't have a ghost of a chance as Ebenezer Scrooge, unless he learns the true meaning of Christmas from the three spirits who haunt him one Christmas Eve.

Anthology series on several of Dickens' works.

British barrister Sydney Carton lives an insubstantial and unhappy life. He falls under the spell of Lucie Manette, but Lucie marries Charles Darnay. When Darnay goes to Paris to rescue an imprisoned family retainer, he becomes entangled in the snares of the brutal French Revolution and is himself jailed and condemned to the guillotine. But Sydney Carton, in love with a woman he cannot have, comes up with a daring plan to save her husband. (imdb)

Adaptation of Dickens’ classic Christmas tale.

The Pickwick Club sends Mr. Pickwick and a group of friends to travel across England and to report back on the interesting things they find. In the course of their travels, they repeatedly encounter the friendly but disreputable Mr. Jingle, who becomes a continual source of trouble for all who know him. Pickwick himself is the victim of a number of misunderstandings that bring him both embarrassment and problems with the law. (imdb)

An old bitter miser is given a chance for redemption when he is haunted by ghosts on Christmas Eve. (imdb)

Dickens' classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and three Christmas Ghosts that change his perception of life. Narrated by Vincent Price.

Based on the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist is about an orphan boy who runs away from a workhouse and meets a pickpocket on the streets of London... (imdb)

Nineteenth century England. When Nicholas Nickleby's father dies and leaves his family destitute, his uncle, the greedy moneylender, Ralph Nickleby, finds Nicholas a job teaching in a repulsive school in Yorkshire. Nicholas flees the school taking with him one of the persecuted boys, Smike, and they join a troop of actors. Nicholas then has to protect Smike, while trying to stop his Uncle Ralph taking advantage of his sister Kate, and later his sweetheart, Madeline Bray, whose father is in debto

A humble orphan suddenly becomes a gentleman with the help of an unknown benefactor. (imdb)

The timeworn Dickens' story about the old merchant Scrooge and how his own disappointments in life shape his view that both life and men are not worthy of his notice or concern. He displays no charity to mankind generally, and in particular, to his employee Bob Cratchett and his unfortunate son, Tiny Tim. But the dessicated gent is about to get his comeuppance when he imagines he is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. (imdb)

When David's father dies, his mother remarries. His new stepfather Murdstone has a mean and cruel view on how to raise a child... (imdb)

An elaborate adaptation of Dickens' classic tale of the French Revolution. Dissipated lawyer Sydney Carton defends emigre Charles Darnay from charges of spying against England. He becomes enamored of Darnay's fiancée, Lucie Manette, and agrees to help her save Darnay from the guillotine when he is captured by Revolutionaries in Paris. (imdb)

A madman strangles his rivals for a beautiful girl. (imdb)

Scrooge, the ultimate Victorian miser, hasn't a good word for Christmas, though his impoverished clerk Cratchit and nephew Fred are full of holiday spirit. But in the night, Scrooge is visited by spirits of another color. Straightforward adaptation of Dickens. (imdb)

9 year old 'Pip' Pirrip, an orphan living with relatives, aids and befriends an escaped convict on the moors, an act that will have a profound effect on his life. (imdb)

An elderly shop-keeper and his grand-daughter are threatened by the rich, mean-spirited dwarf Quilp, and decide to flee across England to escape him. They are pursued both by Quilp and by the shop-keeper's long-lost brother, who wants to find them for a different reason.

An orphan boy in 1830's London is abused in a workhouse, then falls into the clutches of a gang of thieves. (imdb)

The dream of Paul Dombey, the wealthy owner of the shipping company, is to have a son to continue his business. Tragically, Dombey's wife dies shortly after giving birth to their son.

Miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is visited on Christmas Eve by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley, as well as the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, in order to help him change his selfish ways and redeem his soul. An early silent adaptation of the classic story. (imdb)

Oliver's mother, a penniless outcast, died giving birth to him. As a young boy Oliver is brought up in a workhouse, later apprenticed to an uncaring undertaker, and eventually is taken in by a gang of thieves who befriend him for their own purposes. All the while, there are secrets from Oliver's family history waiting to come to light. (imdb)

Danish silent adaptation of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations.

At the outbreak of the French Revolution, Charles Darnay goes to Paris to rescue an imprisoned former family servant. He is himself imprisoned and condemned by the revolutionary forces there. His wife, the former Lucie Manette, is secretly loved by a gentlemanly wastrel, Sydney Carton. Carton embarks on a daring plan to save the husband of the woman he loves. (imdb)

A miser is reformed by visions of past, present and future. (imdb)

The Pickwick Papers, directed by Laurence Trimble, appeared in 1913. This silent three-reel adaptation of Charles Dickens's first novel starred the American comedian John Bunny, who was very popular in his day but is now almost completely forgotten, and was filmed mainly on location in England. (imdb)

Miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is visited on Christmas Eve by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley, who tries to help him change his selfish ways and redeem his soul by showing him how much his greed has cost him and will continue to cost him if he doesn't atone. An early silent adaptation of the classic story, this version differs from others in that Marley also acts as the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future.

With The Old Curiosity Shop and David Copperfield, both released in 1911, and Nicholas Nickleby in 1912, Thanhouser established itself as producer of the best Dickens adaptations in American film. (thanhouser.org)

Mrs. Lirriper keeps a boarding house. Major Jackman, dissatisfied with Mrs. Wozenham's, further down the street, comes to live at Mrs. Lirriper's and becomes the "star" boarder. Mr. Edson and his young wife take rooms at Mrs. Lirriper's. They are a young couple, not long married, and appear to be devoted to each other, though the Major has a sort of half-defined prejudice against Edson. One day in the midst of their happiness, Edson is called suddenly away on important business.

A condensed silent film version of the Charles Dickens classic about the French Revolution and its subsequent Reign of Terror. (imdb)

Based on the story by Charles Dickens: Ebenezer Scrooge is well known for his harsh, miserly ways, until he is visited by the ghost of his former business partner, and then by three other spirits. (imdb)

After three years at sea, Edward returns home to find his sweetheart forced into an engagement with a much older man. (imdb)

A boy helps to escape a convict after meeting him at his mother's graveyard. The convict gets rich in Australia and when he returns is arrested again but released in the last moment after a dying convict confesses. (imdb)

A woman arrives with her baby to a nursing home. She is very sick and dies soon afterwards. The infant, called Oliver Twist, is placed in an orphanage. Some years later the young Oliver, at a meal in the dining hall, dares to ask for some more food. He is punished for his audacity, and runs away from the orphanage. On the road he meets the Artful Dodger, a young pickpocket, who brings him to Fagin's den. (imdb)

Produced by the English movie pioneer R.W. Paul, this version of 'A Christmas Carol' is the earliest surviving adaptation of Dickens' work on film. The only known print, held by the BFI, is incomplete, but manages to tell enough of the story for it to be recognisable. (youtube-BFIfilms)

A child-crossing sweeper dies in the snow. (imdb)