The thing about Charles Dickens that is often overlooked is that he could
be very funny. Even in his dramas he has passages that are full of wit and
sarcasm. I have read a few of his books though not as many as I would like.
They are just too darn long at this point in my life. Last year Great Expectations
took me a month or two. This I think can be laid at their format of serials
in magazines or newspapers. The longer he could stretch them the better he
was paid and so his books often go off in all sorts of directions and bring
in more characters than you can often keep straight in your head (not as
bad as Tolstoy but close). That is part of their charm as well since he came
up with many memorable characters in his writings. The Pickwick Papers though
was a comedy throughout in which Dickens skewers society with a keen eye
to their foibles and faults. It is an absurdity with stereotyping characters
to exaggeration but in a way very recognizable to the people at the time.
He also went after British institutions such as orphanages in Oliver Twist,
Victorian morality in many of his books and in this one the bizarre concept
of debtor's prison which his father had resided in for some time.
The Pickwick Papers was his first novel and came out of a concept of plates
with illustrations of British life and Dickens was hired to write a narrative
to connect the plates. It may have started that way but his stories published
in nineteen issues over 20 months were a phenomenon with the public and soon
the illustrations were based on his story. The writing is said to have had
an enormous influence on literature - it gave a jump start to serialization,
the cliff hanger and just being fun. The characters became much loved. It
made Dickens famous. He was only 24.
The film is a lovely understated droll comedy that as best as it can condenses
the stories into a few that have a narrative flow. There is a 1985 BBC TV
series that is 12 episodes so clearly the film left out a lot of material.
Which was fine by me. As much as I enjoyed it I can only take so much English
drollness. At 109 minutes it flagged a bit in the middle but made a wonderful
comeback at the end full of human kindness. The pear shaped Mr. Pickwick
(James Hayter who later played Tweedledee in Alice in Wonderland) is an elderly
gentleman with malice towards none (other than perhaps the law firm of Dodson
and Fogg) and an insatiable quest for knowledge. He heads the Pickwick Club
of similarly minded men and women - and he decides that it is their duty
to travel around England and observe and report back to the others. He takes
three of them with him - all bachelors - the whimsical and romantically inclined
Mr. Winkle (James Donald), the well-mannered and near invisible Mr. Snodgrass
(Lionel Murton) and the portly Mr. Tupman (Alexander Gauge).
Their adventures and misadventures and love interests follow. Along the way
they pick up Mr. Jingle (Nigel Patrick) a fast talking charming conman who
says much but says it so fast that no one really understands him but finds
him brilliant as he talks everyone into anything. Later there is the introduction
of Sam Weller (Harry Fowler) who becomes Mr. Pickwick's valet and all around
keep Pickwick out of trouble man. In the book he became a very popular character
with the public and even had clubs devoted to his sayings. Towards the end
the big set piece is a trial when Mr. Pickwick's landlady falsely accuses
him of breaking his word to marry her - instigated by Dodson and Fogg - with
Pickwick ending up in debtor prison. Both sections became famous in the book
as Dickens pokes fun at the judicial system and the horrors of debtor prison.
This is pure English cinema of the 1950s - literate, well-acted by names
I don't recognize for the most part, toned down with sly subtle humor flowing
through it. Mocking characters but with great fondness.
