TCM Broadcast


This was broadcast several months ago on TCM in Letterbox format and so who cares if it is ever released on DVD. Right now it is doubtful that it will be released or is being held up somewhere. This version is superior!!

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I taped this yesterday with much anticipation, knowing its reputation, and having enjoyed the new BBC version several weeks ago, but so far (half an hour or so into it) I'm very disappointed - it moves at an absolute snail's pace - nice camera set-ups and then nothing happens - characters look at each other endlessly, or just stare off . . . in the scene between Amy and Arthur on the iron bridge, I could barely understand a word she said.

"Remind me to tell you about the time I looked into the heart of an artichoke."

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The two parts of this 1988 production were shown again last night on TCM (they are showing more Dickens adaptations in anticipation of the upcoming 200th anniversary of his birth).

I'd seen the 2008 miniseries, which I enjoyed in spite of what as I saw as the annoying passivity of Amy Dorrit. Throughout, she was written (I thought) as her father's doormat--rather dull and generally lacking in personality.

This 1988 version's virtue for me is that it portrays Amy in a much more active and sympathetic light; she's shown as being anything but docile--she's clever and enterprising, as well as being kind and dutiful.

However, undeniably this is a movie made with little regard for the basics of the cinematic art; it's more like a filmed play, and can be enjoyed more fully when thought of in that light.



(Hooray for TCM showing lots of Dickens!)

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In celebration of Dickens 200th birthday, TCM is supposed to be showing a lot of Dickens films for the month of February. I want to see the 1948 Oliver Twist, I hope they show that.

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The second part of the 1988 Little Dorrit movie ("Little Dorrit's story") with Alec Guinness was shown on the ThisTV network on last Saturday (2/15/2014) in my area. The 1948 version of "Oliver Twist" also with Alec Guinness was also shown a couple of days ago on one of the smaller networks in my area (either Cozi TV, Movies! TV Network, or ThisTV). Also, in the movie theaters, the "Invisible Woman" is being shown that portrays the story behind Charles Dickens and his mistress, Ellen Ternan.

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