As a student in high school and college I was a reluctant reader, and especially of British writers, like Charles Dickens. Looking back I suspect a lot of that was my inability to visualize accurately. At least that is the excuse I am sticking with for now.
In this movie we have a British production company with a marvelous "visualization" of how things might have been in the time of Dickens. The people, the costumes, the dark and dirty streets, all add up to superb atmosphere for this movie now on DVD.
It has a pretty simple plot. Grandfather owns the "Old Curiosity Shop" but grandfather always seems to be broke. He regularly has to borrow money from the local weasel businessman Quilp, who follows grandfather one evening to learn that he has a bad habit, gambling with cards. To top it off, he is a poor gambler, and always loses, but he has the addiction. Quilp wants the Curiosity Shop and sets out to get it. But he also wants the 14 year old granddaughter for himself, even though he is already married.
An all-star cast, Derek Jacobi is the Grandfather, Toby Jones is Daniel Quilp, and Sophie Vavasseur is the granddaughter, Nell Trent.
SPOILERS: Grandfather and Nell make a run for it one night, and the rest of the story has Quilp chasing them. They move from one place to another, often narrowly escaping those hunting them. Nell's long lost father shows up, to save the day. Then Quilp gets his just reward, he falls through thin ice and his wife watches as he drowns just below the ice.
In this movie we have a British production company with a marvelous "visualization" of how things might have been in the time of Dickens. The people, the costumes, the dark and dirty streets, all add up to superb atmosphere for this movie now on DVD.
It has a pretty simple plot. Grandfather owns the "Old Curiosity Shop" but grandfather always seems to be broke. He regularly has to borrow money from the local weasel businessman Quilp, who follows grandfather one evening to learn that he has a bad habit, gambling with cards. To top it off, he is a poor gambler, and always loses, but he has the addiction. Quilp wants the Curiosity Shop and sets out to get it. But he also wants the 14 year old granddaughter for himself, even though he is already married.
An all-star cast, Derek Jacobi is the Grandfather, Toby Jones is Daniel Quilp, and Sophie Vavasseur is the granddaughter, Nell Trent.
SPOILERS: Grandfather and Nell make a run for it one night, and the rest of the story has Quilp chasing them. They move from one place to another, often narrowly escaping those hunting them. Nell's long lost father shows up, to save the day. Then Quilp gets his just reward, he falls through thin ice and his wife watches as he drowns just below the ice.