Little Dorrit (1987 film)

Little Dorrit
Little Dorrit VHS cover
Directed by	Christine Edzard
Screenplay by	Christine Edzard
Based on	Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
Produced by	John Brabourne Richard B. Goodwin
Starring	Derek Jacobi Sarah Pickering Alec Guinness Joan Greenwood Max Wall Patricia Hayes Miriam Margolyes Simon Dormandy
Cinematography	Bruno de Keyzer
Edited by	Fraser Maclean Olivier Stockman
Production company	Sands Films
Distributed by	Curzon Film Distributors
Release date	11 December 1987 (1987-12-11) (UK)
Running time	343 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	$1,025,228[1]

Little Dorrit is a 1987 film adaptation of the 1857 novel Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens.^[2] It was written and directed by Christine Edzard, and produced by John Brabourne and Richard B. Goodwin.^[3] The music by Giuseppe Verdi was arranged by Michael Sanvoisin.^[4]

The film stars Derek Jacobi as Arthur Clennam, Alec Guinness as William Dorrit, and Sarah Pickering in the title role.^[5] A huge cast of seasoned British and Irish stage and film actors was assembled to play the dozens of roles, including Simon Dormandy, Joan Greenwood, Roshan Seth, Miriam Margolyes, Cyril Cusack and Max Wall.^[6] Pickering, in contrast, had never acted on screen; she was cast after writing to the production team claiming to 'be' Little Dorrit.^[7] It remains her only screen acting role.

Production[]

Little Dorrit lasts nearly six hours and was released in two parts, of approximately three hours each.^[2] The first part was subtitled Nobody's Fault, an allusion to one of Dickens' proposed titles for the original novel, and the story developed from the perspective and experiences of the Arthur Clennam character.^[8] The second film, titled Little Dorrit's Story, took many of the same events and presented them through the eyes of the heroine. Together they represented overlapping chronicles.^[9]

Sands Films, the production company that made the film, is run by Christine Edzard, the screenwriter and director, and her husband Richard B. Goodwin.^[10]

Reception[]

Variety wrote "what she (Edzard) has accomplished on a small budget is astounding."^[11] and The New York Times noted "The cast is spectacular."^[12]

The film was nominated for two Oscars: Actor in a Supporting Role (Alec Guinness) and Writing (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium) (Christine Edzard).^[13] Miriam Margolyes won the LA Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Flora Finching.^[14]

The Region Two DVD was released in the UK on 27 October 2008.^[15]

Full cast[]

In addition, minor roles were played by: Michael Elphick, Arthur Blake, Eleanor Bron, Heathcote Williams, John Savident, Betty Marsden, Liz Smith, Brian Pettifer, Kathy Staff, Ian Hogg, Tony Jay, Julia Lang, Christopher Hancock, Malcolm Tierney, John Warner, Harold Innocent, Edward Burnham, Gerald Campion, Nadia Chambers and David Thewlis.

See also[]

• List of longest films by running time

References[]

External links[]

• Little Dorrit 1. Nobody's Fault at the British Film Institute
• Little Dorrit 2. Little Dorrit's Story at the British Film Institute
• Little Dorrit at the BFI's Screenonline
• Little Dorrit at the British Board of Film Classification
• Little Dorrit at IMDb
• Little Dorrit at Rotten Tomatoes
• Little Dorrit at AllMovie
• Sands Films (production company and DVD)
• Little Dorrit film trailer

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