The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1947 film)
| The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby | |
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Original UK 1947 quad format poster
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| Directed by | Cavalcanti |
| Produced by | Michael Balcon |
| Screenplay by | John Dighton |
| Based on |
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens |
| Starring | Cedric Hardwicke, Stanley Holloway, Derek Bond, Sally Ann Howes |
| Music by | 14th Baron Berners |
| Cinematography | Gordon Dines |
| Edited by | Leslie Norman |
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Production
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| Distributed by | General Film Distributors |
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Release date
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Running time
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108 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby is a 1947 British drama film directed by Alberto Cavalcanti and starring Cedric Hardwicke. The screenplay by John Dighton is based on the Charles Dickens novel The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1839). This first sound screen adaptation of the book followed silent films released in 1903 and 1912.
After the patriarch of the family dies and leaves them with no source of income, Nicholas Nickleby, his mother, and his younger sister Kate venture to London to seek help from their wealthy, cold-hearted uncle Ralph, an investor who arranges for Nicholas to be hired as a tutor at Dotheboys Hall in Yorkshire and finds Kate work as a seamstress. Nicholas meets Mr. Squeers just as he concludes business with Mr. Snawley, who is "boarding" his two unwanted stepsons.
Nicholas is horrified to discover his employers, the sadistic Mr. and Mrs. Squeers, run their boarding school like a prison and physically, verbally, and emotionally abuse their young charges on a regular basis. He eventually rebels and escapes, taking with him young crippled Smike.
Nicholas and Smike take lodgings with Newman Noggs. Nicholas endeavours to find a position, but rejects a low-paying position as a politician's secretary, and a job as a tutor of the French for the Kenwig daughters comes to comic disaster. He and Smike decide to search for work elsewhere. As they are leaving the city, they make the acquaintance of Madeline Bray, the sole support of her father, who gambled away his fortune and now is indebted to Nicholas's uncle.
In search of food and lodging, they stop at an inn, and the proprietor introduces them to actor-manager Vincent Crummles, who owns and operates a travelling a theatrical troupe with his wife. Crummles hires them as actors and casts them in a production of Romeo and Juliet. Despite its success, Nicholas decides to return to London when he receives a letter from his uncle's valet, Newman Noggs, who urges him to come back as quickly as possible, as his uncle has put his sister in great jeopardy despite a promise by him to make certain they come to no harm.
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