Tonight I've got a Double Dose of Dickens for you. It wouldn't be Christmas without ol' C.D., at least not in my world, and this year - just when I thought I'd exhausted the supply of Dickens/BBC miniseries - I found another one : "Little Dorrit", which I ordered from the Libe and began watching two days ago. There are a couple dozen characters in this one (at least), but the main story revolves around a man named "Mr. Dorrit", who's been locked up in a debtor's prison for many years. He's looked after by his youngest daughter Amy, who visits him every day. She is the "Little Dorrit" of the title. A third main character, "Mr. Clennam", has just returned to London after spending time in China. He's the son of an upper middle class woman whose wealth, and consequently her status, has waned. She still acts as if she's a member of high society, but in truth her house is now run down and she's confined to a wheelchair. Her bitterness is clear for all to see, but because this is Dickens, the great social commentator, her afflictions - physical, emotional and financial - are interpreted as a result of a terrible secret she has kept for all her adult life. The secret has ruined her, but now her son is back, and he aims to find out what that secret is. As events progress, one thing is certain - it has to do with the Dorrit family.
The three leads are played by the legendary Tom Courtenay ("Mr. Dorrit"), Claire Foy ("Amy Dorrit") and Matthew MacFayden ("Mr. Clennam"). There are many other characters who play important parts in the story, and there are many other threads to the plot, but the main thing is that, as you watch them, you can't fail to be impressed by the ability of all the actors to re-create the personalities of people from another time. English actors, especially ones who are chosen for productions such as this, come from a highly trained background, and as you watch them inhabit their roles, you notice every nuance in their performances, which - because the context is Victorian England - means that everything is broken down into class status. A butler is resentful yet still polite (and misogynistic), a young girl is dutiful to a fault, a rich property owner is humble and kind on the outside, ruthless behind closed doors. But that's just the characters themselves. Watch an actor like Tom Courtenay bring "Mr. Dorrit" to life, and you'll agree that the English are a breed apart when it comes to period acting.
In short, though I'm only a third of the way through "Little Dorrit", it gets my highest recommendation. ///
My movie for this evening was "Oliver Twist"(1948), adapted from one of Dickens' most famous novels by David Lean, who also directed. I'm sure you know the story of Oliver, so I'll just run down the basics. He's an orphan boy, born in a workhouse to an indigent mother who dies shortly after his birth. Because he proves to be rebellious, he is sold as a child to a mortician, for whom he is put to work. He escapes from there and makes his way to London, all of nine years old, and ends up as part of a gang of pickpockets, run by the notorious Fagin, a famous Dickensian crook. As always in a Dickens plot, there is a secret involved, this time about Oliver's lineage.
In 1968, there was a musical version of this story that was a huge hit. Called "Oliver!", it was nominated for several Oscars, including one for young Jack Wild, who was briefly famous for playing "The Artful Dodger". I saw that movie in the theater, probably with my parents or sisters, but I'd never seen this version until tonight. Lean films it in grim black and white, almost like a noir with an Expressionistic look. As with "Little Dorrit", the hardscrabble realities, and cruelties, of life in 19th century England are laid bare.
If you only know this story from the more raucous 1968 production, make sure and see this earlier version too. "Oliver!" the musical was a memorable hit from the '60s, with great songs like "Consider Yourself", but David Lean's original was probably closer to what Dickens intended, starkly brutal and almost devoid of joy..........(almost). ////
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, so I want to wish you a Merry Christmas in advance. I will try to write again tomorrow night, but just in case, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas in spite of the pandemic and all we've had to deal with this year. Get in your car tomorrow night and go see some Christmas Lights. Sing some carols, even if just to yourself. Man - for me, this is the first year since 2013 when I will not be singing with our church choir on The Night Before Christmas. I'm sure you know the story of how I came to be in the choir, because of being Pearl's caregiver, but it is one of those things where "if you ever told me I'd be singing in a choir I'd have said"....etc., etc. But then there I was, singing hymns and anthems every Sunday morning, from November 2014 until March 2020. And last Christmas Eve, I got to sing solo tenor on John Rutter's "Christmas Lullaby". It was the highlight of my time with the choir, and I'm sure gonna miss not singing with those guys tomorrow night.....
But we're all still here, so say a prayer and be sure to listen to "Nine Lessons and Carols" tomorrow morning at 7am PST on KUSC 95.5 FM (or whatever internet connection you can find). The "Nine Lessons" are a Christmas Eve tradition from King's College in England since 1918, and even if you wake up too late you can still find it on Google, I'm sure.
That's all I know for tonight. See you in the morning. Tons and tons of love.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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