The Old Curiosity Shop - Adaptations

Adaptations

There were several silent movie adaptations of the novel.

• The first talkie version was a 1934 British movie starring Hay Petrie as Quilp.
• The novel was serialised for television by the BBC in 1960.
• A British musical version of The Old Curiosity Shop (titled Mr. Quilp in the United States) was released in 1975. The filmmakers were hoping to cash in on the recent success of Oliver!, which was also based on a Dickens classic, but the film was notably unsuccessful.
• In 1979, a nine-part miniseries was created by the BBC and later released on DVD. There was no Frederick character and the story ends with the grandfather mourning at Nell's grave.
• An adaptation for BBC Radio 4 was first broadcast in 1990 narrated by Alex Jennings, with Emily Chenery (Nell), Phil Daniels (Quilp), Daniel Bliss (Kit), Trevor Peacock (Grandfather), Clive Swift, Anna Massey and Julia McKenzie.
• A second BBC Radio 4 adaptation was broadcast in 1998. The production starred Tom Courtenay as Quilp, Denis Quilley, Michael Maloney and Teresa Gallagher.
• In 1995, Tom Courtenay and Peter Ustinov starred in a Disney made-for-television film adaptation as Quilp and the Grandfather, with Sally Walsh as Nell.
• A television film adaptation was produced by ITV and broadcast in the UK on 26 December 2007 and repeated on 14 December 2008.
• Little Nell is featured in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, sculptural group Dickens and Little Nell (1890), one of only two known sculptural representations of Dickens.