Pickwick (1969 Film)
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''Pickwick'' is a British television musical made by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
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in 1969 and based on the 1963 stage musical '' Pickwick'', which in turn was based on the 1837 novel ''
The Pickwick Papers ''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was Charles Dickens's first novel. Because of his success with '' Sketches by Boz'' published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to ...
'' written by
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
. It stars
Harry Secombe Sir Harold Donald Secombe (8 September 1921 – 11 April 2001) was a Welsh comedian, actor, singer and television presenter. Secombe was a member of the British radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show'' (1951–1960), playing many characters, m ...
as
Samuel Pickwick Samuel Pickwick is a fictional character and the main protagonist in ''The Pickwick Papers'' (1836), the first novel by author Charles Dickens. One of the author's most famous and loved creations, Pickwick is a retired successful businessman an ...
and
Roy Castle Roy Castle (31 August 1932 – 2 September 1994) was an English dancer, singer, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician. In addition to being an accomplished jazz trumpet player, he could play many other instruments. Following a vers ...
as Sam Weller. This television production was based on the stage musical '' Pickwick'' which had been a commercial success. It was adapted for the screen by James Gilbert and Jimmy Grafton. The musical had been produced by
Bernard Delfont Bernard Delfont, Baron Delfont (born Boris Winogradsky; 5 September 1909 – 28 July 1994) was a leading Russian-born British theatrical impresario. Life and career Delfont was born in Tokmak, Berdyansky Uyezd, Taurida Governorate, Russian ...
and had premiered in the West End in 1963, again with
Harry Secombe Sir Harold Donald Secombe (8 September 1921 – 11 April 2001) was a Welsh comedian, actor, singer and television presenter. Secombe was a member of the British radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show'' (1951–1960), playing many characters, m ...
in the lead role and with choreography by
Gillian Lynne Dame Gillian Barbara Lynne (née Pyrke; 20 February 1926 – 1 July 2018) was an English ballerina, dancer, choreographer, actress, and theatre-television director, noted for her theatre choreography associated with two of the longest-runnin ...
. Running at 90 minutes and made in colour, the TV musical again had lyrics by
Leslie Bricusse Leslie Bricusse OBE (; 29 January 1931 – 19 October 2021) was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatre musicals and wrote theme music for films. He was best known for writing the music and lyrics for the films '' Do ...
and a score by Cyril Ornadel.''Pickwick''
on the
Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
The book was by
Wolf Mankowitz Cyril Wolf Mankowitz (7 November 1924 – 20 May 1998) was an English writer, playwright and screenwriter. He is particularly known for three novels— '' Make Me an Offer'' (1952), '' A Kid for Two Farthings'' (1953) and ''My Old Man's a Dustm ...
and it was directed by Terry Hughes. The programme was first transmitted on 11 June 1969 and again on 26 December 1969.Pointer, p. 171 One of the better known songs from the score is "
If I Ruled the World "If I Ruled the World" is a popular song, composed by Leslie Bricusse and Cyril Ornadel, which was originally from the 1963 West End musical '' Pickwick'' (based on Charles Dickens's ''The Pickwick Papers''). Background In the context of t ...
". The cast of this production differed somewhat from that of the stage musical.


Plot

Set in England in 1828, the story centres on wealthy Samuel Pickwick and his valet Sam Weller, who are in a debtors' prison where they recall the misadventures that led to their imprisonment. On the previous Christmas Eve, Pickwick introduced his friend Wardle, Wardle's daughters, Emily and Isabella, and their Aunt Rachael to Nathaniel Winkle, Augustus Snodgrass, and Tracy Tupman, three members of the Pickwick Club. They were soon joined by Alfred Jingle, who tricked Tupman into paying for his ticket to a ball that evening. Upon learning Rachael is an heiress, Jingle set out to win her hand and eventually succeeded. Pickwick engages Sam Weller as his valet and, through a series of misunderstandings, he inadvertently leads his landlady, Mrs. Bardell, to believe he has proposed marriage to her. Pickwick is charged with
breach of promise Breach of promise is a common law tort, abolished in many jurisdictions. It was also called breach of contract to marry,N.Y. Civil Rights Act article 8, §§ 80-A to 84. and the remedy awarded was known as heart balm. From at least the Middle ...
and hauled into court, where he is found guilty as charged and sentenced to prison when he stubbornly refuses to pay her compensation.


Cast list

*
Harry Secombe Sir Harold Donald Secombe (8 September 1921 – 11 April 2001) was a Welsh comedian, actor, singer and television presenter. Secombe was a member of the British radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show'' (1951–1960), playing many characters, m ...
... Mr. Pickwick *
Roy Castle Roy Castle (31 August 1932 – 2 September 1994) was an English dancer, singer, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician. In addition to being an accomplished jazz trumpet player, he could play many other instruments. Following a vers ...
... Sam Weller *
Hattie Jacques Hattie Jacques (; born Josephine Edwina Jaques; 7 February 1922 – 6 October 1980) was an English comedy actress of stage, radio and screen. She is best known as a regular of the ''Carry On'' films, where she typically played strict, no-non ...
... Mrs. Bardell *
Aubrey Woods Aubrey Harold Woods (9 April 1928 – 7 May 2013) was an English actor. Biography and career Woods was born on 9 April 1928 in Edmonton, Middlesex and grew up in nearby Palmers Green. He was educated at the Latymer School. His first film ...
...
Alfred Jingle Alfred Jingle is a fictional character who appears in the 1837 novel ''The Pickwick Papers'' by Charles Dickens. He is a strolling actor and an engaging charlatan and trickster noted for his bizarre anecdotes and distinctive mangling of English ...
*
Bill Fraser William Simpson Fraser (5 June 1908 – 9 September 1987) was a Scottish actor who appeared on stage, screen and television for many years. In 1986 he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for his stage role in the play '' ...
... Serjeant Buzzfuzz *
Julian Orchard Julian Dean Chavasse Orchard (3 March 1930, in Wheatley, Oxfordshire – 21 June 1979, in Westminster, London)GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1979 15 1935 WESTMINSTER – Julian Dean C. Orchard, DoB = 3 March 1930 was an English comedy actor. He ...
...
Augustus Snodgrass Augustus Snodgrass is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's first novel, ''The Pickwick Papers'' (1836). He considers himself a Romantic poet, though there is no mention of any of his own poetry in the novel. A founder and younger member ...
*
Robert Dorning Robert Dorning (13 May 1913 – 21 February 1989) was a musician, dance band vocalist, ballet dancer and stage, film and television actor. He is known to have performed in at least 77 television and film productions between 1940 and 1988. Origin ...
...
Tracy Tupman Tracy Tupman is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's first novel, ''The Pickwick Papers'' (1836). Although fat and middle-aged he considers himself a young lover and has an unfortunate amorous entanglement with the spinster Rachael Wardle. ...
* Ian Trigger ...
Nathaniel Winkle Nathaniel Winkle is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's first novel, ''The Pickwick Papers'' (1836). A founder and younger member of the Pickwick Club created by the retired businessman Samuel Pickwick, Winkle is a young friend of Pickwi ...
* Sheila White ... Mary * Michael Logan ... Wardle *
Joyce Grant Joyce Grant (23 January 1924 – 11 July 2006) was a UK-based South African actress known for her comedic roles. Grant was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa and her father encouraged her to move to London to study acting. When she returned to ...
... Rachel * Julia Sutton ... Isabella * Cheryl Kennedy ... Emily * Robert Yetzes ... The Fat Boy * Christopher Reynalds ... Bardell Jr. *
Gertan Klauber George Gertan Klauber (5 March 1932 – 1 August 2008) was a British bit part character actor. Klauber was born in Czechoslovakia, and after training at the Birmingham Theatre School, his stage appearances included with the RSC and the Nat ...
... Landlord *
Erik Chitty Erik Chitty (8 July 1907 in Dover, Kent – 22 July 1977 Brent, Middlesex), was an English stage, film and television actor. Early life Chitty was the son of a flour miller, Frederick Walter Chitty and his wife Ethel Elsie Assistance née Fra ...
... Judge *
Michael Darbyshire Michael Darbyshire (15 October 1917 – 20 November 1979) was an English actor of stage and screen. He is perhaps best known for his role as Hubert Davenport, the Victorian ghost, in the long running BBC TV children's comedy series ''Renta ...
... Dodson *
Tony Sympson Tony Sympson (10 July 1906 – 30 March 1983) was a British actor. Selected filmography * ''The Indiscretions of Eve'' (1932) - Pip * ''Sexton Blake and the Mademoiselle'' (1935) - Tinker * '' Sexton Blake and the Bearded Doctor'' (1935) - ...
... Fogg * Ian Gray ... Serjeant Snubbin * Michael Balfour ... Roker


Archive status

Although the play still exists in full colour as its original
videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocasse ...
master, it has not been released onto VHS, DVD or Blu-ray, nor has it been made available on any streaming sites, including BBC iPlayer. A single clip, the opening titles, has been made available on the
Ravensbourne University London Ravensbourne University London (formerly Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication) is a digital media and design university, with vocational courses in fashion, television and broadcasting, interactive product design, architecture an ...
website.


References


External links


''Pickwick'' on the Ovrtur website''Pickwick'' (1969)
on the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Pickwick 1969 television films 1969 films British television films Compositions by Leslie Bricusse Films based on The Pickwick Papers Films set in 1828 Films with screenplays by Wolf Mankowitz