''The Old Curiosity Shop'' is a 1914 British silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Thomas Bentley Thomas Bentley (23 February 1884 – 23 December 1966) was a British film director. He directed 68 films between 1912 and 1941. He directed three films in the early DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process, ''The Man in the Street'' (1926), '' ...

and starring Mai Deacon, Warwick Buckland and Alma Taylor. It was based on the 1841 novel ''

The Old Curiosity Shop ''The Old Curiosity Shop'' is one of two novels (the other being ''Barnaby Rudge'') which Charles Dickens published along with short stories in his weekly serial ''Master Humphrey's Clock'', from 1840 to 1841. It was so popular that New York r ...

'' 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 ...

, and was the first of three film adaptations of the story by Bentley. It was made by the Hepworth Company, the leading British film studio before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Cast

* Mai Deacon as Little Nell * Warwick Buckland as Grandfather Trent * E. Felton as

Quilp Daniel Quilp is one of the main antagonists in the novel ''The Old Curiosity Shop'' by Charles Dickens, written in 1840. Quilp is a vicious, ill-tempered and grotesque dwarf and is the villain of the story. Quilp is as near as Dickens ever came to ...

* Alma Taylor as Mrs. Quilp * Jamie Darling as The Single Gentleman * Willie West as

Dick Swiveller Richard 'Dick' Swiveller is a fictional character in the 1841 novel '' The Old Curiosity Shop'' by Charles Dickens. Initially a comical accessory to the antagonists in the novel, he undergoes a transformation, becoming a key helpmate bridging the ...

* Billy Rex as Tom Codlin * S. May as

Sampson Brass Sampson Brass is a fictional character in the 1841 novel ''The Old Curiosity Shop'' by Charles Dickens. He is a corrupt attorney who affects feeling for his clients, whom he then cheats. Among his clients is the villainous Daniel Quilp, the novel' ...

* Bert Stowe as Short * Sydney Locklynne as Jerry *

Moya Nugent Moya Nugent (27 March 1901 – 26 January 1954) was a British actress and singer. She made a few broadcasts and three silent films but was chiefly known as a stage performer, and was particularly associated with the works of Noël Coward, appear ...

as Marchioness * R. Phillips as Mrs. Jarley

Bibliography

* Giddings, Robert & Sheen, Erica. ''From Page To Screen: Adaptations of the Classic Novel'' . Manchester University Press, 5 May 2000 * Mee, John. ''The Cambridge Introduction to Charles Dickens''. Cambridge University Press, 2010.

External links

* 1914 films 1910s historical drama films British historical drama films 1910s English-language films Films directed by Thomas Bentley British silent feature films Films based on The Old Curiosity Shop Films set in England Films set in London Films set in the 1840s Hepworth Pictures films British black-and-white films 1914 drama films Silent historical drama films 1910s British films {{1910s-UK-film-stub