Film Screening Screening: Rich Man's Folly.

There have only been two film versions of Dombey and Son, and interestingly, both were transposed form the late 1840s of the original - when London was being physically transformed by the railway - to contemporary settings. 

The first was written by the great scenarist Eliot Stannard and directed by Maurice Elvey in 1917 and it came in for severe condemnation from Dickensians (this is a very rare film but one copy exists and it is to be hoped it will be shown in the 2012 retrospective.)  This is the other version, made by Paramount in 1931 and has the distinction of being the very first sound feature to be based upon a work of Dickens.  What are the problems involved in adapting such a lengthy, serialised novel for a feature film?  What aspects of the original should a film select and reject?  What might a feature of Dombey and Son made today look like?

To request tickets for the screening please email florian.schweizer[at]dickensmuseum.com or call 020 7405 2127.

http://www.dickensmuseum.com/visiting/events.html