British filmmakers had a delightful way of taking polite pot-shots at themselves, especially in the late 1940's and 50's with the Ealing comedies. While the first sound film version of "The Pickwick Papers" was not made by Ealing, it certainly has the same mood, and even shares some of the familiar character actors who delightfully made fun of their own kind as they set out to take certain archetypes down a peg or two. James Hayter is excellent as the title character, a sort of bumbling older gentleman who is chosen as head of the Pickwick Club, a social group made up of upper middle-class and a few upper class gentlemen interested in literature who get together to discuss the odd events of their individual lives and their encounters with people in public whom us Americans would call either "eccentric" or "droll". There's enough material for two movies in the book, but for a 90 minute movie, only the choice morsels have been left in, resulting in a truly delightful period comedy.
The first half involves a series of unrelated events which shows Hayter involved in the troubles of various members of the group, caused by their apparent nosiness. First, a cabbie accuses one of the members of being "an informer"; Next, a jealous husband demands another member either apologize or face a duel over an alleged unwanted pass at the man's wife, and finally, a weekend in the country causes all sorts of issues over the accusations that one of the men is a gold-digger after the hand in marriage of their host's spinster sister. It finally comes down to Pickwick himself getting into trouble and facing debtor's prison after a breech of promise suit brought on him by his dithering housekeeper (Hermoine Baddeley). Along the way, there are some delightful cameos and a view into 1800's English society and class distinction that made for wonderful reading for which became Charles Dicken's first novel.
Among the other standouts are Joyce Grenfell as a delightfully toothy society matron who creates laughs just by opening her mouth, Hermoine Gingold as a prickly school girl's matron (one scene only, but what she does with that cameo...), Kathleen Harrison as the silly spinster, tickled to death that any man would look at her, Mary Merrall as Harrison's deaf as a post mother, Gerald Campion as a nosy servant boy, and Alexander Gauge as one of the members of the society, a rather vain fat man who considers himself a lothario with the women. Director Noel Langley (one of the head screenwriters for "The Wizard of Oz" and the 1951 "A Christmas Carol") gives this a very lavish period look. This made me curious to see the rarely produced musical version "Pickwick" which starred Dickens veteran Harry Secombe who highly resembles James Hayter in playing the character.
The first half involves a series of unrelated events which shows Hayter involved in the troubles of various members of the group, caused by their apparent nosiness. First, a cabbie accuses one of the members of being "an informer"; Next, a jealous husband demands another member either apologize or face a duel over an alleged unwanted pass at the man's wife, and finally, a weekend in the country causes all sorts of issues over the accusations that one of the men is a gold-digger after the hand in marriage of their host's spinster sister. It finally comes down to Pickwick himself getting into trouble and facing debtor's prison after a breech of promise suit brought on him by his dithering housekeeper (Hermoine Baddeley). Along the way, there are some delightful cameos and a view into 1800's English society and class distinction that made for wonderful reading for which became Charles Dicken's first novel.
Among the other standouts are Joyce Grenfell as a delightfully toothy society matron who creates laughs just by opening her mouth, Hermoine Gingold as a prickly school girl's matron (one scene only, but what she does with that cameo...), Kathleen Harrison as the silly spinster, tickled to death that any man would look at her, Mary Merrall as Harrison's deaf as a post mother, Gerald Campion as a nosy servant boy, and Alexander Gauge as one of the members of the society, a rather vain fat man who considers himself a lothario with the women. Director Noel Langley (one of the head screenwriters for "The Wizard of Oz" and the 1951 "A Christmas Carol") gives this a very lavish period look. This made me curious to see the rarely produced musical version "Pickwick" which starred Dickens veteran Harry Secombe who highly resembles James Hayter in playing the character.