The Pickwick Papers

The Pickwick Papers (1913)

The Pickwick Papers comprised three reels, individually titled "The Adventure of the Honourable Event", "The Adventure at the Westgate Seminary", and "The Adventure of the Shooting Party" based on the 1837 novel of the same name by Charles Dickens.

Date of release
1913-01-02
TMDB
4.0 / 10 (2)
Runtime
30m
Genres
Comedy
Director
Laurence Trimble

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Based on: The Pickwick Papers

The Pickwick Papers is a 1913 three-reel silent film based on the 1837 novel of the same name by Charles Dickens. The film was produced by Vitagraph Studios and features John Bunny in the title role of Samuel Pickwick.

Production

The Pickwick Papers was filmed in England rather than at the Vitagraph Company's main studio in Brooklyn, New York. Bunny, along with director Laurence Trimble and camera operator Arthur Ross, left for England on May 25, 1912. The principal goal of the trip was to film authentic scenes from Dickens's novel, with Bunny to select the actors for the other roles upon arrival in England.

Bunny had proposed filming scenes from the novel in England to Vitagraph executives around a year before production took place. As he recounted in September 1912: "The making of Pickwick has been one of my fondest dreams for several years.

Bunny's popularity was at its peak at the time he traveled to England. Regarding his time there, The Moving Picture World reported: "Whenever he appears upon the street in London he has to 'keep moving.' If he stops for any length of time he is in danger of arrest for blockading the sidewalk.

Vitagraph was committed to producing an accurate and authentic adaptation of Dickens's novel. Bunny recounted to The Moving Picture World how the Vitagraph party attempted to borrow an original two-wheeled cab from the British Museum to use in the film, but were refused by the museum curators. The group apparently made an exact replica of this vehicle, and used it frequently in the film.

Besides The Pickwick Papers, the Vitagraph party shot several one-reel films while abroad, including Bunny at Sea, filmed on board ship to England; Bunny at the Derby, filmed at Epsom Downs; Cork and Vicinity, filmed in Cork, Ireland; and The Blarney Stone, filmed at Blarney Castle. The group returned to the United States after three months abroad and incidental stops in Paris and Berlin.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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