The Old Curiosity Shop

The Old Curiosity Shop is a 1911 American silent short drama film produced by the Thanhouser Company. The film is an adaptation of the 1841 novel The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens that was limited to the time constrictions of the single reel format. The film focuses on the grandfather who gambles into poverty and the consequences which eventually claim the life of Little Nell. Its survival and attribution as a Thanhouser film was noted by Kamilla Elliott in her 2003 book Rethinking the Novel/Film Debate under the title Little Nell. In 2012, the work was confirmed to be a Thanhouser production at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival. The identification of the film as Little Nell arose due to head of the film having been lost. Plot Adapted from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens, the film has been shortened and streamlined for the single reel format. The film focuses on a grandfather who gambles himself into poverty. He dotes on his granddaughter, Little Nell, and desires to give her every luxury. The grandfather turns to gambling to try and earn money, firmly believing that luck would favor him. His gambling results in losing everything and Nell fears that he will be taken away to an asylum. At night, Nell flees with him and they find refuge and shelter with Mrs. Jarley. The grandfather, seeking to win money, robs Nell of her money and proceeds to gamble it away. The grandfather is coerced by men to steal to pay the debts, but Nell intervenes and flees with her grandfather again. Exhausted and feeble in health, Nell meets a kind schoolmaster and appeals to him for aid before falling unconscious at his feet. The schoolmaster takes the two in, but it is too late to save Nell and she dies. Her grandfather is brokenhearted and is found dead on her grave several days later. Cast Frank H. Crane as the grandfather Marie Eline as Little Nell Harry Benham Marguerite Snow Alphonse Ethier William Bowman Production The film is a condensed adaptation of Dickens' work. Reviewers specifically highlighted the attention to detail and the limitations of the format when condensing the work to a single reel format. The atmosphere of the film and the portrayal was deemed to be natural except for the scenes in open. The director of the film was Barry O'Neil, but the scenario writer and cameraman are uncredited. The surviving status of the film yields to the possibility of further information being gained on the production and details of the work.