A Christmas Carol and its Adaptations

A Christmas Carol And Its Adaptations by Fred Guida, is a book I recently finished reading. I first learned of this book on Mr. Guida's site, Charles Dickens On Screen. This is a tome he authored himself, and it is almost unbeleivably comprehensive in regard to Carol adaptations. Every adaptation known to man is not only listed but examined, often in detail, from the very first versions known to be adapted (often plagerized) for the Victorian stage.

Given considerable attention in the chapter on televised versions are the George C. Scott version from 1984, and Henry Winkler's An American Christmas Carol from the late sevenites. This latter is notable, among other things, for taking place during the Great Depression. The point is made that oftimes the various versions of the Carol reflect the social climate and problems of their times. Clive Donner's version with George C. Scott may be seen for example as a critique of the Reagonite and Thacherite politics of its time (as can Donner's Oliver Twist, also staring Scott, filmed a couple years earlier). The Carol is, after all, a deeply mythic tale, one in which Dickens had apparently managed to actually tap into the collective human consciousness. It is a primal tale of death and rebirth found throughout religion and myth. That is why so many versions in so many places in time have cropped up, and continue to crop up, each holiday season. According to Paul Davis, author of the excellent Lives and Times of Ebeneezer Scrooge (which I also own and which Guida references) "We are still writing the Carol."

I learned quite a few things I didn't already know, including the fact that the animated Rankin/Bass feature from 1970s, The Stingiest Man In Town, was actually based on a previous live-action version staring Basil Rathbone of Sherlock Holmes fame, of all people. This version is, so far as I can tell, not available, which is a bit surprising. Sir Michael Hordern, famed actor of the british stage and cinema, actually made it into two versions, once as Marley, and the seond time as Scrooge. It's somehow strange to think of the soft-spoken Hordern as Ebenezeer, one thing Guida takes note of. The book also reveals that a sumptuous, and (according to Guida, at least) very good adaptation was filmed in France, the very same year that the famed Gearge Scott version premeired in America. This Frence version, sadly, is also not available, so far as I can tell.

The Filmography section of the book covers all versions of the Carol, and detail is given to those not included in the previous chapters. This includes all TV versions, all animated versions, all the versions that have cropped up on sitcoms at during the season over the years, and even "versions" that should perhaps be considered "semi-Carols." These are tales that, while clearly inpsired by the story of Scrooge, do not follow the same plot. One such film is My Little Boy, a film from way back in 1917, in which a Scrooge-like uncle disaproves of his nephew Fred's marraige. On Christmas eve the old curmudeon has a horrific dream in which he accidently kills his nephew's son, but wakes to the happy truth and as a result, becomes a a reformed man. A heart-rending film with a happy ending to be sure, though also, unfortuantely it is not avialable in any format. Also of note is a Christmas episode of "The Charlie Drake Show", a BBC serial in the UK back in the 60s. This "version" features characters from other Dickens novels, including Nicholas Nickleby, Pip and Miss Havisham from Great Expectations, and Fagin and Oliver from Oliver Twist, all of whom owe Scrooge money, and it's Bob Crachit's job to collect. I would have loved to seen this one, as it takes the "shared universe" concept to a whole new level.

In one chapter Guida deals with Dickens' other Christmas tales, and the curious fact that so few of them have been substanially translated into film. The Chimes, for example, has only recieved film treatment twice. Most unsual is that Dickens' The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain" has apparently never been filmed at all. The story, virtually unkown to the public, invloves a chemist named Redlaw who encounters his own ghostly double one Christmas eve. This particular sort of phantom is know as a fetch in English folklore. The bargain concerns Redlw's desire to forget all the painful memories of his past. There turns out to be a major downside to this, until Redlaw manages, to see the error of his decison through the wisdom of the story's most innocent character.

Why has The Huanted Man never been filmed? Well, Christmas Carol, it seems, is so mythic in its essence that its resulting popularity has apparently drowned out all of Dickens' other tales. The reference to "scary ghost stories" in the song "Most Wonderful Time of the Year" often leaves people confused. Isn't there just one Christmas ghost story? Well, actually no. Guida does mention that The Haunted Man was indeed presented in at least two stage plays in the ninteenth century, one of which featured a "flying ghost." But sadly, the plays themselves no longer exist. One may hope that this and others of Dickens' Christmas tales may some day reach the screen.

All in all, a fantastic volume for Christmas Carol fans and well worth the reading.

Peter David's Artful

                                 
                                     




                                       

There have been numerous pastiches of Oliver Twist since it was first written. They are all rather obscure, but since Twist is probably Dickens' second most popular novel, quite a number of them do exist. The first I knew of was The Further Adventures of Oliver Twist , novel by David Butler, based on a TV serial shown only in the UK back in 1980. I finally read this when I purchased on ald paper back copy on ebay--not bad for a sequal, in spite a few inconsistancies. There was also Oliver and the Artful Dodger, a Hanna Barbera cartoon production shown on the ABC Superstar Movie, a Saturday morning series which featured different, often innovative cartoons by Hanna Barbera and Warner Brothers, back in 1972. Then there was the far more recent Escape Of The Artful Dodger, another Tv serial, this one shown on Australian televsion. There is also Dodge and Twist, by Tony Lee, and a proposed film with a different plot but the same title. Virtually every one I've come accross, with the possible exception of Oliver Twist Investigates by G. M. Best, features Jack Dawkins, aka The Artful Dodger, as a central character.

Then there are even a few works that focus that simply ditch Oliver altogather, and focus entirely on the more charismatic Dodger. There is Artful: The Dodger Down Under, by Martin Lake, following Dodger's adventures en route to the colonies and in Australia,and the more recent Dodge, by Terry Prachet, which appears to feature a facsimle Dodger character rather than the Artful himself. That brings us to the Artful by Peter David, and published early this year,  which focuses on the actual Dodger and his adventures upon escaping from the cololony ship and returing to the London streets. While certainly owing its existence to Oliver Twist, this is not a straight Oliver Twist pastiche, more like a spin-off. It should best be considered an Artful Dodger pastiche. It is also the first pastiche I'm aware that literally makes a case Dodger as the most intrigueing character compared to Oliver. The author makes this claim both in the blurb, and in the introduction to the novel itself.

One point the author makes here, one which I'd in fact really like to disagree with is, is that Oliver, even during his shinging moment of heroism whien he so defiantly asked for more gruel was essentially passive. Why can't I disagree? Becuase, as the author points out, in the original novel, the boys drew straws, and poor Oliver lost. I grew up on the the movie version in which Oliver heroically asks form more gruel for another starving boy. That truly is a shining moment of heroism, especially if you happen to be starving yourself--in the movie, at least. In the book, not so much. David does give Oliver credit, however, for bloodying Noah Claypole's nose, one incident, at least, in which Dickens allowed Oliver to take an active role.

David goes on to make another, darker, case regarding Dickens novel, namely that vampires were abroad on the streets  of Victorian London, but Dickens found them too disturbing to write abroad so he concealed this fact from his readers. Dickens did indeed steer clear from inclduing the supernatural, with the notable exception of his ghost stories---though there are some incidents throughout Dickesn that leave one wondering. David argues, with some validity, that certain points in Oliver Twist suggest that Fagin may well have been a member of the undead. Think about it, he always keeps to the shadows, is described as having rat-like fangs, etc. Yep, makes sense. It also gives the author a way to bring the old scoundrel back--after all, what would the gallows mean to a vampire? We also learn about Fagin's background, and exactly how it happened--an incident which seems to involve a certain Tranylvanian Count. The other suspected vampire form the original is police magisgrate Fang, orignally a minor villian who tries to sentence Oliver for stealing a book, and later sentences Dodger to deportation. I couldn't initially picture the slovenly, drunken magistrate I remmebered from the 1982 film version as a vampiric creature of the night, but David manages to make him a terrifying villain nonetheless, and very difficult adversary for Dodger.

We also learn quite a few things about the Artful's past and upbringing here, including the horrific and violent death of his mother. We learn the circumstances of how Fagin found and took him in, serving as a surrogate father figure. The novel also has Dodger eventually learning a secret regarding Fagin's past and his own which creates a rift between the old comrades. Later in the novel, there is incident in which Fagin considers their score settled, but Dodger refuses to forgive his former mentor. That's not, in my opinion at least, a highmark for Dodger's character, but it's a very human reaction nonetheless, so this Dodger manages to be dimensional as well as heroic.

The author gives his character plenty of opportunity for heroism throughout, inculding his rescue of (who he thinks is)a street girl from a drunken ruffian. The rescued girl turns out to be someone very important in connection to an enormous plot by the vampiric denizens of London to usurp the empire. The plot of this kind of reminds me of Wesley Snipes' comment in the movie version of Blade regarding vampiric control of New York: the world you live in uis merely the sugar-coated topic." It was that way back in Victorian London, as well, it seems. The fact that Mr. David is a famous writer for comics may not a coindence regarding his invention of a vampire infested Victorian age. It is also worth mentioning that this is not a straight Dickens pastiche; a good measure of Stoker and even Conan Doyle are in the mix as well, what with both the young Abraham Van Helsing and the Baker Steet irregulars getting involved. Note: Wiggings, the leader of the Irregulars, is featured here, but the author makes it plain that the leader of the Irregulars, which changes every several years, always assumes the name of Wiggins, as this tale takes place decades before the time of Sherlock Holmes. There is even a tie-in and explanation for the origins of the infamous paranormal rogue Spring-Heeled Jack and (just possibly) Jack the Ripper

 Artful is certainly a thrill-ride from start to finish, just as the author promises. But how is it as a Dickens' pastiche? Well, the Dickens characters are all representated accurately enough, provided the reader can accept the vampiric elements throughout, though there is one very slight exception. Oliver Twist himself has a couple of cameos in the novel, first near the beginning when the recently escaped Dodger glimpses him in a coach with Mr. Brownlow, and later when Dodger and VanHelsing arrive at Brownlow's posh estate to explain their predicement and warn of the vampiric threat. It is made fairly clear during this scene that Brownlow, while protrayed as basically decent, is a bit prejudiced toward these lower class ruffians, and wanting Oliver to have anything to do with them, not even telling Oliver who had was who had visited. In other words, David makes Brownlow a bit of a class snob, which means that he is--well, slightly off character. However, this is by no means as dreadful as a certain Oliver Twist play I am aware of that literally makes Brownblow into a villain--but I digress.

Artful, is, as said, an exciting read, and I'm wondering, perhaps, if a comic version might some day be in the works. Not likely, but a possibility since, David is, after all, in the comics field. If that ever happens, I hope that they get Berni Wrightson to illustrate it. I can just see some marvelous Wristson artwork for the scene where Dodger and Van Helsing enter a canrival "Cabinet of Horrors" featuring all sorts of stuffed monstosities. Take a look at some fo the stuff Wrightson has done for his ongoing Frankenstein Alive Alive! series, if you don't beleive me.