The Dickensblog Unofficial Best-of List

This list was inspired by a post at Elizabethan. Lilie, the blogger over there, based her list on a bunch of Austen, Gaskell, and Brontë adaptations, while I, for obvious reasons, am doing an all-Dickens list.

Did I miss any categories? If so, add them (with your nominees) in the comments section! And note that these are only from the adaptations I'm familiar with, so feel free to suggest other nominees from whichever adaptations you want for my categories as well.

Click below to find the list, with screencaps and occasional remarks.

Best Evil Smile

  3. Burn Gorman as Guppy in Bleak House

2. Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer Scrooge in Mickey's Christmas Carol

1. Frank McCusker as Uriah Heep in David Copperfield

Best Swoon

3. Sophie Vavasseur as Little Nell in The Old Curiosity Shop

2. Serena Gordon as Lucie in A Tale of Two Cities

1. Claire Foy as Amy Dorrit in Little Dorrit

While all three of our winners in this category were world-class fainters, Amy moved out in front of the crowd by managing to get her first embrace from the man of her dreams out of it. (So she wasn't awake to enjoy it: minor detail.) Ladies, take note: Unconsciousness has its uses.

Pluckiest Orphan

3. Mark Lester as Oliver Twist in Oliver!

2.Charlene McKenna as the Marchioness in The Old Curiosity Shop

1. A tie: Katie Angelou as Charley in Bleak House and Jack Wild as the Artful Dodger in Oliver!

Scariest Lady

3. Judy Parfitt as Mrs. Clennam in Little Dorrit

How scary can a woman be who can barely even move, you might be asking. But consider this: Her son thought seriously about going to a hotel instead of going home after twenty years away. Now that's scary.

2. Jean Simmons as Miss Havisham in Great Expectations

3. Rosalie Crutchley as Madame Defarge in A Tale of Two Cities

It was hard to pick just one Madame Defarge; all four that I've seen were really good. (I might even say scary good.) However, after some consideration, I picked Crutchley as the one I'd least like to run into in a dark alley. She was just that tiny bit more unhinged than the others.

Honorable Mention: Annette Crosbie as Mr. F's Aunt in Little Dorrit

As I said when I reviewed the film, if I'd been Arthur, I would have had to eat the crust.

Best Longing Gaze

3. Jamie Bell as Smike in Nicholas Nickleby

2. Steven Mackintosh as John in Our Mutual Friend

1. Claire Foy as Amy Dorrit in Little Dorrit

Best Performance by an Animal

3. Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit in The Muppet Christmas Carol

2. Gonzo as Charles Dickens in The Muppet Christmas Carol

It's true that Gonzo is less of an animal and more of a . . . whatever. It's also true that he plays, not a Dickens character, but Dickens himself ("a blue furry Charles Dickens who hangs out with a rat," no less). All the same, it was a very nice performance.

1. Goofy as Marley's Ghost in Mickey's Christmas Carol

Comments

[Lilie]

LOVE it! I definitely know how labor-intensive these best-of's are to put together, so well done! And very nice choice of categories :) Clearly I need to branch out from Austen and watch some Dickens now.

[Gina]

Thank you so much! And thank you for the idea. It WAS labor-intensive, but it was also great fun.

[Christy]

Were they all your ideas, or did they get voted on somewhere?

I simply can't agree with poor old Guppy having an evil smile. But I heartily agree with the Uriah Heep one, and the Rosalie Hutchley one, and all the Little Dorrit ones, and I definitely vote for Charley as pluckiest orphan.

[Gina]

Just me! If enough of you come up with categories and nominees that you like, though, maybe we can do a "Reader's Choice" post one of these days.

[Nina]

Ooh, much fun, Gina! Though I think Guppy has more of just an ugly lover's smile than an evil one. :P

[Nina]

What about worst casting choice? The two I have are:
- Cieran McMenamin as David Copperfield
- Katy Murphy as a (far too old) Jenny Wren
- Simon Callow as Mr. Micawber

Any others? :P

[Gina]

Good category. I would add Derek Jacobi as Arthur Clennam (although I think Holly would disagree. Sorry, Holly!). From what I've seen so far, his acting was very good, but like Katy Murphy, he was too old for the part.

[Nina]

We need a "Most Formidable Bonnet" category. :D

[Selenia]

I love this! I love the images you used, and I loved seeing Scrooge from Mickey's Christmas Carol! Your choices are wonderful, #1 for Best Evil Smile especially!

[Holly]

Awesome! Though I think Denis Lawson could have swept the longing gazes category for just about any of his glances at Esther in BH2005 ;).

[Holly]

And re the Derek Jacobi crack, I acknowledge your decision and accept it. Definitely an acquired taste, but there was a fairly considerable age-gap in the book. I can't remember exactly how many years, but I remember thinking that Matthew MacFadyen was way too young.

Maybe we just need a "Best May/December Romance" category? Haha!

[Gina]

Eighteen years. You're right, MM and DJ were both wrong, age-wise. But MM was a *little* closer, I think. Arthur is supposed to be a young-looking forty; Jacobi was fifty and for some reason looked much older.

It's true, Lawson would have been a good choice for longing gaze!

[David]

I wouldn't mind seeing a "Best May/December Romance" category, although I think the list of possible nominees is a little thin. I can't think of any worthy couples other than Arthur Clennam/Amy Dorrit, Dr. Strong/Annie and John Jarndyce/Esther Summerson. But the advantage is that those three are all extremely strong. I personally would probably vote for Dr. Strong and Annie because of the extremely large age difference - and the lesson David learns from them that the obvious reasons you might want to marry a young and beautiful wife are not the same qualities that are necessary to make for a successful marriage.

[David]

I guess Thomas Pinch and Mary Graham might also be considered a May/December romance. But I think Tom Pinch was described as being around 35, so the difference in age wasn't that dramatic. But Tom Pinch and John Jarndyce are both humble enough to cheerfully stand aside when it became obvious that the object of their love preferred somebody else.