Dickensblog

'Twist' coming to the U.S.

Although its reception in the U.K. wasn't particularly warm, the new film Twist is nonetheless making its way over here, with a theatrical and digital release set for July 30. Flickering Myth has a new trailer and poster. 

'Spirited' getting ready to film

The Will Ferrell-Ryan Reynolds version of A Christmas Carol, now titled Spirited, will start filming next month in Braintree, Massachusetts. Reynolds will play Scrooge, Ferrell will be the Ghost of Christmas Present, and Octavia Spencer is on board to play the Bob Cratchit role. Sean Anders (Instant Family, Daddy's Home) will direct.

Flowers for Dickens

Today, on the 151st anniversary of Dickens's death, Lucinda Hawksley tweeted out pictures (here, here, and here) of the beautiful wreaths placed on her great-great-great-grandfather's grave. One is from the Dickens Fellowship, the other -- made with Dickens's favorite flower, the scarlet geranium -- from the children of Gad's Hill School. 

As John Forster wrote of Dickens's funeral, "Then, later in the day and all the following day, came unbidden mourners in such crowds, that the Dean had to request permission to keep open the grave until Thursday; but after it was closed they did not cease to come . . . . He alluded to this in the impressive funeral discourse delivered by him in the Abbey on the morning of Sunday the 19th, pointing to the fresh flowers that then had been newly thrown (as they still are thrown, in this the fourth year after his death), and saying that 'the spot would thenceforward be a sacred one with both the New World and the Old, as that of the representative of the literature, not of this island only, but of all who speak our English tongue.'"

Dickens tributes coming in

In honor of the 151st anniversary of Dickens's death on June 9, a wreath was laid on his grave today -- a day early, "so as not to clash with the Abbey's use as a temporary vaccination centre," according to the Dickens Museum. Meanwhile, a bouquet of roses was left near his home in Rochester.

Gerald Dickens on the Staplehurst train crash

Gerald Dickens is joining the family novel-writing business! He's working on a novel about the train crash that nearly killed his great-great-grandfather, and will be giving a talk about it on June 9, the anniversary of the crash, at Revelation Ashford in Kent. More information is here, and tickets for the talk are available here.

Dickens Museum reopens tomorrow

And Dickens descendant Lucinda Hawksley will be there signing her books! Hope some of you Londoners can make it! 

More fireside reading

More than a year ago, actor Gildart Jackson began reading Great Expectations aloud as a nightly treat for all of us stuck at home during the lockdowns. He's been reading from various other classics ever since, and I'm happy to say that he's now gotten back around to Dickens! A reading of David Copperfield began on Saturday night, and I'm now listening to chapter 3 as I type. He's doing, as always, a beautiful job with it. You can hear Jackson read live every night at 8 p.m. Eastern at @firesidereading, and catch up with chapters you've missed at his YouTube channel.

Dickens/Hogarth lockets on display

A pair of lockets exchanged by Charles Dickens and sister-in-law Mary Hogarth are now on display at the Dickens Museum. Follow the link to read the details and see a picture! Thanks to Tai French for the tip.

'Dodger' casting news

CBBC, the BBC's children's channel, is going ahead with its Oliver Twist prequel series, with Christopher Eccleston starring as Fagin, Billy Jenkins as the titular Dodger, Saira Choudhry as Nancy, and David Threlfall as the chief of police. More information, including a photo of Jenkins as Dodger, is here and here. 

TCM alert

Oliver! is on again today at 1 p.m. Eastern.