Martin Chuzzlewit

Martin Chuzzlewit

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Editorial Reviews

Martin Chuzzlewit is an old man with a large fortune and an even larger set of family and friends. A portrait of greed and selfishness, this magnificent adaptation of Dickens' comic masterpiece features an all-star cast.

Greed, selfishness, and hypocrisy drive another rollicking story from Charles Dickens. Martin Chuzzlewit features two Martin Chuzzlewits: An elderly and extremely wealthy one (the magnificent Paul Scofield, A Man for All Seasons), who loathes the sleazy, grasping relatives that hope to profit from his death; and his grandson (Ben Walden), a well-intentioned but self-absorbed young man who has fallen in love with his grandfather's ward, Mary Graham (Pauline Turner)--and because the elder Martin disapproves, the younger Martin has been disowned. In the gap between these two are a host of schemers, crooks, and even one or two good people--but at the center of it all is the pompous and oily Seth Pecksniff (Tom Wilkinson, In the Bedroom, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), whose manipulations and lechery make him one of Dicken's most memorable villains. Whirling in his orbit are the goodhearted but ineffectual Tom Pinch (Philip Franks); the brutish Jonas Chuzzlewit (Keith Allen); Pecksniff's daughters, the "volatile hummingbird" Mercy (Julia Sawalha, Absolutely Fabulous) and the bitter, overlooked Charity (Emma Chambers, The Vicar of Dibley); and a host of other vivid Dickensian creations, all given juice and vitality by dozens of outstanding British actors, anchored by Scofield's magisterial presence. Because of his characters' outsized personalities and his plots' wild reversals of fortune, Dickens is ideally suited to dramatization, and Martin Chuzzlewit takes full advantage of his strengths. Lurid events like murder and blackmail contrast with rich psychological portraits, making Martin Chuzzlewit an opulent narrative feast. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Outstanding and enriching entertainment

Reviewed by Bruce A. F. Polsky, 2010-01-19

Another of a series of outstanding adaptations of 19th century British literary classics! The performances were stellar, and the sets and depiction of London authentic. Of particular merit was the colorful work of actors Pete Postlethwaite as Montague Tigg, Philip Franks as Tom Pinch, and Tom Wilkinson as Seth Pecksniff. All in all, a thoroughly entertaining and enriching production and well worth every minute of it.

The Fascinating Chuzzlewits

Reviewed by Peter C. Morrison, 2009-11-03

Dickens novels are replete with dialogue whereby, with pronunciation-spelling, linguistic quirks, and the expression of authentic feelings, the master is able to dilineate character and raise in the reader feelings of pity, sympathy, hatred, or any number of the more subtle emotions. Adaptations of Dickens' novels have, therefore, most, if not all, of their dialogue ready-made for them. The task for the script-writer and director is simply to select passages and to cast appropriately. The BBC series of Dickens' novels is miraculously expert at preserving the spirit of the dialogue and casting people who are uncannily right for the characters.

The BBC adaptation of Martin Chuzzlewit, with Paul Scofied and Tom Wilkinson, among many many other capable actors, is no exception to the above. Scofield plays the two Chuzzlewit brothers with seeming ease, separating one distinct personality from the other. Wilkinson embodies the grasping, lecherous, hypocritically religious Pecksniff with commendable subtlety and restraint, making the character all the more despicable. One could go on and on, citing one actor after another. Suffice it to say that no one is miscast or fails to gives us what we might have heard and pictured when reading the novel.

By all means, read the novel first, for no dramatization, however expert, can capture Dickens' magnificent descriptive powers, which often reach Shakespearean heights. However, after the long reads that Martin Chuzzlewit, or Barnaby Rudge, or Dombey and Son represent, you should not fail to enjoy the remarkable translations of these novels to the screen by the incomparable BBC.

2-minute scene stretched to 6-hours.

Reviewed by Reliable Reviews Too, 2009-10-04


A story about relatives scheming for the inheritance of a wealthy old man who is about to die. That summarizes this film completely. Could be an interesting 2-minute scene, but not a 2-hour movie, much less this 6-hour movie.

Other than having no plot; this film is technically proficient in casting, acting, costumes, sets, lighting, and such. The dialogue is pleasant and constantly gives you the impression that something is about to happen, though nothing ever does for the entire 6-hours. Thus, it is possible to be led pleasantly along for the entire 6-hour film; after which, you are unwilling to admit you have been duped by the writer of other novels that were interesting, colorful, and entertaining; and so you write a glowing but unsupported 5-star review. Charles Dickens wrote some brilliant novels, but this is not one of them. This novel was unpopular when he wrote it, and has not been improved. My only other explanation for the 5-star reviews written mostly by women; is this is a chick-flick, and I am not a chick.

The fact that Charles Dickens despises the good American people of the 1800's in this novel; shows Mr. Dickens was of a confused mindset from the start, and gave rise to the phrase, "You little Dickens".

I recommend instead the better period films: 1994-version of Charles Dickens' "Old Curiosity Shop" with Peter Ustinov, or George Eliot's "Silas Marner", or: "Middlemarch", "Wives and Daughters", "Under the Greenwood Tree", "North and South", "Oliver Twist", "A Christmas Carol-1951-version with Alistar Sim", "David Copperfield", "Bleak-House-1985-version", "Pride and Prejudice 1996 & 1940", "Wurthering Heights 1936" (I haven't seen the other versions of "Wurthering Heights", "Pollyanna 2004-version", "Nicholas Nickleby", "Road to Avonlea seasons 1-6", "Anne of Green Gables", and "Anne of Avonlea"

Great characterizations

Reviewed by K. Lewis, 2009-07-18

Thoroughly enjoyable all the way through. We saw it over several nights and it was hard to stop. Perfect Dickens portrayal.

Martin Chuzzlewit

Reviewed by Roberta Hughes, 2009-05-08

A little slow moving, at first, but turned out to be one of the best miniseries I've seen, & an illustrated reminder, of the fact that Charles Dickens was one of the best writers of his day, inventing deep, colorful characters, with memorable names, & storylines that interweave them, one & all, into a very entertaining British quilt.
No bad actors, here!