Little Dorrit (Nobody's Fault) (Little Dorrit's Story) ...

Alec Guinness, Derek Jacobi, Cyril Cusack, Sarah Pickering, Joan Greenwood ... see more  , Max Wall , Amelda Brown , Daniel Chatto , Miriam Margolyes , Bill Fraser , Roshan Seth , Roger Hammond , Sophie Ward , John Savident , Edward Burnham , Eleanor Bron , Michael Elphick , Robert Morley , Alan Bennett , Celia Bannerman , Anthony Benson , Donald Bisset , Moya Brady , Ronnie Brody , Joanna Brookes , Brenda Bruce , Gerald Campion , David Cardy , Jonathan Cecil , Richard Clifford , Arthur Cox , Rosalie Crutchley , Leon Davis , Alison Dowling , David F. Doyle , Luke Duckett , Susan Field , Ian Gelder , Howard Goorney , Billy Gray , Arthur Hewlett , Alfred Hoffman , Ian Hogg , Harold Innocent , Johnny Irving , Tony Jay , Edward Jewesbury , Julia Lang , John Levitt , Ian Lindsay , Leonard Maguire , Betty Marsden , John Scott Martin , Mollie Maureen , John McEnery , Murray Melvin , Gerald Perreau-Saissine , Imogen Millais Scott , Malcolm Mudie , Brian Pettifer , Pierre Olivier Bardet , David Pugh , Paul Rhys , Eric Richard , Danny Schiller , Ruth Sheen , Tusse Silberg , Liz Smith , Marcel Steiner , David Stoll , David Thewlis , John Tordoff , Pip Torrens , David Trevena , John Warner , Harry Webster , Christopher Whittingham , Heathcote Williams , Elijah Wood , Mark Arnold , Stuart Burge , John Harding , Patricia Hayes , Mark "Flex" Knox , Charles Reynolds , Dermot Crowley , Eric Francis , Kate Williams , Malcolm Tierney , Ron Russell , Elizabeth Archer , Sally Ashby , John Atkinson , David Bale , Morwenna Banks , Charlie Bartle , Fred Beauman , Amanda Bellamy , Odette Bennett , Katherine Best , Christopher Birch , Sophie Brew , Alan Bungay , Mike Carnel , Sarrina Caruthers , Ricky Cave , Nadia Chambers , Dawn Charatan , Johnny Clayton , Terence Connolly , Laura Cox , James Coyle , Janice Cramer , Harry Cross , Richard Cubison , Yvonee D'Alpra , Joan Dainty , John Dalby , Chris Darwin , Terry Day , Robert Demeger , Cordelia Ditton , Simon Dormandy , Michael Eaves , Jackie Ekers , Maurice Elliot , Beth Ellis , Cyril Epstein , John Fahey , Alan Foss , Cate Fowler , Lee Fox , David Foxxe , Irene Frederick , Jenny Galloway , Jack Gittings , Richard Graden , Seymour Green , John Halstead , Rebecca Ham , Christopher Hancock , Richard Henry Dana Jr. , Anthea Holloway , Gwenda Hughes , Charles Hunter Walsh , Joanna Hurley , Steve Ismay , Darlene Johnson , Sidney Johnson , Arthur Kelly , Judy Laister , Nadine Large , Stanley Lloyd , Doris Littlewood , Fiona MacAlpine , Diana Malin , Ramon Martino , Joanna Maude , Amanda Maxwell , Tom McCabe , Lizzie McKenzie , Michael Mears , Robin Meredith , Marilyn Milgrom , Robert Mill , Ruth Mitchell , Ken Morley , Shona Morris , Patricia Napier , Siobhan Nicholas , Guy Nicholls , Arthur Nightingale , Sandra O'Rourke , Giles Oldershaw , Bernard Padden , Diana Paris , Barbara Peak , Nat Pearn , Donald Pelmear , Stewart Permutt , Brian Poyser , Robert Putt , John Quarmby , Pauline Quirke , Trevor Ray , Doug Roe , Iris Sadler , Lin Sagovsky , Cazz Scattergood , Graham Seed , Tommy Shand , Frank Shelley , Rosemary Smith , Marjorie Somerville , Kathy Staff , Joan Stafford , Sam Steer , Richard Stirling , Carol Street , Rita Triesman , Betty Turner , Peter Waddington , Alec Wallis , Jo Warne , Anna Whittingham , Eve Whittingham , Harry Whittingham , David Whitworth , Tracey Wilkinson , Tim Wright , Charles Simon , Arthur Blake

Little Dorrit was intended as the cinematic equivalent to the mammoth, eight-hour Royal Shakespeare Company's staging of Charles Dickens' Nicholas Nickelby. The film was released to theaters in two pa... read more rts, each running approximately three hours. The first part, subtitled "Nobody's Fault," introduced us to the seamstress title character (Sarah Pickering), who chooses to live in debtor's prison with her father (Alec Guinness). Good Samaritan Arthur Clennam (Derek Jacobi) endeavors to help both father and daughter. The second part, also known as "Little Dorrit's Story," details Dorrit's escape from penury to lasting happiness. Eschewing the usual 19th century-style British music often heard in Dickensian adaptations, director Christine Edzard creatively -- and effectively -- opts for the strains of Giuseppe Verdi. Edzard's eye for period detail is also deserving of unbounded praise. Unfortunately, part two of Little Dorrit spends nearly half of its running time recapping part one, utilizing much of the same footage. For those familiar with "Nobody's Fault," "Little Dorrit's Story" is more a redundancy than a continuation. Still, taken together, parts one and two all fully deserving of the enthusiastic critical commentary that greeted them upon their original release -- not to mention the multiple Academy Award nominations bestowed upon the project and its participants. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi