Little Dorrit

Charles Dickens’ novel of the same name, published between 1855 and 1857, is the basis for this upbeat costume film. At the heart of the film is the Dorrit family: Honorable merchant William Dorrit ends up in a debtors’ prison after falling prey to intrigue, leaving his three adult children to make their way through life to a more or less precarious extent. The tide turns when Arthur Clennam appears on the scene. The film was made in the early days of the National Socialist dictatorship, a time when a positive image of England was still permissible on the big screen. Anny Ondra, who plays Amy Dorrit with girlish liveliness, was a European film star of the 1920s and 1930s. Having grown up in Prague, she then collaborated closely with Czech director Carl Lamač and co-founded a film company with him in Germany in 1930. When she married the boxing champion, Max Schmeling, the couple became a celebrity duo of their time.