The story of a young man struggling to make his way in a brutal, heartless world in which light eventually triumphs over darkness and consideration for others wins out over self-serving avarice, this excellent adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby (the first sound version of the story) has been unfairly overshadowed by David Lean's celebrated contemporaneous Dickens films. An "Ealing noir," skillfully adapted by John Dighton and imbued with a pervasive atmosphere of chilly menace by director Alberto Cavalcanti, the film is presided over by the brooding presence of Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Ralph Nickleby.