The Tale of Sweeney Todd character of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, originated in an 1846–47 penny dreadful entitled "The String of Pearls". In 1847, George Dibdin Pitt adapted the story for a stage melodrama. A directed by George King was the first screen version. Christopher Bond's 1973 stage adaptation was musicalized by Stephen Sondheim in 1979. Schlesinger's film is a dramatic departure from the previous narratives. It dispenses with all the characters except Todd and Lovett, adds the plotline involving the missing diamonds, and offers a completely different reason for Todd's murder spree. The Victorian era locales were filmed in Dublin,
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Stephen Sondheim believes that "Sweeney Todd" is a story of revenge and how it consumes a vengeful person. He has asserted, "…what the show is really about is obsession." Unlike most previous representations of the story, the musical avoids a simplistic view of devilish crimes. Instead, the characters’ “emotional and psychological depths” are examined, so that Sweeney Todd is understood as a victim as well as a perpetrator in the ‘great black pit’ of humanity. Sondheim's score is one of his most complex, with orchestrations by his long-time collaborator Jonathan