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I think there was some polemic at the time concerning anti-semitism. Apparently, David Lean and Guinness wanted to render the character as similar as possible to the original novel and illustrations.

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Interestingly, Dickens somewhat regretted having created such an anti-semitic character, and in "Our Mutual Friend" there are some positive Jewish characters. Maybe that had also something to with Disraeli coming into power and making Judaism more acceptable.