David Copperfield (1935)
"The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, & Observation of David Copperfield the Younger" (original title)

When David's father dies, his mother remarries. His new stepfather Murdstone has a mean and cruel view on how to raise a child. When David's mother dies from grief, Murdstone sends David to... See full summary »

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

Charles Dickens (by), Hugh Walpole (adaptation),

Stars:

Edna May Oliver, Elizabeth Allan, Freddie Bartholomew

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Edna May Oliver	...	Aunt Betsey
Elizabeth Allan	...	Mrs. Copperfield
Jessie Ralph	...	Nurse Peggotty
Harry Beresford	...	Dr. Chillip
Freddie Bartholomew	...	David - the child
Hugh Walpole	...	The Vicar
Basil Rathbone	...	Mr. Murdstone
Herbert Mundin	...	Barkis
John Buckler	...	Ham
Fay Chaldecott	...	Little Em'ly - the Child
Una O'Connor	...	Mrs. Gummidge
Lionel Barrymore	...	Dan Peggotty
Violet Kemble Cooper	...	Jane Murdstone
Elsa Lanchester	...	Clickett
Jean Cadell	...	Mrs. Micawber

Storyline

When David's father dies, his mother remarries. His new stepfather Murdstone has a mean and cruel view on how to raise a child. When David's mother dies from grief, Murdstone sends David to London to work for a living. When David escapes to his aunt Betsey his life starts to get better.

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Plot Keywords:

aunt | stepfather | loss of mother | coming of age | boy | 

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Taglines:

Metro·Goldwyn·Mayer's Greatest Motion Picture

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 June 1935 (Argentina)

Also Known As:

David Copperfield

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

W.C. Fields shot his scenes in a fortnight. This is the only film he made in which he did not ad lib the script though some of his character's physical actions were improvised by the actor during filming.

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Goofs

Micawber, an Englishman, speaks with an American accent (see trivia).

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Quotes

Aunt Betsy Trotwood: Janet! Donkeys!

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Crazy Credits

Film opens with the last sentence of Charles Dickens's preface to the original edition: "Like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts, a favourite child, and his name is David Copperfield."

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Connections

Featured in That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)

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Soundtracks

"Auld Lang Syne"
(1788) (uncredited)
Traditional Scottish 17th century music
Lyrics by Robert Burns
Partially Sung a cappella by W.C. Fields twice
Played a few times in the score

User Reviews

Enjoyable Version of the Story, With a Very Good Cast

With a very good cast and a well-conceived adaptation of the novel, this version of "David Copperfield" is enjoyable in its own right, and it does a good job of preserving the most important themes of the original. The quirks and characteristics of most of the characters are captured effectively by the cast. Freddie Bartholomew is engaging in the title role, and the cast members as a whole work together and complement each other well.

It would be hard even to list all of the good performances. Edna May Oliver almost seems to have born to play Dickens's kind of strong-willed but caring female character. W.C. Fields is perhaps somewhat different from the novel's conception of Micawber, but he is quite entertaining, and he gets plenty of good lines. Characters like Uriah Heep, Mr. Dick, the Murdstones, and several others could have come straight from the novel. As the adult Copperfield, Frank Lawton is sometimes rather bland, but he is likable and is at least believable as Bartholomew's grown-up counterpart.

The story, of necessity, is episodic and moves quite quickly, usually including only the highlights of the narrative. But it does a very good job of this, making each sequence work well, and efficiently fitting each one into the story as a whole. George Cukor certainly deserves a good deal of credit for making it work and fit together so well. The settings, which are always important in a Dickens story, are also for the most part pretty good.

The original novel "David Copperfield" is such a fine classic of literature that no two-hour movie could be on quite the same level, but this version is quite enjoyable, and it does a very good job of depicting the atmosphere and most of the important events of the story.