Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936)

Director:

John Cromwell

Writers:

Frances Hodgson Burnett (novel)
Hugh Walpole (writer)

Release Date:

2 April 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family

Plot:

An American boy turns out to be the long-lost heir of a British fortune. He is sent to live with the cold and unsentimental lord who oversees the trust.

Plot Keywords:

Lord | Heir | England | Disowned | Brooklyn New York City

Cast

Freddie Bartholomew	...	Cedric 'Ceddie' Erroll
Dolores Costello	...	'Dearest' Erroll (as Dolores Costello Barrymore)
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Earl of Dorincourt
Guy Kibbee	...	Mr. Silas Hobbs
Henry Stephenson	...	Havisham
Mickey Rooney	...	Dick Tipton
Constance Collier	...	Lady Constanzia Lorridale
E.E. Clive	...	Sir Harry Lorridale
Una O'Connor	...	Mary
Jackie Searl	...	Tom Tipton
Jessie Ralph	...	The Applewoman
Ivan F. Simpson	...	Rev. Mordaunt
Helen Flint	...	Minna Tipton
Eric Alden	...	Ben Tipton
May Beatty	...	Mrs. Mellon the Housekeeper

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (RCA Victor High Fidelity System)

Certification:

Finland:S

Company:

Selznick International Pictures

Trivia:

Due to the demise of Selznick International Productions, this movie is now in the public domain.

Quotes:

Cedric "Ceddie" Erroll: You don't wear your coronet all the time?
Earl of Dorincourt: No, it does not become me.
Cedric "Ceddie" Erroll: Mr. Hobbs said you always wore it, but after he thought it over, he said he supposed you must sometimes take it off to put your hat on.
Earl of Dorincourt: Yes, I take it off occasionally.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Club Dread (2004)

Exquisite!

They just don't make 'em like this anymore. You can take all your Culkins and Woods and Osments and roll them into one, and they still couldn't shine the shoes of Freddie Bartholemew (as Mickey Rooney does in this film). The difference, I believe, is that these contemporary performers think of themselves as CHILD actors, where Bartholemew and his contemporary Shirley Temple thought of themselves as ACTORS -- just as Rooney's character thought of himself as a BUSINESSMAN. The effect is palpable: you just can't fake being a real person. This of course is the familiar story of an American boy in the 1880's who learns he is the heir to an English earl and must go live with the old bloke, who parenthetically hates his mother, in an old castle. Needless to say, it is the earl who is transformed by the strength and purity of the boy's character, and not the intended reverse. Every scene and every line in this film is perfect, and if it is a "period piece," then I say we'd be so much better off if we could return to that "period."