Rent David Copperfield (1935)
3.8 of 5 from 57 ratings
2h 4min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
"We are friends for life". The man speaking: Micawber, played by W.C. Fields with great comedic charm and human warmth. The child addressed: David, played by Freddie Bartholomew in his Hollywood debut. The movie: David Copperfield, still one of the best-ever screen adaptations of a Charles Dickens novel. "To call the casting inspired is to underrate it", historian David Shipman wrote in his 'The Story of Cinema'. Lionel Barrymore, Edna May Oliver, Maureen O'Sullivan, Basil Rathbone and more joined Fields and Bartholomew in portraying the eccentrics, cads and loving family of this film directed by George Cukor. David O. Selznick produced, insisting on an attention to Dickensian detail that included matching the sets to the first edition's illustrations. The result: one of the greatest page-to-screen adaptations ever. - Actors:
- Freddie Bartholomew, Frank Lawton, Edna May Oliver, Elizabeth Allan, Jessie Ralph, Harry Beresford, Hugh Walpole, Basil Rathbone, Herbert Mundin, John Buckler, Fay Chaldecott, Una O'Connor, Lionel Barrymore, Violet Kemble Cooper, Elsa Lanchester, Jean Cadell, W.C. Fields, Lennox Pawle, Renee Gadd, Roland Young
- Directors:
- George Cukor
- Producers:
- David O. Selznick
- Writers:
- Charles Dickens, Hugh Walpole, Howard Estabrook, Lenore J. Coffee
- Others:
- Joseph Newman, Robert J. Kern
- Aka:
- The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, & Observation of David Copperfield the Younger
- Studio:
- Warner
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Children & Family, Classics, Drama, Music & Musicals, Romance
- Collections:
- All You Need to Know About Dump Month Movies, Cinema Paradiso's 2024 Centenary Club: Part 1, Paramount's Laughing Thirties, A Brief History of Film...
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Reviews (1) of David Copperfield
Dated but a definitive and wonderful masterpiece - David Copperfield review by RD
Dickens' characters were written with quite a deal of over-exaggerated traits, and so this film manages to do great justice to Dickens by choosing brilliant actors that encapsulate the essence of each character.
Even though the film is from 1935, the transfer is bright and crisp with pretty good sound considering it was only eight years after talkies were introduced.
It retells the story with fair accuracy and much of the original printed dialogue, with the main difference from the book being the condensing of scenes, as the book itself is extremely long.
WC Fields as Mr Micawber is a true delight, and the portrayal of Uriah Heep is as near perfect as I can imagine. The young Freddy Bartholomew brings a soft maturity to the role of the young Copperfield.
Although this is an old film (88 years old) with dated acting traits, the inspired nature of the story well told with such brilliant actors puts it in the must-see category of films.
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