Director: George Cukor
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Top Billed Actors: Freddie Bartholomew, Frank Lawton, Edna May Oliver
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 3 more:
Outstanding Production - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Best Film Editing - Robert J. Kern
Best Assistant Director - Joseph M. Newman
Plot: We observe the personal history and adventures of David Copperfield the Younger as he experiences them.
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Top Billed Actors: Freddie Bartholomew, Frank Lawton, Edna May Oliver
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 3 more:
Outstanding Production - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Best Film Editing - Robert J. Kern
Best Assistant Director - Joseph M. Newman
Plot: We observe the personal history and adventures of David Copperfield the Younger as he experiences them.
David Copperfield (1935), or as it is known by its original title, The Personal History, Adventures, Experience & Observation of David Copperfield the Younger is a special story to David O. Selznick, the famous movie producer. Mr. Selznick's father learned English from the classic Charles Dickens novel and it became his favorite story throughout his life. The amount of justice that he wanted to see in this adaptation can be seen from the stories of him fighting Louis B. Mayer's wishes to cast Jackie Cooper as the younger David. Selznick thought, and rightfully so, that Cooper would be much too American for this role. An extensive casting search was made and an inexperienced Freddie Bartholomew, a Brit, emerged as the lead role for the first half of this film. The character of Mr. Micawber also has an interesting story behind its casting. Charles Laughton, the Best Actor winner two years previous, originally played the role. He did not like his performance in the dailies throughout the first couple of days filming and revered comedian, W.C. Fields took over. This is said to be the only role that Fields did not ad lib. This is due to Fields having so much respect for the story (he was a Dickens scholar himself). Criticism was in abundance at the time of the film's release due to Field's American accent in the role. This film is also considered a staple in many countries during Christmas time.
The sheer amount of respect that the producer and one of the lead actors had for the source material in the two anecdotes above shows just how great anything coming out of Dickens' head is. Two of my personal favorite stories of all time are also penned by Dickens, Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol. I have never read David Copperfield but it appears the filmmakers get it right here. The development of the characters in David's boyhood is very well paced and it is rewarding to see how they all grow by the end of the movie. It is perplexing that this did not at least get a nomination for Adapted Screenplay. The music is also integrated to a much better degree than most movies at this time. The editing of the scene in which Batholomew is walking to his aunt's house is superb. It really feels like the viewer is right there with the young Copperfield and the music really sets the foreboding tone of that place in the story.
There are a couple of moments that does hinder the film. The pacing in the final act of the movie is very odd. The scenes become shorter and the impact moments become larger. It almost feels like a slideshow of major events in Copperfield's life. The acting by Bartholomew is also all over the place. He does very well in some scenes, especially for an eleven year old who has never filmed in America before. At other times, his outbursts are just oddly placed and seem very unnatural. A lot of it can be attributable to the editing (which was nominated for an Oscar by the way). There are certain sequences that inserts an angle that just shows Bartholomew giving a short monologue. This creates poor cinematography and takes the viewer out of the interaction between the characters on screen.
Overall, the result of the development of characters in the first half of the film is fun to see in the latter half. The uneven pacing and strange editing techniques for the child actor's dialogue dampens the film slightly.
My Score: 7/10
The sheer amount of respect that the producer and one of the lead actors had for the source material in the two anecdotes above shows just how great anything coming out of Dickens' head is. Two of my personal favorite stories of all time are also penned by Dickens, Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol. I have never read David Copperfield but it appears the filmmakers get it right here. The development of the characters in David's boyhood is very well paced and it is rewarding to see how they all grow by the end of the movie. It is perplexing that this did not at least get a nomination for Adapted Screenplay. The music is also integrated to a much better degree than most movies at this time. The editing of the scene in which Batholomew is walking to his aunt's house is superb. It really feels like the viewer is right there with the young Copperfield and the music really sets the foreboding tone of that place in the story.
There are a couple of moments that does hinder the film. The pacing in the final act of the movie is very odd. The scenes become shorter and the impact moments become larger. It almost feels like a slideshow of major events in Copperfield's life. The acting by Bartholomew is also all over the place. He does very well in some scenes, especially for an eleven year old who has never filmed in America before. At other times, his outbursts are just oddly placed and seem very unnatural. A lot of it can be attributable to the editing (which was nominated for an Oscar by the way). There are certain sequences that inserts an angle that just shows Bartholomew giving a short monologue. This creates poor cinematography and takes the viewer out of the interaction between the characters on screen.
Overall, the result of the development of characters in the first half of the film is fun to see in the latter half. The uneven pacing and strange editing techniques for the child actor's dialogue dampens the film slightly.
My Score: 7/10