David Copperfield (1935 film)

David Copperfield
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	George Cukor
Produced by	David O. Selznick
Written by	Novel: Charles Dickens Adaptation: Hugh Walpole Screenplay: Howard Estabrook Uncredited Lenore J. Coffee
Starring	W. C. Fields Lionel Barrymore Freddie Bartholomew Maureen O'Sullivan Basil Rathbone
Music by	Herbert Stothart William Axt
Cinematography	Oliver T. Marsh
Editing by	Robert Kern
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	January 18, 1935 (1935-01-18)
Running time	130 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1,073,000[1]
Box office	$1,621,000 (Domestic earnings)[1] $1,348,000 (Foreign earnings)[1]

The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, & Observation of David Copperfield the Younger (usually shortened to David Copperfield) is a 1935 American film based upon the Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield. A number of characters and incidents from the novel were omitted - notably David's time at Salem House boarding school.

The film was adapted by Hugh Walpole, Howard Estabrook and Lenore J. Coffee from the Dickens novel, and directed by George Cukor.

Cast (in order of appearance)

• Edna May Oliver as Aunt Betsey
• Elizabeth Allan as Clara Copperfield
• Jessie Ralph as Peggotty
• Freddie Bartholomew as David Copperfield as a boy
• Basil Rathbone as Edward Murdstone
• Lionel Barrymore as Dan'l Peggotty
• Una O'Connor as Mrs. Gummidge
• W. C. Fields as Mr. Micawber
• Lennox Pawle as Mr. Dick
• Frank Lawton as David Copperfield as a man
• Hugh Williams as James Steerforth
• Lewis Stone as Mr. Wickfield
• Madge Evans as Agnes
• Roland Young as Uriah Heep
• Maureen O'Sullivan as Dora
• Jean Cadell as Mrs. Micawber
• Elsa Lanchester as Clickett, Mr. Micawber's servant
• Herbert Mundin as Barkis
• Harry Beresford as Dr. Chillip
• Fay Chaldecott as Little Em'ly the child
• Florine McKinnye as Little Em'ly the woman
• Renee Gadd as Janet

Hugh Walpole, the screenplay writer, has a cameo role as the vicar. Arthur Treacher, after whom Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips is named, has a cameo as the man with the donkey who steals young David's money, forcing him to walk from London to Dover.

Fay Chaldecott (born 1928), who played Little Em'ly the child, is believed to be the last surviving member of the film's cast.

Production

David O. Selznick dearly wanted to film David Copperfield, as his Russian father Lewis J. Selznick had learned the English language through it, and read it to his sons every night.

Cedric Gibbons designed a recreation of 19th century London on the MGM backlot.^[2] The scenes set outside Aunt Betsey's house atop the white cliffs of Dover were filmed at Malibu. MGM even filmed the exterior of Canterbury Cathedral, which only appears in the film for less than a minute. Special effects, including many matte shots, were by Slavko Vorkapić.^[2]

Charles Laughton was originally cast in the role of Mr. Micawber, and was authentically made-up with a bald cap, since Dickens describes the character as hairless. After two days of work, he disliked his performance in the dailies and asked to be replaced.^[3] Selznick let him go, and Laughton recommended comedian and Dickens scholar W. C. Fields for the part, who was borrowed from Paramount Pictures. A clause in Fields' contract stated that he had to play the part with a British accent, but as he had difficulty learning the lines he had to read off cue cards and thus speaks in his own accent in the role. His defense: "My father was an Englishman and I inherited this accent from him! Are you trying to go against nature?!" This is the only film where Fields doesn't ad lib, and he plays the character in a straightforward manner (although he did want to add a juggling sequence, and when this was denied, an anecdote about snakes, which was also denied). Director George Cukor said that when Fields did make a suggestion for a visual bit, such as accidentally his dipping his quill in a teacup instead of an inkwell, it was always within the parameters of the character. The result was one of the finest performances of that year.^[3]

Reception

The film was well-received on its release in January 1935. One New York Times critic called it "The most profoundly satisfying screen manipulation of a great novel the camera has ever given us". It was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Academy Award for Best Picture (losing out to Mutiny on the Bounty), Best Film Editing, and Best Assistant Director, and was nominated for the Mussolini Cup for Best Foreign Film at the Venice Film Festival (losing out to Anna Karenina).

There were several notable differences in the film from the book. For instance, in the film David never attends Salem House boarding school, and so the characters he met there do not appear, with the exception of Steerforth, who instead made his appearance as head boy of David's school he attended after going to live with Betsey Trotwood.

It is still shown in many countries on television at Christmas. It is rated with four out of four stars every year in Halliwell's Film Guide.

This was selected by The New York Times as one of the 1000 greatest movies ever made.

In another significant film, Gone with the Wind, which was also produced by Selznick, Melanie Wilkes (Olivia de Havilland) reads aloud from the novel David Copperfield while she waits for the vigilantes to come home from the raid. In Margaret Mitchell's novel, Melanie actually read Les Misérables at this point.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Glancy, H. Mark "When Hollywood Loved Britain: The Hollywood 'British' Film 1939-1945" (Manchester University Press, 1999)
2. ^ ^{a b} Deschner, Donald (1966). The Films of W.C. Fields. New York: Cadillac Publishing by arrangement with The Citadel Press. p. 106. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Higham, Charles (Dec 1994) [1993]. Merchant of Dreams: Louis B. Mayer, M.G.M., and the Secret Hollywood (paperback ed.). Dell Publishing. p. 261. ISBN 0-440-22066-1. 

External links

• David Copperfield at the Internet Movie Database
• David Copperfield at AllRovi
• David Copperfield at the TCM Movie Database
• Information, Illustrations, Analysis, Select Resources on the novel