Personal History, Adventures, Experience, and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger
Encyclopedia
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
.
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.
dearly wanted to film David Copperfield, as his Russia
n 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
. 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
.
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. 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.
, 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.
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
novel David Copperfield
David Copperfield (novel)
The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery , commonly referred to as David Copperfield, is the eighth novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a novel in 1850. Like most of his works, it originally appeared in serial...
. 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
Hugh Walpole
Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole, CBE was an English novelist. A prolific writer, he published thirty-six novels, five volumes of short stories, two plays and three volumes of memoirs. His skill at scene-setting, his vivid plots, his high profile as a lecturer and his driving ambition brought him a large...
, Howard Estabrook
Howard Estabrook
Howard Estabrook was an American actor, film director and producer, and screenwriter.-Biography:Born Howard Bolles in Detroit, Michigan, Estabrook began his career in 1904 as a stage actor in New York. He made his film debut in 1914 during the silent era, and would go on to appear in several...
and Lenore J. Coffee
Lenore J. Coffee
Lenore Jackson Coffee was an American screenwriter, playwright and novelist.-Biography:...
from the Dickens novel, and directed by George Cukor
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor was an American film director. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David Copperfield , Romeo and Juliet and...
.
Cast (in order of appearance)
- Edna May OliverEdna May OliverEdna May Oliver was an American stage and film actress. During the 1930s, she was one of the best-known character actresses in American films, often playing tart-tongued spinsters.-Early life:...
as Aunt BetseyBetsey TrotwoodBetsey Trotwood is a fictional character from Charles Dickens' 1850 novel David Copperfield.-Role in novel:She is David's great-aunt on his father's side, and has an unfavourable view of men and boys, having been ill-used and abandoned by a worthless husband earlier in life... - Elizabeth Allan as Clara Copperfield
- Jessie RalphJessie RalphJessie Ralph was an American stage and screen actress, best known for her matronly roles in many classic motion pictures....
as PeggottyPeggottyClara Peggotty is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's 1850 novel David Copperfield.Referred to as 'Peggotty' so as not to confuse her with David's mother, who is also called Clara, Peggotty is the housekeeper of the family home and plays a big part in David's upbringing. Peggotty is the... - Freddie BartholomewFreddie BartholomewFrederick Cecil Bartholomew , known for his acting work as Freddie Bartholomew, was an English-American child actor. One of the most famous child actors of all time, he became very popular in 1930s Hollywood films...
as David Copperfield as a boy - Basil RathboneBasil RathboneSir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films...
as Edward MurdstoneEdward MurdstoneEdward Murdstone is a fictional character and one of the primary antagonists in the first part of the Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield... - Lionel BarrymoreLionel BarrymoreLionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
as Dan'l Peggotty - Una O'ConnorUna O'ConnorUna O'Connor was an Irish actress who worked extensively in theatre before becoming a notable character actress in film.-Life and work:...
as Mrs. Gummidge - W. C. FieldsW. C. FieldsWilliam Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer...
as Mr. MicawberWilkins MicawberWilkins Micawber is a fictional character from Charles Dickens's 1850 novel, David Copperfield. He was modelled on Dickens's father, John Dickens, who like Micawber was incarcerated in debtors' prison after failing to meet his creditors' demands.Micawber's long-suffering wife, Emma, stands by him... - Lennox Pawle as Mr. Dick
- Frank LawtonFrank LawtonFrank Lawton was an English actor, born Frank Lawton Mokeley. He was married to Evelyn Laye, with whom he acted several times including in My Husband and I .His parents were stage players Daisy May Collier and Frank Mokeley...
as David Copperfield as a man - Hugh WilliamsHugh WilliamsHugh Williams was an English actor and dramatist of Welsh descent.-Personal life:...
as James SteerforthJames SteerforthJames Steerforth is a character in the novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. He is a handsome young man noted for his wit and romantic charm. Though he is well liked by his friends, he proves himself to be lacking in consideration for others.... - Lewis StoneLewis StoneLewis Shepard Stone was an American actor.Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, son of Bertrand Stone and Philena Heald Ball. Stone's hair grew gray by the time he was twenty. He fought in the Spanish-American War, then returned to a career as a writer. He soon began acting...
as Mr. Wickfield - Madge EvansMadge EvansMadge Evans was an American stage and film actress. She began her career as a child performer and model.-Child model and stage actress:...
as Agnes - Roland YoungRoland YoungRoland Young was an English actor.-Early life and career:Born in London, England, Young was educated at Sherborne School, Dorset and the University of London before being accepted into Royal Academy of Dramatic Art...
as Uriah HeepUriah HeepUriah Heep is a fictional character created by Charles Dickens in his novel David Copperfield.The character is notable for his cloying humility, obsequiousness, and insincerity, making frequent references to his own "'umbleness". His name has become synonymous with being a yes man... - Maureen O'SullivanMaureen O'SullivanMaureen Paula O’Sullivan was an Irish actress.-Early life:O'Sullivan was born in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland, the daughter of Roman Catholic parents Mary Lovatt and Charles Joseph O'Sullivan, an officer in The Connaught Rangers who served in The Great War...
as Dora - Jean CadellJean CadellJean Cadell was a Scottish character actress.Born in Edinburgh, she performed in the cinema and on the stage. One of her best known cinema roles was in the Ealing Studios comedy Whisky Galore! . She once performed opposite W.C. Fields in Hollywood, cast as Mrs...
as Mrs. Micawber - Elsa LanchesterElsa LanchesterElsa Sullivan Lanchester was an English-American character actress with a long career in theatre, film and television....
as Clickett, Mr. Micawber's servant - Herbert MundinHerbert MundinHerbert Mundin was an English-born Hollywood character actor. He was frequently typecast in films as an older cheeky eccentric, a type helped by his jowled features and cheerful disposition....
as Barkis - Harry BeresfordHarry BeresfordHarry Beresford was a stage actor in London and New York before going on the screen. He was also a screen writer and novelist.He was married to actress Kitty Gordon and their child was actress Vera Beresford....
as Dr. Chillip - Fay Chaldecott as Little Em'ly the child
- Florine McKinnye as Little Em'ly the woman
- Renee GaddRenee GaddRenee Gadd was an Argentine-born British film actress. She acted mostly in British films.-Early life:Gadd was born on a ranch in Bahía Blanca, Argentina in 1908 to immigrants from Jersey. Her father Talbot Gadd was a railway executive who abandoned the family, after which they moved to England in...
as Janet
Hugh Walpole
Hugh Walpole
Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole, CBE was an English novelist. A prolific writer, he published thirty-six novels, five volumes of short stories, two plays and three volumes of memoirs. His skill at scene-setting, his vivid plots, his high profile as a lecturer and his driving ambition brought him a large...
, the screenplay writer, has a cameo role as the vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
. Arthur Treacher
Arthur Treacher
Arthur Veary Treacher was an English actor born in Brighton, East Sussex, England.Treacher was a veteran of World War I. After the war, he established a stage career and in 1928, he went to America as part of a musical-comedy revue called Great Temptations...
, after whom Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips
Arthur Treacher's
Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips is a fast food seafood restaurant chain., there were 45 stores in 8 northern states of the United States which serve fish and chips. Its main competitors are Long John Silver's and Captain D's...
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. SelznickDavid O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
dearly wanted to film David Copperfield, as his Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n father Lewis J. Selznick
Lewis J. Selznick
Lewis J. Selznick was a Jewish-Ukrainian-American producer in the early years of the film industry.-Personal life and early career:...
had learned the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
through it, and read it to his sons every night.
Cedric Gibbons
Cedric Gibbons
Austin Cedric Gibbons was an Irish American art director who was one of the most important and influential in the field in the history of American film. He also made a great impact on motion picture theater architecture through the 1930s to 1950s, the period considered the golden-era of theater...
designed a recreation of 19th century London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on the MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
backlot
Backlot
A backlot is an area behind or adjoining a movie studio, containing permanent exterior buildings for outdoor scenes in filmmaking or television productions, or space for temporary set construction....
. The scenes set outside Aunt Betsey's house atop the white cliffs of Dover
White cliffs of Dover
The White Cliffs of Dover are cliffs which form part of the British coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliffs are part of the North Downs formation. The cliff face, which reaches up to , owes its striking façade to its composition of chalk accentuated by streaks of black flint...
were filmed at Malibu. MGM even filmed the exterior of Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....
, which only appears in the film for less than a minute. Special effects, including many matte
Matte (filmmaking)
Mattes are used in photography and special effects filmmaking to combine two or more image elements into a single, final image. Usually, mattes are used to combine a foreground image with a background image . In this case, the matte is the background painting...
shots, were by Slavko Vorkapić
Slavko Vorkapic
Slavko Vorkapić , was a Serbian-American film director and editor, former Dean of USC Film School, painter, and a prominent figure of modern cinematography and film art.-Early life:Slavko Vorkapić was born on March 17, 1894, in...
.
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
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
Dailies
Dailies, in filmmaking, are the raw, unedited footage shot during the making of a motion picture. They are so called because usually at the end of each day, that day's footage is developed, synched to sound, and printed on film in a batch for viewing the next day by the director and some members...
and asked to be replaced. Selznick let him go, and Laughton recommended comedian and Dickens scholar W. C. Fields for the part, who was borrowed from Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
. 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
Juggling
Juggling is a skill involving moving objects for entertainment or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling, in which the juggler throws objects up to catch and toss up again. This may be one object or many objects, at the same time with one or many hands. Jugglers often refer...
sequence, and when this was denied, an anecdote about snakes, which was also denied). Director George Cukor
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor was an American film director. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David Copperfield , Romeo and Juliet and...
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.
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 AwardsAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, including Academy Award for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
(losing out to Mutiny on the Bounty
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)
Mutiny on the Bounty is a 1935 film starring Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, and directed by Frank Lloyd based on the Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall novel Mutiny on the Bounty.The film was one of the biggest hits of its time...
), Best Film Editing, and Best Assistant Director, and was nominated for the Mussolini Cup for Best Foreign Film at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
(losing out to Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina (1935 film)
Anna Karenina is a 1935 film directed by Clarence Brown. The film stars Greta Garbo, Fredric March, Basil Rathbone and Maureen O'Sullivan. It is the most famous and critically acclaimed film adaptation of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. There are several other film adaptations of the novel.In New...
).
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
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
at Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
. It is rated with four out of four stars every year in Halliwell's Film Guide
Leslie Halliwell
Robert James Leslie Halliwell was a British film encyclopaedist and television impresario who in 1965 compiled The Filmgoer's Companion, the first one-volume encyclopaedia devoted to all aspects of the cinema. He followed it a dozen years later with Halliwell's Film Guide, another monumental work...
.
This was selected by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
as one of the 1000 greatest movies ever made.
In another significant film, Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
, which was also produced by Selznick, Melanie Wilkes
Melanie Wilkes
Melanie Hamilton Wilkes is a fictional character first appearing in the novel Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. In the 1939 film she was portrayed by Olivia de Havilland...
(Olivia de Havilland
Olivia de Havilland
Olivia Mary de Havilland is a British American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 and 1949. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. The sisters are among the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.-Early life:Olivia de Havilland...
) reads aloud from the novel David Copperfield
David Copperfield (novel)
The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery , commonly referred to as David Copperfield, is the eighth novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a novel in 1850. Like most of his works, it originally appeared in serial...
while she waits for the vigilantes to come home from the raid. In Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was an American author and journalist. Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937 for her epic American Civil War era novel, Gone with the Wind, which was the only novel by Mitchell published during her lifetime.-Family:Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta,...
's novel
Gone with the Wind
The slaves depicted in Gone with the Wind are primarily loyal house servants, such as Mammy, Pork and Uncle Peter, and these slaves stay on with their masters even after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 sets them free...
, Melanie actually read Les Misérables
Les Misérables
Les Misérables , translated variously from the French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, or The Victims), is an 1862 French novel by author Victor Hugo and is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century...
at this point.