David Copperfield (1935)

After the death of his father, a young boy (Freddie Bartholomew) and his mother (Elizabeth Allan) become very attached to each other. But when she remarries to a cruel and manipulative man (Basil Rathbone), he makes life miserable for them both. Based on the novel by Charles Dickens and directed by George Cukor (MY FAIR LADY). In the 1930s, MGM brought to the screen several "prestigious" literary adaptations of books and plays by the likes of William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy, Eugene O'Neill and Rudyard Kipling to name a handful. This version of DAVID COPPERFIELD is one the better page to screen adaptations and that's due to Cukor's meticulous direction which avoids the stuffiness and stiffness of those BBC adaptations. With one exception, an excellent cast. The one exception is W.C. Fields who seems out of place (he doesn't even bother to speak with an English accent). But most of the casting is spot on, notably Edna May Oliver as Aunt Betsey, Roland Young as Uriah Heep and Lennox Pawle as Mr. Dick. With Frank Lawton, Maureen O'Sullivan, Lionel Barrymore, Elsa Lanchester, Madge Evans, Lewis Stone, Una O'Connor and Jessie Ralph.