Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 10-January-10
Spoiler Rating: Medium

David Copperfield (1935)

Charles Dickens liked David Copperfield best of his own books, and one can certainly understand being proud of such an engaging chronicle of hardships, affections, and follies. Among the essentially futile attempts at translating Dickens' longer works to the screen, George Cukor's David Copperfield stands out. In a way it does feel like a parade of scenes from the novel rather than a fully fledged screenplay. Yet its tone and well cast array of characters make it a rich movie-watching experience.

The first half of the film belongs to child actor Freddie Bartholomew, who shines as young David (and went on to excel in Captains Courageous two years later). In classic Dickensian style, the poor lad is born fatherless and loses his pretty mother early in life, first when she marries a domineering swine (Basil Rathbone) and second when she dies in childbirth. Cast into the world with only his nurse Peggotty (Jessie Ralph) to wish him well, David shows pluck in getting by. He meets the kind but penniless Mr. Micawber (W. C. Fields) during a stay in London, and when finally reduced to destitution walks over 70 miles to find the only person he can think of who might help him. This central scene cements the viewer's compassion for the hero and engenders the hope that better times lie ahead.

The person to whom David presents himself, starving and in rags, is his Aunt Betsey (Edna May Oliver), a formidable spinster with a heart of gold who ushers him into adulthood. Now played by Frank Lawton, David is a modest gentleman who dreams of becoming a writer. Ever attached to his friends, he visits Peggotty's family in company with an old school chum and unwittingly causes a tragedy. (This interesting sidebar is apparently meant to criticize the idle rich.) Then David falls in love with Dora (Maureen O'Sullivan), one of Dickens' most memorable creations. She is a pampered child who cannot think for herself or assume adult responsibility. Despite her repulsive baby talk and fawning over her lapdog, both the book and movie grant her a surprising degree of sympathy. However, the temptation to make allowances for her guileless stupidity does not prevent one from seeing that David's happiness lies with Agnes (Madge Evans), in whose home he boarded as a schoolboy and whom he regards as a stalwart sister.

The movie concludes with the routing of Uriah Heep (Roland Young), an insidious swindler who professes to be "'umble" while attempting to worm himself into riches and Agnes' bed. Though incidental to the hero's journey, this helps foster the sense of fulfillment that rounds out the picture. David is still quite young when it ends, but he has seen much and earned the right to happiness, in which the audience is fortunate enough to share.

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