JinRoz For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Hitchcoc Dickens heroes are always complex characters. They often have flaws and bad judgment that get them into trouble. There are routine forces working against them, be they societal or individually human. David is brought up by a doting mother who is quite weak. When his father dies, his stepfather (Basil Rathbone) has no time for him. He is a burr in his saddle and wants to get rid of him as quickly as possible. He is cast out. As he grows he finds another woman to marry who is not unlike his mother. He makes the acquaintance of a cad who claims to be his friend. Through all this are amazing scenes of the dark English countryside and the oceans with their clashing waves. Like most Dickens books, there are a host of minor characters who inhabit the picaresque novel. Mr. McCawber, Peggoty, Uriah Heep, and on and on. Copperfield's trust in these folks directs his future. Freddie Bartholomew is quite good as the very young David. He was the best of the child actors of his day. W.C. Fields has his best moment on the screen.

cantileb I admit upfront that I am a fan of sentimental, romantic stories and this one tops them all. My opinion must not be too off center though because it was "selected by The New York Times as one of the 1000 greatest movies ever made." I saw it as a young girl and have never wavered in my opinion of it. Granted, Freddie Bartholomew's portrayal is now a bit over-the-top, but I still like it. It helps that the writer, Charles Dickens is also a favorite on my reading list.How could this picture go wrong? George Cukor directed it and David O. Selznick produced. It was up for Best Picture at the Academy Awards although it did not win. And the cast was superb.W.C. Fields was amazingly eclectic and his performance stands the test of time. For me though, Edna May Oliver's portrayal of the endearing, but eccentric Aunt Betsey was the best performance. Basil Rathbone as the abusive, husband/stepfather villain still ignites the wrath of the viewer. Who couldn't love Nurse Peggotty (Jessie Ralph)who loved the child as her own flesh and blood? Lionel Barrymore also has a strong presence. And, even though I wanted to shake her, Maureen O'Sullivan's, Dora, was flawless. Roland Young still gives me the creeps as Uriah Heep. In summary, let your kids see it. They and you will love it.

TheLittleSongbird If I were to choose between the two though, I'd say this one. Immaculately directed by George Cukor and very handsomely mounted, this is not just one of the finest adaptations of Charles Dickens' work but also one of the all-time great literary adaptations. The story is rich and entertaining and apart from missing out the episode at Salem House Boarding School is true in spirit to the book, the script is sharp and thoughtful and the music compliments the story perfectly. But it is the cast that is the best asset I find. Maureen O'Sullivan is perhaps a little too cloying as Dora, but everyone else was so good I found it easy to forgive. Freddie Bartholemew and Frank Lawton as young and adult David are very believable, and Lennox Pawle is a perfect Mr Dick. But four people especially stood out, Edna May Oliver's very astutely played Betsy Trotwood, Basil Rathbone's chillingly brutish Mr Murdstone, Roland Young's truly snake-like Uriah Heep and WC Fields' sincere(he has some great lines too) Micawber. All in all, a superb adaptation and film. 10/10 Bethany Cox

rajah524-3 I didn't read all the other reviews, but I did read about ten. And never saw the words "child abuse" anywhere. The modern-day reader has Alice Miller and Bruce Perry to turn to. And films like Stephen Frears gut-wrenching "Liam." Dickens wasn't the greatest novelist of his time for no reason. He saw the human condition and reported it =as= he saw it. Here he sees the sadism of the "professional pedagogues" of Calvinistic, mid-Victorian England and how it manifests in the battering of children who, of course, grow up themselves to be sadistic batterers. (Well, =duh=.) He also sees the results in other children."It's good for them. Toughen's them up!" Yeeeah. Well...For anyone who knows the topic, Freddie Bartholomew's portrayal is tough to watch. Bartholomew's face contorts in terror as he is =terrorized= by the monstrous pedagogue, Mr. Murstone, played to the then-contemporary stylistic hilt of viciousness by Basil Rathbone... and again as he forced to drink castor oil and otherwise abused by the great witch-mistress, Margaret Hamilton (or someone who looks greatly like her)."Copperfield" has been made into a feature film three times that I know of. Let's hope it's made three or four more times. In a culture normalized to the "ownership" and "righteous punishment" of "bad" children (never mind =why= they may have become "bad" at the hands of bullies at home and elsewhere in the neighborhood), most people could stand to see this film a dozen times.Thank Irving Thalberg and George Cukor, here. Both had the sensitivity to want to make this important film and do it =well= at a studio that usually wasn't into "social awareness" films, Louis Mayer's MGM.