Little Lord Fauntleroy

The Earl of Dorincourt, lonely in his great castle, has grown old. Now, with the death of both of his sons, he sends for his only grandchild to be with him. This is an innocent boy living in New York City with his American mother. Sweet-tempered and beloved, the earnest young child knows nothing of the crusty, fierce old lord in England, or of the wonderful changes about to happen in his own life, now that he is LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.

This is David O. Selznick's wonderful & lavish retelling of the classic children's story by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Much effort was put into getting the details just right. Sentimental? Yes, but honest sentiment, with emotions straight from the heart.

Freddie Bartholomew & marvelous Sir C. Aubrey Smith are picture perfect in their roles as young Fauntleroy & his grandfather. There may never be a finer male child actor than Master Bartholomew and Sir C. was the epitome of the English aristocratic tradition. Two champion scene-stealers, they work together beautifully.

The rest of the cast is both extensive & uniformly excellent: Dolores Costello Barrymore, Henry Stephenson, Guy Kibbee, Jessie Ralph, Una O'Connor, Constance Collier, E. E. Clive, Lionel Belmore, Eily Maylon & Mickey Rooney. Film mavens will spot uncredited appearances by Mary Gordon as a churchgoing villager & Leonard Kibrick as one of Fauntleroy's Brooklyn tormentors.

Sir Hugh Walpole, the celebrated English novelist, wrote the screen adaptation.

John Cromwell gets a lot of credit for this Selznick Studio release. It is only the second time (at that time) the story had been filmed. The first was a poor silent version. Although Cromwell could have developed the story a bit more, it is well cast. Bartholomew is excellent as young Cedrick and Smith is fine as the crusty old Earl who learns to love his grandson, additionally Rooney as Dick the bootblack, and Kibbee as storekeeper Hobbs are also outstanding.

Although heavy with sentimentality, Cromwell has done an excellent job of cutting out all the terrible wordiness of the novel. (Burnett writes as though she is being paid by the word and puts in way to many adjectives.) The story is well told and the scenic effects are good for their time. Unfortunately the film has not aged well and some scenes have darkened with time. Perhaps an enterprising admirer will trouble to restore this film. IF they do, hopefully they will also restore the missing scenes so the film runs its full length.

A discount film hawker (Front Row Video, Canada) has the nerve to sell copies of the film (claiming a running time of 1:42) that are so butchered, that two conversations are cut right in the middle with a change of scene. Digiview Productions who states on the front cover "Sometimes the price we pay is too high" and charges only a dollar for their DVD version, has been caught with their foot in their mouth. They only charge a buck, but even that is too much for the hacked up 92 minute version of the film they sell.

For purists, I urge you to find a complete copy of this well done film. THe only way you can enjoy something is to see all of it.

1880 , Brooklyn , New York , a poor and fatherless boy (Freddie Bartholomew) is living with his mum (Dolores Costello). A sender (Henry Stephenson) communicate them which he turns out to be the only state heir to the earl of Dorincourt (Sir C. Aubrey Smith) . He then leaves his friends (Mickey Rooney and Guy Kibbee) and set out for England as the long-lost heir to his grandpa and a British dukedom . But the grandfather is a grumpy and crusty nobleman and the problems are always cropping up . Then , little Lord Fauntleroy must try to overcome the cold and grouchy lord .

Classic and the best version based on known novel by Frances Burnett with elitist and sincere interpretations from Bartholomew , Aubrey Smith , Rooney , enough to make the creaky ancient tale actually works . Freddie Bartholomew had starred ¨Anna Karenina¨ and ¨David Copperfield¨ but his greatest success resulted out to be this film . Dolores Costello , married to John Barrymore , plays the lovable mummy in an affected and forced acting . Sir C. Aubrey Smith is magnificent as the bitter-grumbler and unsentimental count . Una O'Connor , as always , plays a maid with her ordinary gestures and grimaces . For comic relief , as usual , appears Mickey Rooney giving a hilarious and sympathetic acting . This was originally made in black and white with an excellent cinematography by Charles Rosher but there is also available in computer-colorized version and the musical score was composed by the classical musician Max Steiner . Director John Cromwell worked a lot with the great and powerful producer David O. Selznick and seems largely to have been content to follow his instructions , though he was always loath to allow too much sentimentality as happens on the sometimes heavily relationship between mother-son and grandfather-grandson . Due to the demise of O.Selznick , this movie is now in the public domain . The picture was remade for television in 1980 by Jack Gold with Alec Guinness and Rick Schroder and in 1976 by Paul Annett and 1995 with George Baker . The motion picture was immensely successful in America and around the world , it is actually an authentic and charming classic movie .

Break out the insulin! This antique heartwarmer, awash in tears and goodness, is risibly sentimental, but David Selznick made it an expert entertainment as well. Plucky Freddie Bartholomew is just about irresistible as the Brooklyn boy who becomes an earl. Melting hearts left and right, he wins over his crusty grandfather, becomes a philanthropist in a sailor suit, and fights the local toughs to prove he is NOT a sissy! C.Aubrey Smith seemed born to play the venerable old gentleman, although he relies a bit too much on acting with his monocle. Mickey Rooney stands out as the loyal Brooklyn shoeshine boy. This is the film to watch if you've never actually heard anyone say, "Cheezit, the cops!"

A nine year old Brooklyn boy nicknamed "Ceddie" (Freddie Bartholomew), beloved by all who know him due to his kindly nature, finds himself in for a most unexpected change of lifestyle when he learns he's to be heir to the estate of his grandfather (C. Aubrey Smith), a British Earl and has to move in with him. A bigger challenge for the boy to overcome though is to bring down the barrier between his stubborn, set in his ways grandfather and Ceddie's mother "Dearest" (Dolores Costello), who the Earl resents his son marrying as she's an American.

This one really grabs you by the heartstrings and doesn't let up. Freddie Bartholomew is simply wonderful as "Ceddie", wonderfully capturing his character and winning over the viewing audience's hearts in fairly short time, no easy feat for a child star. C. Aubrey Smith too is just marvelous as the crotchety old grandfather who finds his stubborn, hard-hearted, icy exterior being worn away just by being in the presence of such a terrific young lad who loves him unconditionally. Dolores Costello too was nicely cast and delivers the goods when she's called upon to do so. It's the likable performances given by these stars that make this a real winner in that we're truly made to care about these characters and what happens to them.