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.

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.

This "GEM" of a film should be digitally remastered to preserve its cinematic integrity. The audio seems a bit "washed" and scratchy and some video portions skip and flutter a bit. This is a shame considering the quality of this fine production. Freddie Bartholomew is precious in this role and was a fine actor in his own right. There is an immediate chemistry generated between him and C. Aubrey Smith. From the outset there was no clash of generations, in fact quite the contrary, they got along swimmingly! It's just too bad that the Earl shunned Dearest right off, but I guess living alone and being lonely would take its toll on anyone, especially since his son married against his wishes. In any event, there should be more movies with actors of this caliber, especially nowadays when the world could really use a great "G" rated film without all the animation and special effects. This should be required reading in schools, if for nothing else, for the lesson in humility. GREAT FILM!!!

Two great 1930's child actors, Freddie Bartholomew and Mickey Rooney, play Little Lord Fauntleroy--Cedric Errol, and streetwise American friend Dick Tipton respectively. (Part British Ceddie fights the bullies--and Dick Tipton runs to help...they fight together. A preview of what a lot of Brits & Americans did in WWII a few years after this film!!!)

Also watch for Sir C. Aubrey Smith as the definitive hostile old Lord Dorincourt, who is charmed and warmed by his newly-met half American grandson's unconditional love. Character actor Guy Kibbee also seems made to play staunch anti-aristocrat American Silas Hobbs. If you read the book (free online), the movie fits it well!

Did you know the book LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY was an incredible late 19th century "hit"? Some statesmen actually credit this tale of reconciliation between an old Earl and his half American grandson with improving the then-strained 19th century British-American relationship.

Drew Barrymore's grandmother Dolores Costello Barrymore plays Cedric's charming American Mother.

While this film needs a sound and picture cleanup, it is still worth the watch!(TO YOU FILM PEOPLE--LOTS OF PEOPLE LIKE THIS OLD FILM. CAN'T SOMEONE CLEAN UP THE PICTURE & SOUND?)

This altogether lovely, exquisite period piece represents Hollywood filming at its height, no doubt. But what almost destroys its timelessness is the terribly bad condition of the film, reportedly taken from a television showing some years ago, complete with some of the worst damage I have ever seen in an old Hollywood classic. The memory of David O. Selznick deserves better than this shoddy monument to his great vision of the Burnett book. It is simply unforgivable that various "discount" houses continue to offer this and so many other dreadful copies of great films to a gullible and unsuspecting public. The complete restoration of this film is LONG overdue. And the various slashing of scenery, dialogue, for whatever greedy reason, is appalling, just appalling. After having seen so very many films on VHS and now DVD over many years, I submit that this is the most heartbreaking kind of butchery of a great, noble effort of any of the great directors and producers in the long history of American filming. Please, won't someone - the AFI, TCM, restoration companies, ANYONE - step up and lovingly bring this lovingly created film back into the sunshine of clarity, wholeness and beauty???!!! I have little faith in our rapidly decaying culture as we enter the new century, especially when such travesties occur. Once again, there is absolutely NO valid, logical excuse for this. Sorry for popping off so much, but I have watched it all too many times before. To use an offensive word appropriate for my feelings - it's bullshit...