David Copperfield (1970)

An all-star ensemble brings to life this Charles Dickens's classic. Sir Lawrence Olivier (Mr. Creakle) Sir Ralph Richardson (Mr. McCawber) Sir Richard Attenborough (Mr. Tungay) Dame Edith Evans (Aunt Betsy) and Ron Moody (Uriah Heep) help make this performance one of the best of its kind. We follow along with David Copperfield (Robin Phillips) as he looks back at his life. He grows from orphan child to manhood in Victorian England with a combination of good advice and abusive acts against him. Acclaimed actors and a story as important today as it was 100 years ago make this production one of the finest renditions of this book ever brought to the screen.System Requirements: Running Time 120 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 787364406098 Manufacturer No: 44060-9 Product Description

a dearth of Copperfields

If the BBC can devote 26 episodes to the Forsyte Saga (an excellent movie), surely they can devote 12 episodes to the greatest novel in the English language. Or to put it another way, if the BBC can devote five hours to an inferior novel like "The Buccaneers", surely they can devote twice that number to David Copperfield.

The 1974 version of the book is 5 hours long, the longest version so far. It includes all the important events of the novel, but only touches on these events and the many characters and does not have time to make the events as effective as they could be. The script is creditable except a few times where they ducked a dramatic scene, breaking before and coming in afterward, including the scene which Tolstoy called the greatest in all of world literature--the storm at sea. It is also a low budget film.

The casting is inferior with weak performances of almost all the actors (the exceptions being Anthony Andrews as Steerforth, the actress who played Aunt Betsy and the actor who played Heap, who gave us the best Uriah of any of the movie versions). Outstanding examples of bad casting were (1) David's mother, who should have been young and dainty instead of 40 and rugged, and (2) Dora, who should have been 16 and petite instead of late 30s and tall and sturdy. Also, the actor played Macawber too seriously without the touch of comic absurdity which the book has and which the part required. The actor who played the grown-up David did not look half so bad as the picture on the cover and played his part adequately.

The 1935 version with its stark black and white resembles the Cruikshank drawings in the book, and many of the performances are definitive: Freddy Bartholomew as young David, Edna Mae Oliver as Aunt Betsy, Basil Rathbone as Murdstone, Lionel Barrymore as Mr. Peggoty, as well as the people who played David's mother, little Emily, and most of the minor characters. It is an effective and indelible movie, marred only by having to leave so much out (2 hours 10 minutes) and by the horrendously inappropriate casting of W.C. Fields as Macawber (the most laconic actor in the movies to play the most loquacious character in all literature?!) His laboring to get the words out is painful to watch. The director, George Cukor, wanted Charles Laughton. Louis B. Mayer overruled him. But the filmmaker knew how to make movies, and the screenwriter knew how to write screenplays. The same cannot be said for the other film versions.

The 1970 version is a joke. Some smart-aleck screenwriter thought it would be clever to chop the story up into bits, toss them in the air, pick them up randomly and show them to the audience. All the moving events are thus rendered totally ineffective. This version is useful only as a lesson in how to ruin a great story.

The 1999 version is only three hours long and has more elaborate sets, some location shooting, and background music, but suffers from poor or inappropriate casting. Maggie Smith chose to play Aunt Betsy as a straight serious role, depriving the character of the comic touches which make Aunt Betsy such a cherished character. Bob Hoskins' performance bears no relation to Macawber, thus depriving us of one of the most colorful characters in all literature. Incredibly, the actor chosen to play Murdstone looks almost identical to Hoskins! Imelda Staunton portrays Mrs. Macawber very well, and the boy does well enough as young David, but the rest of the cast is lamentable. And the omission of Traddles is a loss. The script is hit and miss. But the most serious problems are the introduction of a narrator who is constantly narrating and keeping the audience at one remove from the events, and the actor who played the grown-up David, who constantly smiled and smirked, sometimes even in the tragic scenes. He seemed to have no other facial expression.

Bottom line: If you can only afford one version, the 1974 version is your best bet. Alas.
September 15, 2006

I learned something from this...

THis is what I learned: You CAN'T DO David Copperfield in TWO hours, I don't care how talented you are...This movie is a crying shame. Here's a good example: Lawrence Olivier is cast as Mr. Creakle, and he's wonderful, he's OLIVIER, but he's on screen for maybe a total of two minutes, before the screenplay dashes madly on...The screenwriter, by the way, is totally out of his mind, framing the story in flashbacks...Oh, it's a shame. Ralph Richardson is perfect as Mr. Micawber, but there isn't TIME to develope any character, not even Micawber! Aunt Betsy, Mr. Dick? They come and go, as if they were simply walk-ons! This could have been something special, instead it's simply a crying shame. BE WARNED! If you love Dickens, DON'T WATCH THIS! IT will break your heart. March 23, 2006

What the #$*(@ Dickens was THAT!

Despite a cast that glitters like Harry Winston's wares on Oscar Night, this film adaptation of Dicken's autobiographical "David Copperfield" is incredibly BAD. I mean, it smells, it stinks on ice, is rotten, should be avoided at all costs.

The cast contains names of which you can put "Sir" or "Dame" in front of more than a few times. Ralph Richardson. Wendy Hiller. Edith Evans. Laurence Olivier, fer gawd's sake. Yet, paradoxically, this film is a clunker.

The main reason is THE SCRIPT (hear me yell this, THE SCRIII-IPT!) The screenwriter for some arcane reason decided to use the last chapter of this admittedly long novel as the red thread to hold the whole together. So we see a decidedly depressed Mister Copperfield, cranky but famous author, moaning over Steerforth, Dora and rejecting (delicately) the advances of Agnes, all the while we are treated to flashbacks that are the actual story; the Peggotys, school (a mere trifle), the bottle factory and child labor, Mr. Murdstone and his redoutable sister, Mr. Micawber, Little Emily, Aunt Betsy and Mr. Dick. These are like sad little postcards, somewhat beaten up by the post and barely worth the trouble to put a stamp on. Third rate stuff.

If the SCRIPT weren't bad enough, we have delightful British sound (an oxymoron) and a faded print in dull tones to deaden the eye. In a word: avoid. I paid five bucks and I was robbed. February 27, 2005

Worthwhile despite DVD quality

Delbert Mann's TV movie of David Copperfield is unique among film adaptations in that it tells the entire story from a series of flashbacks rather than an ongoing narrative. It works extremely well, adds to the emotional punch of the entire story, further illuminates Dickens' wonderful characters and is aided by a haunting musical score by composer Malcolm Arnold.

It also boasts a pretty fabulous cast including Dame Edith Evans, Susan Hampshire, Richard Attenborough, Ron Moody, Wendy Hiller, Lawrence Olivier and Sir Ralph Richardson; a veritable who's who of the finest British actors of the 20th century! Some have commented that Robin Phillips is bland as the title character. I couldm't disagree more. He is certainly the most cerebral, tortured David in any of the adaptations and also cuts a handsome figure in the movie. In short, he's splendid.

Now to the DVD quality. I certainly agree that it is not good. The colors are a bit washed out, there is some clipped editing and a few moments of nasty film print. That being said, it is far from being unwatchable as some others have suggested. The musical soundtrack comes through fine and the dialogue is clear. And as much as I would welcome a digital restoration of the film, it's TV origins suggest that this would be unlikely.

Frankly, having the movie on DVD at a bargain price is blessing enough. I highly recommend it to those interested in an outstanding version of the story and willing to put up with technical imperfections. September 13, 2004

Compromised by (lack of) technology

As a two hour distillation of an 800-page book, this movie is much better than the Masterpiece Theatre version: all the big scenes and memorable lines are retained here. The actors are usually high-profile British actors of the 1970's: Edith Evans (Aunt Betsey), Susan Hampshire (Agnes), Ron Moody (Uriah Heep), Ralph Richardson (Micawber) and cameos by Laurence Olivier (Creakle), Richard Attenborough, Windy Hiller & Michael Redgrave. The score is composed & conducted by Sir Malcolm Arnold.

But the "fly in the ointment" is that this marvelous adaptation by Jack Pulman has not been remastered! Colors are faded, but worse, there are a number of "blips" in some scenes. So the end result is a 5-star performance compromised by the lack of technology.
The movie opens with David, grieving and upset at the blows life has dealt him, aimlessly walking the English coast. He remembers in a series of "flashbacks" the blows he has suffered. After his litany of misfortunes are recounted, the development of Aunt Betsey's & the Wickfield's current dilemmas are resolved through David's involvement in the current world, rather than his absorption in the past.
I had read (& loved) the novel about five years before I first saw this production on TV in the late '70's; other reviewers seem to have had difficulty with the series of flashbacks used in the film---I did not. January 6, 2004

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