David Copperfield (1935)

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Movie
German title David Copperfield
Original title David Copperfield
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1935
length 133 minutes
Rod
Director George Cukor
script Hugh Walpole ,
Howard Estabrook
production David O. Selznick / MGM
music Herbert Stothart
camera Oliver T. Marsh
cut Robert Kern
occupation

David Copperfield is the American film adaptation of Charles Dickens ' novel of the same name . The premiere of the black and white film took place on January 8, 1935. In Germany, the film was first shown in cinemas on December 20, 1935.

action

David Copperfield is born six months after his father's death. The English boy is raised by his mother Clara and the loving servant Peggotty. David is growing up, his naive mother meanwhile has an admirer in the person of the handsome Mr. Murdstone. David and Peggotty don't like the man, however. Peggotty takes David to visit her family. She tells him how her brother Dan adopted the two orphans Little Em'ly and Ham. When David returns home, his mother has married Mr. Murdstone. This turns out to be an authoritative husband and brings his mean sister Jane into the house. Clara is against Jane's presence, but her new husband rebukes her, so that she is increasingly losing confidence. When David deteriorates in his academic performance, he is beaten by Mr. Murdstone. Clara gives birth to another child but dies in childbirth. Little David is sent from Murdstone to London to work, while Peggotty marries the coachman Barkis.

David lives with the kind-hearted Wilkins Micawber, who is constantly hunted by his creditors because of his money problems. When Micawber is arrested and expelled from the city following his imprisonment, David flees to his great-aunt Betsey in Dover. This was already present when he was born, but she left when David was not the girl he had hoped for. Little David has to make the trip on foot when his travel money is stolen from him. Upon arrival, he immediately becomes fond of his resolute aunt, who gives him protection and help, and her crazy cousin, Mr. Dick. David is accepted into the well-off Wickfield family for his school days. The head of the family is the alcoholic Mr. Wickfield, the household includes the secretary Uriah Heep and Mr. Wickfield's daughter Agnes, who falls in love with David. But David begins studying in Canterbury and therefore hardly takes any notice of Agnes. The deceitful secretary achieved a powerful position in the family through skillful maneuvers. Meanwhile, David's old friend Micawber is hired by Heep.

After completing his studies, David travels to London to look for a job as a writer. He meets his old student friend Steerforth, who invites him to the opera. There David falls in love with the attractive but naive Dora. While visiting Mrs. Peggotty's family, Steerforth runs off to Italy with Little Em'ly, who became engaged to Ham the day before. When David learns from Dan Peggotty that Steerforth left her in Italy, he wants to bring her back. Shortly before leaving, he wants to ask Ham to forgive Little Em'ly and to take her back when he returns. But a storm rages and Ham, who is trying to save the crew of a sailing ship that capsized off the coast with the seamen from his port , drowns when he tries to save the last man on the wrecked yacht. That man is Steerforth, who is also drowning in the storm.

David can publish some of his short stories in London and marry Dora. Agnes, who is still in love with him, is shocked. However, Dora becomes weak and soon dies of a serious illness. He is going abroad for a year to recover from this blow. Upon his return to visit the Wickfields, David discovers that Secretary Heep has amassed so much power that he could ask for Agne's hand. With the help of Micawber, David Heep can expose him as a villain in the presence of the Wickfields, his Aunt Betsey and Mr. Dicks. David now turns to Agnes and confesses his feelings for her that have been hidden until now.

Production history

Producer Selznick (1940)
Screenwriter Walpole (1934)

The novel David Copperfield (1850) was the favorite book of David O. Selznick , the producer of the film. His Russian father Lewis J. Selznick had learned the English language through Dickens' book and read it to his sons every evening. Because of this family background, Selznick had long wanted to make a film of David Copperfield . After three silent films, it was the first sound film adaptation of the literary classic. In the mid-1930s, Dickens films were very popular, in the same year, for example, A Tale of Two Cities was also shot, for which Basil Rathbone and Elizabeth Allan also appeared in front of the camera.

Selznick originally planned to shoot the film in England in two parts - but since the project would have been even more expensive, the decision was made to make a film that would last a little over two hours. The budget was just under a million US dollars, which was an above-average sum for a film at the time. Except for a few exterior shots of Canterbury Cathedral , the film was shot entirely in California, with the white cliffs of Dover being modeled at Betsey's country house in Malibu . Cedric Gibbons and Edwin B. Willis provided the equipment for the film by MGM , who completed the sets in elaborate backlots . Slavko Vorkapić was responsible for the special effects.

The then popular writer Hugh Walpole could be won as screenwriter , the New Zealander also made a cameo appearance in the film as a preaching vicar in the church. Walpole had to streamline the long novel to two hours of film time. For example, the film lacks his friend Thomas Traddles, Steerforth's family, David's school days and training at the court, as well as an episode about his headmaster Dr. Strong, who is only briefly mentioned in the film. Some of the characters are only scarce, such as the coachman Barkis, Dr. Chillip, Steerforth or his servant Littimer. He only speaks three sentences in the film, while many passages are dedicated to him in the book. The story of Mr. Micawber has also been shortened, for example he goes bankrupt several times in the novel and ends up emigrating to Australia with Daniel Peggotty.

For the film, David O. Selznick undertook an all-star cast , with the majority of the performers from the UK and the Commonwealth countries came to have look authentic to the film. Some of the exceptions were Edna May Oliver, Jessie Ralph and WC Fields as Mr. Micawber. The role of Mr. Micawber was initially played by Charles Laughton at the request of George Cukor , Selznick wanted Oliver Hardy first . At his own request, Laughton resigned from the role and recommended WC Fields, who was loaned to Paramount Pictures for the film. Its broad American accent can be heard clearly in the original version. WC Fields was known for not sticking to his lines and instead improvising on camera. In fact, David Copperfield is the only film in which he didn't do this because he was previously banned from doing so. Some ideas that Fields himself brought up (such as juggling and an anecdote about snakes) were also not adopted.

synchronization

A German theatrical version was made in the 1930s in which Wolfgang Kieling gave David his voice as a child ( Freddie Bartholomew ). The dubbed version used today for television broadcasts was made in 1970 for broadcast on ZDF.

role actor German Dubbing voice (1970)
David Copperfield as a man Frank Lawton Elmar Wepper
Aunt Betsey Edna May Oliver Tilly Lauenstein
Mr. Edward Murdstone Basil Rathbone Horst Naumann
Dan Peggotty Lionel Barrymore Erik Jelde
Mr. Wilkins Micawber WC Fields Klaus W. Krause
Mr. Wickfield Lewis Stone Wolfgang Buettner
Agnes Wickfield as a woman Madge Evans Heidi Treutler
Steerforth Hugh Williams Fritz Wepper

reception

Aftermath

For some actors, the film brought the breakthrough: Freddie Bartholomew, who played the young David, moved to the USA for this film and received a seven-year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . His portrayal was generally perceived as good and he became the greatest child star of his time alongside Shirley Temple . David O. Selznick reinstated him a year later in The Little Lord . Basil Rathbone rose to become the most successful film villain of the coming years through his impersonation of the cruel stepfather, after he had previously only acted in smaller films. Frank Lawton's portrayal of the adult David, on the other hand, was perceived as a little pale and after two more films he returned to Great Britain.

John Buckler, the actor in Ham, drowned like his character just a year after the film was released. The 30-year-old and his father got their car off the road into Malibou Lake and were unable to get out of the vehicle.

Because of his positive experience with the film, David O. Selznick produced numerous literary adaptations over the next few years, the most famous being Gone With the Wind from 1939. David O. Selznick added a small reference to the film and his favorite book Gone With the Wind a: Melanie Hamilton ( Olivia de Havilland ) reads the book in one scene, while in Margaret Mitchell's original book Die Elenden is read at this point .

Reviews

The film was a huge hit with audiences and grossed over $ 3.5 million. In addition, it received excellent reviews, so in 1935 some critics saw it as the best literary film adaptation ever.

“Hollywood with the Victorians: Charles Dickens' classic novel became a cinema classic and blockbuster, which producer Selznick confirmed on his initially ridiculed path to literature. Audiences and critics were equally enthusiastic about the adventures, experiences and observations of the long-suffering David Copperfield. George Cukor, whose reputation as the director of literary sources was finally established, meticulously strived for authenticity in the equipment and staged with a top-class cast. WC Fields plays a memorable role as Mr. Micawber. "

- Lexicon of international film

In addition to the lexicon of international film, the magazine Prisma also commented positively on the film, describing this film version of the novel as "one of the most grandiose". “The brilliant cast is particularly good.” According to Cinema magazine , director Cukor “succeeded in realizing the classic Victorian novel. Cukor's sense of detail and his eccentric casting [...] were unanimously praised. ”The conclusion was:“ Excellent literary film with a beautiful patina. ”

The Classic Filmguide was also enthusiastic. The film is a "fantastic rendering" of Dickens' story. Sanderson Beck praised the "excellent cast" in the Movie Mirror, down to the smallest supporting roles. The film is enriched by "various Dickens characters and the detailed portrait of England in the 19th century". The New York Times ranks the film among the best 1000 films of all time and says:

“David Copperfield was MGM's big Christmas production in 1934/1935 and also the first big literary film adaptation by David O. Selznick. While the massive novel had to be shortened in 133 minutes, but in the end the result was so good that only the greatest bean counters were dissatisfied with the wonderful characters and events. The WC Fields cast was great: while incorporating his own popular style into the character every time he could, Fields was born to play Mr. Micawber. Lionel Barrymore also works perfectly as Dan Peggotty. In fact, there is no wrong cast in the entire production and, like Selznick's elaborate production, this was the key to the overwhelming success of the film. "

- New York Times

Awards

In 1936 the film was nominated for an Oscar in the categories of Best Film , Best Editing and in the former category Best Assistant Director (Joseph M. Newman). A year earlier, George Cukor was nominated for the Mussolini Cup at the Venice International Film Festival .

The New York Times ranks the film among the best 1000 films ever.

Further film adaptations of the novel

Bibliography

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ David Copperfield (1935) - Notes. In: Turner Classic Movies . Accessed June 1, 2019 .
  2. ^ David Copperfield. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing files , accessed on July 31, 2012 .
  3. ^ David Copperfield (1935) (new). In: Synchrondatenbank.de. Retrieved June 1, 2019 .
  4. ^ John Buckler at the Internet Movie Database
  5. ^ Frank Miller: David Copperfield (1935) - Articles. In: Turner Classic Movies . Accessed June 1, 2019 .
  6. ↑ http://immortalephemera.com/10945/david-copperfield-1935-wc-fields/
  7. ^ David Copperfield. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 3, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  8. ^ David Copperfield. In: prisma.de . Retrieved June 1, 2019 .
  9. ^ David Copperfield. In: Cinema . Hubert Burda Media , accessed on June 1, 2019 .
  10. ↑ cf. classicfilmguide.com
  11. ↑ cf. san.beck.org
  12. ↑ http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/12542/David-Copperfield/overview
  13. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/ref/movies/1000best.html