I was familiar with the well-regarded 1980 made-for-TV remake with Alec Guinness and Ricky Schroder of this children's classic. I wasn't expecting this much earlier version to be inferior especially given that it was a David O. Selznick production but, as a matter of fact, I think it was just that!
The cast is typically well-chosen Freddie Bartholomew, C. Aubrey Smith, Dolores Costello, Guy Kibbee, Mickey Rooney, Una O'Connor but the film as a whole fails to rise to the level of contemporary Selznick titles in a similar vein, like David COPPERFIELD (1935) and THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER (1938). Bartolomew was the top male child actor of his time (before he was superseded by co-star Rooney!) in such contemporary film adaptations of children's classics as the afore-mentioned David COPPERFIELD, CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS (1937), KIDNAPPED (1938), SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON (1940) and TOM BROWN'S SCHOOLDAYS (1940).
The main problem here is that the story of a young New Yorker at the turn of the century who finds himself living with his aristocratic (and tyrannical) English grandfather where his position as heir to the title is questioned by another child, subsequently exposed as an impostor just isn't all that interesting, and frankly quite corny (especially Freddie's penchant for constantly calling his mother "Dearest" and the way the English-hating Kibbee eventually learns to tolerate them). Even so, I would still be interested in catching the Silent 1921 version with Mary Pickford playing both mother and child!
Ultimately, producer Selznick, director Cromwell and actor C. Aubrey Smith would, thankfully, fare much better on their next collaboration the definitive screen version of another classic story, THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1937; with which I intend to re-acquaint myself in the coming days).
The cast is typically well-chosen Freddie Bartholomew, C. Aubrey Smith, Dolores Costello, Guy Kibbee, Mickey Rooney, Una O'Connor but the film as a whole fails to rise to the level of contemporary Selznick titles in a similar vein, like David COPPERFIELD (1935) and THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER (1938). Bartolomew was the top male child actor of his time (before he was superseded by co-star Rooney!) in such contemporary film adaptations of children's classics as the afore-mentioned David COPPERFIELD, CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS (1937), KIDNAPPED (1938), SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON (1940) and TOM BROWN'S SCHOOLDAYS (1940).
The main problem here is that the story of a young New Yorker at the turn of the century who finds himself living with his aristocratic (and tyrannical) English grandfather where his position as heir to the title is questioned by another child, subsequently exposed as an impostor just isn't all that interesting, and frankly quite corny (especially Freddie's penchant for constantly calling his mother "Dearest" and the way the English-hating Kibbee eventually learns to tolerate them). Even so, I would still be interested in catching the Silent 1921 version with Mary Pickford playing both mother and child!
Ultimately, producer Selznick, director Cromwell and actor C. Aubrey Smith would, thankfully, fare much better on their next collaboration the definitive screen version of another classic story, THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1937; with which I intend to re-acquaint myself in the coming days).