Why the 1935 David Copperfield still works (mostly because of W.C. Fields)

If you have two hours to spare tonight and want something that feels like a warm, slightly dusty blanket, yes, you should watch this. ☕

People who love eccentric character actors doing weird voices will have a blast, but if you hate old-fashioned melodrama where people cry in soft lighting, you'll probably turn it off after twenty minutes.

It’s basically a massive Dickens book crammed into a movie, so everything happens incredibly fast.

The little kid who plays young David (Freddie Bartholomew) has this incredibly polite, high-pitched voice that makes you want to protect him but also laugh a little.

But the real reason this thing stays alive is the bad guys and the weirdos.

Basil Rathbone plays the stepfather, Mr. Murdstone, and he is so cartoonishly mean. He stares at David like he wants to eat him for breakfast.

There's this one scene where David's mother is crying, and Rathbone just stands in the doorway looking like a very fashionable vampire. 🧛‍♂️

Then David gets sent away, and the movie gets way better because we meet W.C. Fields as Mr. Micawber.

Fields is supposed to be playing a classic Dickens character, but he basically just plays himself, tripping over dogs and hiding from people he owes money to.

It is absolute gold. He has this scene where he tries to write a letter but keeps getting distracted by his own pens, and I swear it wasn't in script.

If you've seen other old weepies from the era like Smilin' Through, you know how these movies can get too sugary.

But David Copperfield stays weird enough to avoid that.

Well, at least until David grows up.

Once the kid actor gets replaced by the adult David (Frank Lawton), the movie definitely loses some steam.

Adult David is kind of a blank slate, and he spends a lot of time looking worriedly at women in giant bonnets.

There is this girl Dora who is supposed to be his great love, but she is so incredibly annoying. She has this tiny dog that she holds constantly, and she talks to it in this squeaky baby voice. 🐶

You actually feel relieved when the movie shifts back to the villains.

Roland Young plays Uriah Heep, this creepy guy who keeps rubbing his hands together and talking about how "humble" he is.

He looks like a wet umbrella and walks like he has no bones. It's fantastic.

I noticed this tiny detail during a dinner scene where Uriah is pouring wine, and his hand is shaking so much he almost spills it on the tablecloth, but he just keeps smiling this awful, toothy smile.

That's the kind of stuff you don't get in modern movies where everything is cleaned up by computers.

Random things I scribbled down:

• The aunt's obsession with chasing donkeys off her lawn is my favorite running joke.
• Why does every room in 1800s England look like it has three inches of dust on the floor?
• W.C. Fields juggling his cane while talking to a child is pure magic.
• The storm scene near the end has some surprisingly great waves crashing, even if the boats look like toys.

The ending rushes through about five different plotlines in ten minutes.

Suddenly people are dying, others are moving to Australia, and David is a famous writer.

It's a bit of a mess, honestly.

But it's a very charming mess.