In what seems like a lifetime ago I watched two films based on the works
of one of Britain's best loved wordsmiths, William Shakespeare, now I'm
dipping back into the list and getting two films that follow a similar
pattern as both were based on works written by another chap you may have
heard of - Charles Dickens.
First off is George Cukor's massive
adaptation of David Copperfield, Copperfield is probably one of the
better known of Dickens' work and was obviously a good choice to be one
of the first of his books to be adapted since the advent of talking
movies. Cukor was also responsible for some of the 1930s adaptations
that I've already looked at on this list, Little Women and Romeo and
Juliet. For those unfamiliar with the story it shows the development of
David Copperfield, from being born to being raised by a single mother
with the help of Peggorty the maid. Copperfield's mother then remarries
and he is sent first to a boarding school (not seen in the film) and
then to a factory in London. There he meets the jovial but constantly in
debt lanlord Wilkins Micawber but when Micawber is sent to the debtor's
prison, Copperfield feels like he has nothing to live for and treks
from London to Dover to live with his great aunt and her dotty companion
Mr Dick. As David grows up he falls in love with the beautiful Dora
while he also works as a trainee clerk alongside the devious Uriah Heap.
David's old school friend Steerforth returns and seduces and absconds
with Peggoty's niece Emily, this incident gives the film one of its most
vivid scenes as Pegggoty's brother searches high and low for Emily in a
windswept montage. In the end David married Dora but she dies in
childbirth so he remarries the sensible Agnes while the bad guys all get
their comeuppance.
For one of the earliest Dickens adaptations,
Cukor has been able to fit in a lot of detail and filmed some rather
superb sequences. David's trek from London to Dover is a brilliant
sequence as comes ever nearer to his aunt. The scene in which Steerforth
and David meet Dora for the first time is also rather cute and as
previously mentioned the search for Emily. It's a shame then that the two
actors in the lead role almost let the film down Freddie Bartholomew
who was annoying in Captain Courageous doesn't change my opinion of him
here, while Frank Lawton as the older David is fairly bland. Thankfully
the colourful characters are given fitting actors to play them W.C.
Fields is witty and warm as Micawber, Lionel Barrymore is as excellent
as ever as Mr Peggoty and the Benny Hill-like Lennox Pawle brings the
eccentric Mr Dick to life spectacularly. Although, at well over two
hours, the film sometimes drags overall Cukor has done a good job of
bringing the world of Copperfield to life.
Although both of these
adaptations were released in the same year Copperfield qualified for
the 1935 ceremony losing to Mutiny on The Bounty while A Tale of Two
Cities had to wait till 1936 to lose to The Great Zigfield. This time
Jack Conway, who we've previously met directing Viva Villa!, tries to
adapt Dickens' account of the French revolution. The story sees Lucie
Manette discover that her father is still alive imprisoned in the
Bastille. Lucie brings her father back across the channel and while on
the boat meets the charming Darnay who comes from one of France's most
tyrannical aristocratic families. On entrance to England, Darnay is
framed for treason, but is released thanks to the efforts of Sydney
Carton a lawyer who is able to get a confession
out of the men who frame Darnay. Carton falls for Lucie but Lucie has
already fallen for Darnay and they marry and have a daughter. We are
then taken back to Paris where the French underclasses rebel against the
aristocrats but then a certain number of them what revenge against the
families that have wronged them including Darnay. He is tricked in going
back to Paris only to be arrested despite Lucie and Carton's best
efforts he sentenced to be executed but the day before this happens
Carton swaps places with Darnay and is able to end his life a hero.
Again
a brilliant adaptation this time the scenes that resonate the most are
those during the French revolution. A combination of dim lighting
transposed with large amounts of fire is quite horrifying. Also the
scenes in which Carton falls for Lucie are incredibly well done meaning
that the terror is transposed with some humour. Ronald Colman as Carton
is brilliant here, previously I wasn't sure about his acting ability
especially in Arrowsmith, but in A Tale of Two Cities he brings the
drunken, smitten and ultimately selfless lawyer to life. Also worth a
mention are two actors who appeared in both of these films first of all
Basil Rathbone who has played villains in both pieces as Copperfield's
evil stepfather in the first film he terrifies every time he comes on
screen while here as the heartless Marquise he is incredibly sinister.
Meanwhile Edna May Oliver, who also played the aunt in Little Women and
the nurse in Romeo and Juliet, played Copperfield's mad aunt and the
loyal and eccentric maid in A Tale of Two Cities, in the latter role she
is able to kick-ass and protect Lucie in the final scenes.
I
think both of these films deserved their place on the nomination lists
as they were able to bring Dickens' stories to an audience who had
probably never read them. Although Copperfield probably wasn't a match
for Mutiny on The Bounty, A Tale of Two Cities in some way was better
than the overly-long spectacular The Great Ziegfeld. But both are
examples of how adaptations of classic novels should be done.
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