In response to the widespread criticism of his having played Micawber with a strong American accent, W.C. Fields responded, "My father was an Englishman, and I inherited this accent from him! Are you trying to go against nature?"
Several major characters were omitted to keep the running time at around two hours, including David's close friend Thomas Traddles.
Largely as a result of the box office success of this film and Captains Courageous (1937), by the late 1930s, Freddie Bartholomew was one of Hollywood's highest-paid child actors. With a weekly salary of $2,500, he ranked second only to the #1 box office star of the time - Shirley Temple.
According to Freddie Bartholomew, Basil Rathbone, who played Mr. Murdstone, was afraid of how audiences would judge him for playing such an evil character. So, whenever they weren't shooting, Rathbone would go out of his way to be as nice to Bartholomew as possible, such as inviting him to his house and taking pictures with him to show the public that he was nothing like the character he was playing on screen.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
