It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The acting in this movie is really good.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The book by Frances Hodgson Burnett was published in the 1880s and carried a simple message: humanitarianism is better than arrogance. This is William James' distinction between the tough minded and the tender minded. I must be one of the former because I found it a nonpareil of sentimental and inelegant pap. Pardon me while I light an expensive cigar and stomp the cat.Sheesh, how triumph follows tragedy and vice versa. Freddy Bartholomew is a nine-year-old boy living in genteel poverty with his loving mother ("Dearest") in a crummy neighborhood in Brooklyn. But not the real Brooklyn of the 1880s. This is a fairyland Brooklyn where there is no garbage or horse manure on the streets, and where Freddy's pal, Mickey Rooney, only betrays his lack of breeding by saying "erl" instead of "oil" and never busts Freddy in the snot locker. Freddy loves his pals, who include the greengrocer, and everybody loves Freddy, just as love loves to love love.I almost burst into sobs when a lawyer arrives from England and informs Freddy that, since he is the only surviving grandson of the Earl of Dorincourt, he's invited to come to England, join his grandfather in the family mansion, and be inculcated into the aristoi. The present Earl is a bilious and bushy old man who knows no pity except for himself. He hates Freddy's mother and she must live elsewhere, not in the mansion. He treats his tenant farmers the way they treat their dirt.Freddy, though, is a winsome little lad, naive and generous. To a fault, one might say. And before you know it, Freddy has the crotchety old curmudgeon learning how to be generous and kind -- in an old fashioned way, of course. He's not going to give the family silverware to the poor. He's just not going to berate the servants quite as much.Then tragedy strikes, and just when it seems things are going so well. Another woman shows up with a lollipop-sucking son who is older than Freddy, and SHE claims to be the first wife of the son of the current Earl. And, believe me, this babe is a real wasp. She laughs and taunts the white-haired old man who has grown to love Freddy, just as everyone else loves Freddy.Do things turn out all right? Is there a happy ending? Doesn't it prompt you to weep when you hear "Auld Lang Syne" played adagio? On a solo violin? Well, Freddy Bartholomew is unquestionably cute in appearance, speech, and demeanor although, to be sure, a little fist fight in the schoolyard might have done him a power of good. Actually, the illustrations in Hodgson's book started a sartorial fad and kids began to dress like Little Lord Fauntleroy in outfits that resembled little sailor suits with lace collars. The fad lasted for years. I believe there's a photo of young Ernest Hemingway floating around out there somewhere in the ether. The character of Little Lord Fauntleroy is winning, precisely because it's so improbable. The whole movie is as fantastic as The Wizard of Oz. C. Aubrey Smith is great as the grumbling old Earl, only reluctantly won over by his new grandson. Dolores Costello as "Dearest" always looks as if she's wearing a brave smile to keep from breaking into sobs of some sort, grief or gratitude -- it doesn't matter.Like so much sentimental material it has its charm. But that's about all it has, sentiment and charm. There's not a laugh in it, and there's no edginess to it. We know at once that the mistaken people will realize their errors, that the bad people will be punished or thwarted, and that the good people will be rewarded. A bit of edge might not have hurt. Have Freddy sneak a few puffs on a corn silk cigarette or something.

This film, although almost unbelievably dated, is a work of fine quality and utterly charming. It certainly is something special when it comes to the plot.This is the story of a little boy with a normal life who could have never imagined he was a heir of the title Earl of Dorincourt. Dutty calls this boy. Make no mistake: this is an endearing story. This fine-mannered curly-haired little lord captivates the Earl so much that the austere old man has a change of heart. He truly cares for this boy in a way he never though he could care about a child.Freddie Bartholomew's special acting as the Little Lord Fauntleroy is simply divine. Dolores Costello too is divine as "Dearest". As for C. Aubrey Smith, his acting as the old Earl is captivating. Mickey Rooney is hilarious as Dick Tipton.This should definitely be on Top 250.

1880 , Brooklyn , New York , a poor and fatherless boy (Freddie Bartholomew) is living with his mum (Dolores Costello). A sender (Henry Stephenson) communicate them which he turns out to be the only state heir to the earl of Dorincourt (Sir C. Aubrey Smith) . He then leaves his friends (Mickey Rooney and Guy Kibbee) and set out for England as the long-lost heir to his grandpa and a British dukedom . But the grandfather is a grumpy and crusty nobleman and the problems are always cropping up . Then , little Lord Fauntleroy must try to overcome the cold and grouchy lord .Classic and the best version based on known novel by Frances Burnett with elitist and sincere interpretations from Bartholomew , Aubrey Smith , Rooney , enough to make the creaky ancient tale actually works . Freddie Bartholomew had starred ¨Anna Karenina¨ and ¨David Copperfield¨ but his greatest success resulted out to be this film . Dolores Costello , married to John Barrymore , plays the lovable mummy in an affected and forced acting . Sir C. Aubrey Smith is magnificent as the bitter-grumbler and unsentimental count . Una O'Connor , as always , plays a maid with her ordinary gestures and grimaces . For comic relief , as usual , appears Mickey Rooney giving a hilarious and sympathetic acting . This was originally made in black and white with an excellent cinematography by Charles Rosher but there is also available in computer-colorized version and the musical score was composed by the classical musician Max Steiner . Director John Cromwell worked a lot with the great and powerful producer David O. Selznick and seems largely to have been content to follow his instructions , though he was always loath to allow too much sentimentality as happens on the sometimes heavily relationship between mother-son and grandfather-grandson . Due to the demise of O.Selznick , this movie is now in the public domain . The picture was remade for television in 1980 by Jack Gold with Alec Guinness and Rick Schroder and in 1976 by Paul Annett and 1995 with George Baker . The motion picture was immensely successful in America and around the world , it is actually an authentic and charming classic movie .

Break out the insulin! This antique heartwarmer, awash in tears and goodness, is risibly sentimental, but David Selznick made it an expert entertainment as well. Plucky Freddie Bartholomew is just about irresistible as the Brooklyn boy who becomes an earl. Melting hearts left and right, he wins over his crusty grandfather, becomes a philanthropist in a sailor suit, and fights the local toughs to prove he is NOT a sissy! C.Aubrey Smith seemed born to play the venerable old gentleman, although he relies a bit too much on acting with his monocle. Mickey Rooney stands out as the loyal Brooklyn shoeshine boy. This is the film to watch if you've never actually heard anyone say, "Cheezit, the cops!"