David accompanies Peggotty on a brief visit to her brother, Dan Peggotty (Lionel Barrymore). Dan is a fisherman who lives with orphaned child Emily (Fay Chaldecott) and eccentric aged widow Gummidge (Una O'Connor).
Murdstone soon becomes David's father in law. He treats both wife and child poorly. In this, he is joined by his sister Jane (Violet Kemble Cooper), who is as bad as Murdstone.
Because it is a movie, the mother dies, and David is obliged to leave home. He works as a child laborer in the office of kindly but financially troubled Micawber (W.C. Fields, in perhaps the only dramatic role of his career). After Micawber is sent to debtor's prison, David has no recourse but to hike many miles to the home of his Aunt Betsey (Edna May Oliver). Because it is a movie, Aunt Betsey lives with an insane man named Mr. Dick (Lennox Pawle), and actually relies upon his judgment.
Aunt Betsey sends David to a school in Canterbury, where he lives with Aunt Betsey's lawyer, Wickfield (Lewis Stone). Wickfield has a daughter, Agnes (Marilyn Knowlden), a preteenager despite the enormous age difference between Stone and Knowlden. Wickfield's clerk is Uriah Heep (Roland Young), a creepy sycophant.
As in "Great Expectations", David ages into a young adult, now played by Frank Lawton. He still lives with Wickfield, whose daughter Agnes is now grown as well (Madge Evans). Agnes continues to nurse a crush on David. David's best buddy is Steerforth (Hugh Williams). David meets, and falls in love with, immature but pretty Dora (Maureen O'Sullivan).
David finally pays a visit (joined by Steerforth) to former guardian Mr. Peggotty. Because it is a movie, he arrives just in time to witness the engagement of now-grown Emily (Florence McKinney) to burly fisherman Ham (John Buckler). Nonetheless, Emily falls in love with wealthy and worldly Steerforth, and she leaves Ham for her new lover a few days later. Steerforth soon abandons Emily, which leads to a confrontation between Ham and Steerforth that causes both their deaths.
At this point, it appears that David has his choice of three beautiful women: Dora, Emily, and Agnes. Naturally, he marries the hottest of the three, Dora. Because it is a movie, she is killed off for no good reason. Emily is now an afterthought, so David winds up with Agnes.
The character of Micawber is retrieved from debtor's prison to work in Wickfield's office as a clerk. By this time, Heep has been promoted to partner in Wickfield's law firm. The machinating Uriah Heep is finally confronted by David, Micawber, Aunt Betsey, and Wickfield. Because it is a movie, Heep repays (on the spot) all the money he is accused of stealing from Wickfield. He exits stage left, leading to a happy ending for David.
How others will see it. David Copperfield was a box office success, and was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The film had much going for it: the producer was David O. Selznick, the man behind Gone With the Wind, the director was well-esteemed George Cukor, and the supporting cast was stocked with famous actors. Another advantage was the source material, one of the five best-known Dickens novels.
Despite all its advantages, the movie has fewer than 4K user votes at imdb.com. The user rating of 7.4 is fairly high but less than awesome. There is a modest spread among demographics. Older women enjoy it more than younger men. Americans grade it higher than non-Americans, who are less likely to recognize the "Golden Age" Hollywood actors.
The user reviews are predominantly positive. Some praise the cast, others extol the MGM "system", near the height of the studio's power. For every person who is mildly disappointed, there are several who are impressed.
How I felt about it. Certainly, the movie covers too much ground in its two hours. It should be a miniseries. And, though this fault was Dickens, there are perhaps too many eccentric characters, with Mr. Dick particularly difficult to believe. One admits that the grown David (Frank Lawton) lacks the charisma of his younger self (Freddie Bartholomew). David is too good to be fully credible. Most of us are more like Uriah Heep than we would like to admit.
All that said, it is a well done effort. The cast is a delight for classic film fans, and I personally have a weakness for W.C. Fields and Maureen O'Sullivan. The major complaint is that there isn't enough of it. Though the 130-minute running time is longer than most films of the era, it is insufficient for Dickens' sprawling novel.