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They were mistaken. For, when it came to casting the picture, they could find no boy to play David in his tender years, and the part would be an important one. The rest of the cast, including Lionel Barry mo re, Elizabeth Allan, Lewis Stone and Maureen O'Sullivan, were carefully chosen. Frank Law ton was selected to play David as a man. The story was completed, and the production date was set, but, as yet, no suitable boy David had been located.
In February, 1934, when still no David had been glimpsed on the immediate horizon, the search began in earnest. Mothers in Hollywood were invited to bring in to the studio any child whom they thought might qualify. And the qualifications were set forth plainly and at length. But what qualifications!
The boy must be from eight to ten years old, refined in appearance, handsome, unaffected, must have a true English accent, and no professional experience at all. Furthermore, this paragon must have enough personal magnetism to steal each of his one hundred and ninety-five scenes from the rest of the cast and carry the title role of the
Characters from Dickens: Murdslone (Basil Rathbone), the child David, (Freddie Bartholomew), his mother, Mrs: Copper field (Elizabeth Allan) and Peggoty (Jessie Ralph)
IF you have ever wondered how Hollywood goes about selecting the exact and perfect character for a certain screen role, let me tell you of the long and relentless search for just the right little fellow to play David Coppcrfield as a boy. One of the longest and most frantic searches in the history of Hollywood. A hunt that consumed almost a year of time, caused considerable grief, heartaches and disappointments and added innumerable throbs to the already aching head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
For, when that studio decided to produce Dickens' immortal "David Copperfield," they had no notion of the tremendous task ahead. They thought all in the world they had to do was to proceed as usual. Select a proper cast, a director, and begin.
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Copper field
In Quest Of
His Youth
It took almost a year of frantic, intensive searching to find the right youngster
By Sara Hamilton