Customer Reviews

Little Lord Fauntleroy

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have the film on VHS and DVD. I only bought the DVD version because I thought it would be cleaned up. What a waste of money! The overall look is more grainy than the VHS tape and the missing scenes? Several scenes are missing or have been severely edited. Stay with the VHS tape until they can redo the DVD.

First reading the reviews for this product, I chose the VHS version believing the transfer would be better and the VHS would contain scenes not available in the DVD version. The VHS arrived without audio, so I returned it and decided to purchase the DVD-- even though reviewers said the DVD version was edited and transferred unsatisfactorily.

When the DVD came, I was most pleased with the transfer. The picture is very clean and crisp and the audio portion is so superior that I am able to hear dialogue clearly which I had missed previously. Missing scenes? No. In fact, there are some small scenes in the DVD version which I had not seen before in the other versions I have viewed (for example, the dining room table scene with Ceddie and the Earl of Dorincourt).

All this aside, I love this movie for its portrayal of the redeeming power of love. My children benefit from watching it because Lord Fauntleroy is a powerful example of courage, respect and virtue. I have often wondered what it would be like to have a child without sin (only Jesus qualifies), but "Ceddie" as Little Lord Fauntleroy is perhaps the closest approximation to come from earthly minds. His mother, also, is a woman of admirable strength, wisdom and grace. Most inspiring.

I have no reservations recommending this film in DVD format.

If you want to accurately compare the 1936 movie and the 1980 TV version of Little Lord Fauntleroy, I suggest you first read the story written by Francis Hodgson Burnett. The casting, characterization and dialogue in the 1936 movie is outstanding and is almost an exact visualization of the original story as written by Burnett. The strong point for the 1980 TV version is of course Alec Guiness. Unfortunately in the 1980 version "Dearest" is portrayed more or less as a feminist and Schroeder as Fauntleroy is - well too cute. Visual appealing, it is but another example of modern screen writers believing they can write the story better than the original author. If you have to choose, pick the 1936 new DVD version. You will not be disappointed.

As another reviewer pointed out, this presentation of a truly remarkable classic film is missing some scenes and as another reviewer pointed out, the film contains a lot of video glitches that could have easily been cleaned up given today's (or even yesterday's) level of multimedia technology. Worse yet, as anyone who has viewed this film via cable/satellite on the American Movie Classics channel could tell you, a much cleaner and complete version of this film does indeed exist. I had transferred my VHS taped copy of this film to DVD and was hoping that when I purchased this DVD that I would be getting a superior rendering than my homemade DVD. Unfortunately, that's not what I got.

If you never bothered to tape this wonderful film when it has played on TV, you might want to purchase this DVD, but if you already have it on tape, chances are that you already have a better copy than what you'll get on this DVD. Hopefully, someday before those of us left alive who truly appreciate this impeccably executed masterpiece of nostalgia pass from this earth, someone who genuinely cares about this film will do a careful and complete transfer of it to DVD.

Gotham's version is missing some scenes . I think the consumer should be told when content is less than the original . I suggest diligence before buying this company's DVD's .

Don't let all those who prefer the 1980 filming of this story influence you before looking at this classic. Yes, it is black and white and the style of talking is perhaps odd to us in the 21st century. But it is of historical value and I believe that as the cast and crew lived in a time period closer to that of the story's timeline and that their way of speaking had more of the older and "englisher" english than that slang we americans drawl from our nasal passages now-a-days,there is a certain genuine charm that spews forth from the actors. Get them both if the 1980 version becomes available, but see this one for what it is, a true film classic! R.A.M.

I bought the VHS awhile back and loved it. So when the DVD came out I wanted to get than thinking that it would be a cleaner picture. To my dismay there were some scenes missing. These scenes were important to the character development of Ceddie. I recommend that you wait until they come up with a DVD version that has all of the scenes in it.

No apparent transfer problems from a good master film. Video and audio are good enough but appear to not have ben redone for transfer to DVD. The video shows little noise (white or black specs) mostly apparent where a reel change would have occurred. Still, the video appears in very good condition. Perhaps the source film itself has been reconditioned or maintained since it was originally released in 1936. Audio is English mono. No subtitles or Close Captioning. Basic menu functions of play, scenes, and trailers. DVD came in a keep case. No bios or extras.

This may or may not be relevant. This is the second DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment that I've purchased (I haven't gone through my entire library to see which others). The first has too many discrepancies between the spoken word and the subtitle. This one has no subtitles or Close Captioning. Proper subtitle or close captioning would have greatly enhanced the DVD. Perhaps an old film like this is in such small demand that the expense would have been financially prohibitive. Further vigilance towards this company's releases is warranted.

The Alpha Video version of this DVD is 102 minutes long -- full length. The Little Lord Fauntleroy story of adventure, discovery and love is well known -- but the variation in length and quality of its DVD incarnations is NOT so well known. I believe the bad reviews of the DVD were for other versions. I bought several, because Amazon listed this version with a running time of 98 minutes, and I knew the film length was 102. What a surprise I had, after buying other versions, to find that THIS version contains the full length -- 102 minutes! The picture transfer was very clear, and the sound mostly good.
I have found that frequently, among oldie films or controversial films, there is great variation in length of releases given on DVD. The description on the case of THIS version says it is 100 minutes long, when in fact it is 102. Usually, the reverse is true. Sellers have no way of knowing the actual length of what they sell, when the case itself is incorrect.

One famous website indicates 11 versions of "Little Lord Fauntleroy" DVDs. It gives the correct running time for this version -- 102 minutes -- even though its own case does not. I have found errors in many sources of information, including Amazon.com, concerning DVDs. I am glad I found THIS version of this film, despite the errors of description!

This DVD was of excellent quality for a movie produced in 1936. Very enjoyable family movie.