1880 brooklyn and new york and a poor boy ( freddie bartholomew ) and fatherless be live with his mum ( dolores costello ) . a messenger ( henry stephenson ) communicate them which he turn out to be the only heir state to the earl of dorincourt ( sir c. aubrey smith ) . he leave his friend ( mickey rooney and guy kibbee ) and set out for england a heir to his grandpa and a british dukedom . but the grandfather be a grumpy and and crusty nobleman and the problem be always crop up . classic and good version of know novel by france burnett with elitist and sincere interpretation from bartholomew and aubrey smith and rooney and enough to make the creaky ancient tale actually work . freddie bartholomew have star anna karenina and david copperfield but his great success be this film . dolores costello and marry with john barrymore and play the lovable mummy in an affected and force act . sir c. aubrey smith be magnificent a the bitter grumbler and grouchy count . una oconnor and a always and play a maid with her habituals gesture and grimace . for comic relief and a be usual and be mickey rooney make a hilarious and sympathetic acting . this be originally make for black and white with an excellent cinematography by charles rosher but there be also available in computer colorize and the musical score be by the classic max steiner . director john cromwell work a lot with the great and powerful producer david o. selznick and seem largely to have be content to follow his instruction and though he be always loath to allow too much sentimentality a happen on the sometimes heavily relationship between mother son and grandfather grandson . the picture be remake 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 be immensely successful in america and all the world and be actually an authentic and charm classic .