the earl of dorincourt and lonely in his great castle and have grow old . now and with the death of both of his son and he send for his only grandchild to be with him . this be an innocent boy living in new york city with his american mother . sweet temper and beloved and the earnest young child know nothing of the crusty and fierce old lord in england and or of the wonderful change about to happen in his own life and now that he be little lord fauntleroy . this be david o. selznick wonderful and lavish retelling of the classic child story by france hodgson burnett . much effort be put into get the detail just right . sentimental . yes and but honest sentiment and with emotion straight from the heart . freddie bartholomew and marvelous sir c. aubrey smith be picture perfect in their role a young fauntleroy and his grandfather . there may never be a fine male child actor than master bartholomew and sir c. be the epitome of the english aristocratic tradition . two champion scene stealer and they work together beautifully . the rest of the cast be both extensive and uniformly excellent represent dolores costello barrymore and henry stephenson and guy kibbee and jessie ralph and una oconnor and constance collier and e. e. clive and lionel belmore and eily maylon and mickey rooney . film maven will spot uncredited appearance by mary gordon a a churchgoing villager and leonard kibrick a one of fauntleroy brooklyn tormentor . sir hugh walpole and the celebrated english novelist and write the screen adaptation .