With a star like Alec Guiness and a screenwriter like Blanche Hanalis (The Waltons) it can't be a typical made for TV movie, and it isn't.

Director Jack Gold manages to stay away from the cloying sentimentality and excessive wordiness of the badly written novel by F H Burnett. The relationship between the young boy (Schroder) who refuses to see the selfishness in his crusty and ill-tempered grandfather (Guiness) and the lonely old man, is developed reasonably well considering the budget and time restraints.

The plot concerns a young, fatherless boy, growing up on Hester Street in the low income district of New York as he rises to wealth and social position by the whim of an old man after his three sons die. Cedric's father, the youngest son, would have been the last to inherit his father's Earldom in rural England. But his unfortunate death when Cedric was very young, means the nine year old will be the next Earl of Dorincourt. His grandfather does not approve of his son's marriage to Cedric's mother, and sends for the boy to live with him, putting the mother up in a cottage on his estate because he fears what others will say if he does not provide for her in some way.

The boy is not told of his grandfather's disaffection for his mother and gradually thru his trust and fondness for his grandfather, the boy transforms the selfish Earl into a kinder, more compassionate person. When the Earl suddenly hears of another claim to the Earldom thru the illegitimate child of his middle son, Beavis, he is shocked and outraged to discover the boy and his mother are ignorant and mercenary.

Shamed by his grandson into doing good deeds, the old Earl realizes that he is not as good a man as he should be and begins to mend his ways.

The story is well told, and from a strictly critical viewpoint may be a bit too sentimental. But compared with the actual novel this film is derived from, the story has been made vastly more enjoyable by the removal of the hundreds of unnecessary adjectives in Burnett's badly written novel. Although the story was brought forward in time a few decades, this does not lessen the impact of the plot, or decrease the enjoyment factor. THe language used by young Cedric sounds a bit stilted in the mouth of Ricky Schroder, but it is the fault of the author and not the director.

I definitely feel this film is well worth viewing, so make some popcorn, call the kids into the living room and sit back and enjoy Alec Guiness, Ricky Schroder, Eric Porter and Patrick Stewart in LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.

This adaptation of F.H. Burnett's novel features a very convincing Alec Guinness and manages to deliver the story in a very decent manner.

Ricky Schroder was at the beginning of his "child star" period. His part in the movie is a bit overdone to my mind, but this might be due to the story and is probably done deliberately.

I particularly liked the camera work. The wonderful British countryside was stunningly captured. This serves as a means of illustrating the strong contrast between the boy's urbanized life in New York and the rural dwellings in England. The audience is presented not only with picturesque images but also authentic depictions of how the poor peasants had to live in those days. This was conveyed as adequately as it was possible for a low budget production like this.

The story is interesting and nicely staged, but again, maybe a bit overdone occasionally. This makes the movie a story for children rather than adults. The changes Alec Guinness goes through could have been presented in a more credible manner - he sheds his aristocratic rigor and austerity too quickly. Ricky Schroder again seems totally unaware of his grandfather's real character and is apparently living in a kind of ideal world he creates with his childish naivety. Again - this aspect and the interaction between the characters based on this premise is slightly surreal.

The strengths of the movie are the messages and the exciting quest of Little Lord Fauntleroy to settle in to his aristocratic life - which he does in a very straightforward manner and with disarming charm.

It is basically a very solid movie with a clear message: We need to look at things unbiasedly and make us aware that we can change the world for the good of all if we just make an effort. The movie does not aim at lofty commercial objectives but stays true to the novel and thus gives a considerably decent account of how even the most old-established system can change if you admit fresh air.

Sometimes all it needs is a little fair-haired boy from Hester Street, NY.

I first saw this movie many years ago and thought it was very heart warming. Although a lot of folks prefer the old Freddie Bartholomew version, I have grown very fond of this version. It has a wonderful cast and the story is told beautifully. Some folks may call it kinda' sappy...but I just LOVE this movie! It has become a Christmas tradition, in my home! Just a sweet, old fashioned, feel good movie and Ricky Schroder was SO cute! I had the VHS tape, that we would watch a few times, during the holidays. The tape finally wore out and I haven't found it on DVD. I am so glad to have found it online, so we can continue to enjoy it and make our holiday programming complete!