File:1911 Nichols (film).jpg

{en} David Copperfield [1] (USA, 1911), directed by George O. Nichols (previously credited to Theodore Marston), starring Flora Foster (David Copperfield as a boy), Ed Genung (David Copperfield as a man), Marie Eline (Em'ly as a Child), Florence La Badie (Em'ly as a Woman).

It is the oldest known film adaptation of the novel.

Directed by George O. Nichols for the Thanhouser Film Corporation as the oldest surviving cinematic adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1850 literature. Spanning three consecutive reels released over three weeks, the production casts child actress Flora Foster in the rigorous trouser-role of David Copperfield as a boy, while studio fixture Marie Eline co-stars as young Little Em'ly. Foster's nuanced performance handles significant dramatic weight, charting early childhood trauma, physical abuse at the hands of Mr. Murdstone, and forced child labor in a London warehouse. The film stands as a critical structural milestone, proving that early distribution systems could confidently rely on an ensemble of child actors to sustain an extended, multi-reel dramatic prestige production. <EXTANT; online YES; music YES>