This is a decent but very incomplete adaptation of the famous novel.Micawber,the Murdstone and the Pegotty family are present but only some parts of the book (roughly) were filmed.David's childhood is not passed over in silence ,but oddly,this made-for-TV work focuses on the Steerforth/Emily affair ,which,anyway,was a mini-novel in the novel ,whose connection with the main plot was pretty loose.
Michel Duchaussoy,the future actor of some of Chabrol's best films ("Que la Bête Meure") is a bit too old to portray Steerforth (being 27 at the time ) but he is the perfect romantic young man .
Marcel Cravenne was Renoir's and Maurice Tourneur's cameraman ,then their assistant .He directed Von Stroheim in his last part ("Danse de Mort") for the television.