Dolores Costello

Breaking the Ice -- Breaking the Ice

Little Lord Fauntleroy -- An American boy turns out to be the long-lost heir of a British fortune. He is sent to live with the cold and unsentimental lord who oversees the trust.

An angry and wounded Iraq War vet moves into San Francisco seedy Tenderloin neighborhood to lose himself in drinking, but finds instead a closer relationship with his young son, a tenement hotel full of exquisitely odd characters, and the red-hot Skyler. For over a hundred years the Tenderloin district has endured as a place to go when all other options are off the table. A block from Neiman Marcus shoppers picking through Prada and pearls, are the lowest rents in town and the loosest rules. Immigrants, recovering addicts, artists, students and outcasts for no apparent reason and those who pray on them all call this place home. A character portrait indie feature with a irresistible honesty of a beautiful relationship between a father and his son against all odds. In the tradition of The Messenger, Brothers and The Pursuit of Happiness.

Young Cedric Errol and his widowed mother, live frugally in 1880s Brooklyn after the death of his father. Cedric's prejudiced English grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, had long ago disowned his son for marrying an American. However, the earl sends his lawyer Havisham to bring Cedric to England. As the earl's sons are all dead, Cedric is the heir to the title. Mrs. Errol accompanies her son to England, but is not allowed to live at Dorincourt castle. The earl's lawyer is impressed with the young widow's wisdom. However, the earl expresses skepticism when Mr. Havisham informs him that Cedric's mother will not accept an allowance from him. Cedric soon wins the hearts of his stern grandfather and everyone else. The earl hosts a grand party to proudly introduce his grandson to British society, notably his sister Lady Constantia Lorridaile. However, after the party, Havisham informs the Earl that Cedric is not the heir apparent after all. American Minna Tipton insists her son Tom is the offspring of her late husband, the earl's eldest son. Heartbroken, the earl accepts her apparently valid claim, though Tom proves to be a rather obnoxious lad. Fortunately for Cedric, his friend Dick Tipton recognizes Minna from her newspaper picture. He takes his brother Ben, Tom's real father, to England and disproves Minna's claim. The earl apologizes to Cedric's mother and invites her to live with the delighted Cedric on his estate.