In the Jack Pulman screen adaptation, young David's mother dies three years after marrying a man who forces her to give over the management of the household to his sister. When David's stepfather beats him with a cane and is bitten in return, he sends him off to boarding school, where his schoolmasters (portrayed by [[Laurence Olivier]] and [[Richard Attenborough]]) force him to wear a sign saying: "Beware: this dog bites". The school's head boy, Steerforth, destroys the sign and stands up to the headmaster. | In the Jack Pulman screen adaptation, young David's mother dies three years after marrying a man who forces her to give over the management of the household to his sister. When David's stepfather beats him with a cane and is bitten in return, he sends him off to boarding school, where his schoolmasters (portrayed by [[Laurence Olivier]] and [[Richard Attenborough]]) force him to wear a sign saying: "Beware: this dog bites". The school's head boy, Steerforth, destroys the sign and stands up to the headmaster. |