Claude replaced Charles Laughton in the role of Micawber in David Copperfield after Laughton worked on the film for three days. Halliwell’s Film Guide offers this possibly apocryphal story that Laughton was taken off the film because “he looked as though he were about to molest the child” but the book offers no source for the quote.
Charles Laughton was an insufferable perfectionist who reportedly drove Alfred Hitchcock crazy during the filming of “Jamaica Inn” by perpetually mulling over every inflection and line he was supposed to emote. Apparently he preceded Marlon Brando in the over-preparation actor thing.