Anna Karenina (B+ or 3.5/4 stars)
In 1935, 4 short yrs. before he released Gone with the Wind, producer David O. Selznick brought us Leo Tolstoy's 'Anna Karenina' from page to screen. He knew how to take an epic 800+ page novel, whittle it down to its essence, & keep it to a fluid 90 min. running time. As directed by Clarence Brown & adorned by top-notch MGM filmmakers, this version about elite society's mores & forbidden passion in tsarist Russia is considered by many critics to be the best film version of this story (that included Vivian Leigh & Keira Knightley's versions in both 1948 & 2012). The film begins by showing us Anna Karenina (screen legend & Hollywood enigma, Greta Garbo) as she journeys by train from her St. Petersburg home to Moscow to visit her philandering brother Stiva (Reginald Owen) & reconcile him with his frustrated wife, Dolly.
On said train, Anna chats with Countess Vronsky (May Robson), whose cavalry officer son, Count Vronsky (Fredric March), is a friend of Stiva's. When the dashing Count meets his mother at the train station, he instantly falls in love with Anna at 1st sight & becomes obsessed with her. At a ball for the nobility, Kitty (Tarzan's Jane, Maureen O'Sullivan) tells Anna that she's in love with Vronsky although her long-time farmer boyfriend from the country, Levin, has asked her to marry him and is attending said ball {Kitty doesn't wish to live in the country}. Vronsky then entices Anna (who is married to an emotionally distant nobleman) to dance with him - which leads to Kitty eventually accepting Levin's proposal {hehe}. Meanwhile, Anna is afraid of her growing feelings for Vronsky & unexpectedly returns home the very next day by train.
The impulsive Vronsky leaves his regiment & boards the same train as Anna, risking his military career. Vronsky forces his company upon her & even escorts her to all the big social events. Anna's wealthy workaholic husband, Alexis Karenin (a stellar Basil Rathbone), warns about her - ahem - social indiscretions. In a rage, Anna tells Alexis that she can't stand him & is madly in love with Capt. Vronsky. Alexis says he'll never give her a divorce and, if she leaves him ... she'll never see her beloved son, Sergei (young Freddie Bartholomew) ever again. As time goes by, Anna can't stand her loveless marriage & gives it all up to be with Vronsky. But after a brief time happy together while vacationing in Venice (& living in the faraway Russian country), Vronsky becomes bored with her. Learning of a Serbian-Turkish battle, Vronsky leaves without telling a disheartened Anna that he loves her. Melodrama & tragedy ensues.
Nobody played tragic heroines better than Garbo, and Anna Karenina is one of the greatest tragic heroines in literary history. Garbo's luminous beauty is just how you'd picture Anna and her speaking voice perfect for said character. Garbo expertly portrays a woman who sacrifices everything for love; the actress always knew how to tap into every emotion available for the character, at hand (conveying Anna's initial joys, her aloofness, her all-consuming passion for Vronsky, her dramatic arguments with Karenin, her boundless love for her son, & her tragic inability to change her fate. Garbo wasn't even nominated for an Academy Award here, which boggles my mind; I'd have given her the win. But then, Garbo should've contended other times, too (her iconic Queen Christina, the year before, comes to mind). Since she wasn't nominated for this, I'd have given the win to Katherine Hepburn in Alice Adams. Fredric March is excellent as the obsessed lover, Vronsky; his chemistry with Garbo is solid, too. And Basil Rathbone is great as the vicious, socially conservative Alexis, who fiendishly knows how to turn the screws into his emotionally-tortured wife.
The novel contains quite a few subplots that are excised from this film version, but O. Selznick keeps the story here focused on Anna. Purists may jeer at these deletions, but I'm fine with it because it kept the story moving; hitting all the appropriate emotional heights as it goes. Clarence Brown directs this film astutely (telling this complex story in a smooth manner with beautiful visual touches). The black-&-white cinematography is stunning (with superb tracking shots & enticing close-ups of Garbo), though I wonder how it'd all look in color. The period sets & costumes are magnificent. And this film does well in ridiculing the superficiality of society's elite. It also glorifies war (the ever-present political turmoil, adventurer's lust for battle). 'Anna Karenina' isn't perfect; some slow scenes, wanted to feel more from the doomed affair. But there's much to admire about this definitive film version.
On said train, Anna chats with Countess Vronsky (May Robson), whose cavalry officer son, Count Vronsky (Fredric March), is a friend of Stiva's. When the dashing Count meets his mother at the train station, he instantly falls in love with Anna at 1st sight & becomes obsessed with her. At a ball for the nobility, Kitty (Tarzan's Jane, Maureen O'Sullivan) tells Anna that she's in love with Vronsky although her long-time farmer boyfriend from the country, Levin, has asked her to marry him and is attending said ball {Kitty doesn't wish to live in the country}. Vronsky then entices Anna (who is married to an emotionally distant nobleman) to dance with him - which leads to Kitty eventually accepting Levin's proposal {hehe}. Meanwhile, Anna is afraid of her growing feelings for Vronsky & unexpectedly returns home the very next day by train.
The impulsive Vronsky leaves his regiment & boards the same train as Anna, risking his military career. Vronsky forces his company upon her & even escorts her to all the big social events. Anna's wealthy workaholic husband, Alexis Karenin (a stellar Basil Rathbone), warns about her - ahem - social indiscretions. In a rage, Anna tells Alexis that she can't stand him & is madly in love with Capt. Vronsky. Alexis says he'll never give her a divorce and, if she leaves him ... she'll never see her beloved son, Sergei (young Freddie Bartholomew) ever again. As time goes by, Anna can't stand her loveless marriage & gives it all up to be with Vronsky. But after a brief time happy together while vacationing in Venice (& living in the faraway Russian country), Vronsky becomes bored with her. Learning of a Serbian-Turkish battle, Vronsky leaves without telling a disheartened Anna that he loves her. Melodrama & tragedy ensues.
Nobody played tragic heroines better than Garbo, and Anna Karenina is one of the greatest tragic heroines in literary history. Garbo's luminous beauty is just how you'd picture Anna and her speaking voice perfect for said character. Garbo expertly portrays a woman who sacrifices everything for love; the actress always knew how to tap into every emotion available for the character, at hand (conveying Anna's initial joys, her aloofness, her all-consuming passion for Vronsky, her dramatic arguments with Karenin, her boundless love for her son, & her tragic inability to change her fate. Garbo wasn't even nominated for an Academy Award here, which boggles my mind; I'd have given her the win. But then, Garbo should've contended other times, too (her iconic Queen Christina, the year before, comes to mind). Since she wasn't nominated for this, I'd have given the win to Katherine Hepburn in Alice Adams. Fredric March is excellent as the obsessed lover, Vronsky; his chemistry with Garbo is solid, too. And Basil Rathbone is great as the vicious, socially conservative Alexis, who fiendishly knows how to turn the screws into his emotionally-tortured wife.
The novel contains quite a few subplots that are excised from this film version, but O. Selznick keeps the story here focused on Anna. Purists may jeer at these deletions, but I'm fine with it because it kept the story moving; hitting all the appropriate emotional heights as it goes. Clarence Brown directs this film astutely (telling this complex story in a smooth manner with beautiful visual touches). The black-&-white cinematography is stunning (with superb tracking shots & enticing close-ups of Garbo), though I wonder how it'd all look in color. The period sets & costumes are magnificent. And this film does well in ridiculing the superficiality of society's elite. It also glorifies war (the ever-present political turmoil, adventurer's lust for battle). 'Anna Karenina' isn't perfect; some slow scenes, wanted to feel more from the doomed affair. But there's much to admire about this definitive film version.