Anthony Adverse (1936)
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Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Starring: Fredric March, Olivia de Havilland, Gale Sondergaard, Anita Louise,
Claude Rains, Donald Woods
Honors:
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Honors:
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
The heart of a term “prestige picture” lies in a studio’s
drive to take something of great significance in another entertainment form,
usually a novel or Broadway play, and turn it into an epic sized film in hope
that it would peek the public’s attention resulting ultimately in great box
office revenues as well as lasting esteem for the studio in accomplishing a
great piece of cinematic art. Warner Bros’ great prestige picture of 1936 would
be of Anthony Adverse, an adaptation
of a sprawling 1200+ page novel penned by Henry Allen in 1933. Not all prestige
pictures necessarily work out (see Romeo
and Juliet of 1936), but here with Anthony
Adverse Warner Bros. played the correct cards at the correct time, banking
on the popularity of a book still very fresh in the public’s mind, turning it
into a very lengthy 141 minute feature that attempts to bring the story to
life. For its time Anthony Adverse
would be a great film, but one that would not carry on in the minds of
audiences into the future.
Anthony Adverse is
a drama encompassing the life story of a man and his adventures that take him
around the globe, and how he changes while continually seeking to reunite with
his wife. Born an illegitimate son of passionate love affair, Anthony Adverse
(Fredric March) is raise first in a convent, then by a kind Italian merchant
John Bonnyfeather (Edmund Gwenn), whom discovers later is actually the
grandfather of Anthony, but decides to hold back that information. Growing up
Anthony falls in love with and marries his cook’s daughter, Angela (Olivia de
Havilland), but soon after leaves for Cuba to save Bonnyfeather’s fortune, before
long losing contact with his young bride. Years pass and Anthony continues his
work in Africa making him a more corrupted businessman of slave trading before
returning to Italy to learn of the death of his mentor Bonneyfeather. After
saving his inheritance from landing in the hands of the Bonnyfeather’s former greedy
bride Faith (Gale Sondergaard) Anthony first aids an old friend with financial
trouble, then is assisted in reuniting with Angela, and to his surprise is introduced
to the son she bore him. Despite the happiness Anthony learns of Angela’s life
as a famous opera star and mistress to Napoleon Bonaparte, leaving him heartbroken.
Determined to start afresh once again, Anthony and his son as they sail to
America, knowing he can make something of himself in a new land with his loving
son by his side.
The picture is rather long and very episodic. Very little
carries over from one situation to another for Anthony in this epic-length
feature. The visuals are done well, though for a film of epic grandeur one
would expect more epic sized shots, which is devoid of in this case. March is
well cast as the title character and becomes a person to whom you can connect
with in his journey of life; so too is true as well with the strong connection
to the characters of Bonneyfeather, Angela, and even Anthony’s short lived
mother Maria (Anita Louise) and her passionate affair that begins the film.
Director Mervyn LeRoy continues to impress as he ever seems
to take on new genre and styles in his directorial style. With such notable
credits in his past that include the gangster classic Little Caesar, grungy drama I
Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, and even the musical Gold Diggers of 1933, LeRoy manifests
great range and all produced with great quality. This skill would help lead him
to his big job that he lands in 1938 as head of production at MGM studios,
perhaps one of the most important positions in all of Hollywood in the height
of its Golden Age. Here in Anthony
Adverse LeRoy films a in rather simple manner, allowing the actors to
portray the roots of classic archetypes which can be seen simply on the actors’
faces, from the kind heart roles played by Edmund Gwenn and Olivia de
Havilland, to the evil characters manned by Claude Rains and Gale Sondergaard.
He may be simple, but it works as this film is a extensive undertaking, but manages
to be contained primarily in Southern California production area of Hollywood,
with no budget to travel to locals.
It is always difficult to transfer story from a literature
standpoint to that of the screen, and in this case squeezing a 1224 page novel
into an estimated 141 minute movie. As with any case there are changes needed
to make the story fit, but for the sake of sticking to the cinematic means the
film packs a great deal into its several minutes which ultimately damages part
of the experience of the feature. As mentioned beforehand the film plays very
episodically. The story goes from one event to the other, with very little connection
to each other, and it becomes difficult to encompass a lifetime into a short
period of two hours and 20 minutes, but its shortcoming is the lack of singular
drive. For the most part the picture does not have a core drive as we watch
Anthony go from one event to another, not giving audiences the clear
understanding of what he is striving for, or leaving audiences something to
look forward to. Near the final quarter of the feature we discover that it is
the reuniting with his wife Angela that drives him to want to return to Italy,
but for most of the drama that takes place between their wedding and their
reuniting Anthony seems very tied up in a sense of obligation and not love for
his wife, leaving a hole in the soul of the character, which ultimately the
story we as audience members need filled.
Aspects of the film and its production feel off from time to
time, and a lot of it can be due to lack of exposition in a feature that cannot
warrant any more space in its length. To make up for time and exposition the
feature makes wide use of title cards to transition in periods of Anthony’s
life, simple stating changes and not showing them, leaving audiences with a
sense of reading a history book instead of a dramatic story. Anthony’s son is a
surprise, especially since we never see more than a puppy love between Angela
and Anthony (thanks production code). To be introduced to the son is a twist
that takes a while to get use to. We also wish for more closure on most
characters, such as kind hearted Bonnyfeather, and even the more evil
characters in Don Luis (Claude Rains) and Faith.
In taking a step back from story or even time of production,
one may notice that even sense of place may feel wrong. This is probably most
evident in the time Anthony is in Africa. The film’s portrayal of Africa seems
to be a convoluted amassing of many exotic places of the world with Polynesian
style dressed girls, Middle Eastern culture, and a few black men thrown in
there. Is that the “Dark Continent” as seen through people of 1936, filmmaker
LeRoy, author Allen, or a mix of all the above? From a contemporary standpoint,
all of the Africa scenes felt very off with place and even character, as
Anthony is forced into being played as a more hardened man without seeing why,
but rather simply explained in a title card. In these cases the film struggles.
Fredric March by this time was a well known leading man in
dramas, including being the recipient of the Academy Awards for his work in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. His performance
makes for a personable character that draws you into the story which lacks a
better script. His co-star Olivia de Havilland makes you believe that these two
are very much in love despite being separated for about ten years. Her energy
and conviction in her eyes creates the near perfect match in passion with March
despite her lack of overall screen time. De Havilland at this time was best
known for her role opposite Errol Flynn in Captain
Blood, and would continually return to being Flynn’s screen love interest
as she plays well the passionate beauty in adventure pictures.
In a life-span epic story you are bound to have a large cast
and this film would not disappoint. The feature opens with the passionate love
affair that would conclude with the birth of Anthony. Here we are engrossed by
the beauty and fervor Anita Louise as Anthony’s mother. Her short time on
screen, though quickly buried as the movie moves on, makes for a great
mini-feature that opens us up to time and place of the film. Veteran actors
Edmund Gwenn and Claude Rains form a good ying and yang to the story of
Anthony, portraying the kindheartedness that is within Anthony as well as the
evil of the world that continually tries to break him down. Other little known
actors would be given their chances in this prestige film with. Gale
Sondergaard would get the acclaim from her role as Faith, the maid of
Bonnyfeather whom would soon marry him and try to take his fortune after his
death before Anthony claims it back. This role as an evil plotting side
character that eventually teams with Don Luis would be Sondergaard’s cinematic
debt, and earned her the very first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Looking back years later, one can easily question the why Sondergaard won this
award, but in comparison to her competition of fellow nominees, which was also
roles of fairly low greatness, you can see how she took home the statue. It
would seem the idea of supporting acting awards by the Academy would evolve
into roles that are important to the story, but not the main characters,
instead of here where they are very minor characters that could almost be
omitted without notice.
As a film adaption that was released in the height of the
novel’s short lived major fame, Anthony
Adverse was a film of perfect timing. Audiences would go see the film in
good numbers. Few critics would give bad marks to the feature, especially in
comparison to the original, more fleshed out book, but in the end the film was
one of the highest praised films of 1936. Apart from being named one of the top
films of the year by many, the picture was nominated for seven Academy Awards
including: best assistant director, best art direction, and best picture. Four
Oscars would go home with Anthony Adverse,
the most for any one feature that year, for categories of Best Supporting
Actress (Sondergaard), Best Cinematography (Tony Gaudio), Best Editing (Ralph
Dawson), and Best Score (Leo F. Forstein). The epic tale and story of adversity
would live in the minds of many that saw it at that time. Not necessarily known
as a classic Anthony Adverse was in
fact one of the best successes for Warner Bros. in the mid 1930s.
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