Anna Karenina (1935)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Clarence Brown

Writers:

S.N. Behrman (dialogue adaptation)
Clemence Dane (writer)

Release Date:

25 December 1935 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

The married Anna Karenina falls in love with Count Vronsky despite her husband's refusal to grant a divorce, and both must contend with the social repercussions.

Plot Keywords:

Divorce | Melodrama | Tragic Love | 19th Century | Star Crossed Lovers

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Greta Garbo	...	Anna Karenina
Fredric March	...	Vronsky
Freddie Bartholomew	...	Sergei
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Kitty
May Robson	...	Countess Vronsky
Basil Rathbone	...	Karenin
Reginald Owen	...	Stiva
Phoebe Foster	...	Dolly
Reginald Denny	...	Yashvin
Gyles Isham	...	Levin
Joan Marsh	...	Lili
Ethel Griffies	...	Mme. Kartasoff
Harry Beresford	...	Matve
Sarah Padden	...	Governess
Cora Sue Collins	...	Tania

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (re-rating) (1990) | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | New Zealand:PG | Sweden:11 (re-release) | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Greta Garbo initially formed a very close relationship with Freddie Bartholomew until the 11-year-old asked her for an autograph for his uncle one day. After that their relationship was strictly professional. For the rest of his life he was dismayed at suddenly losing her friendship.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the drinking game, while under the table, the officer who is in front of Vronsky disappears.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind (1988) (TV)

Excellent production with Garbo in top form.

Garbo earned the first NYC Film Critics Best Actress Award for this performance and she is fine, totally believable as the happily married wife and mother who permits an obsessed count to destroy her life. The production values are first rate with some very impressive moments: the opening tracking shot down the table laid with food, the ball where cinematography, sound recording and editing all work together to seamlessly convey scads of dialogue (it must have been hell choreographing this), the meeting in the shadow and light filled garden by the pool, Garbo's entrance first seen behind a screen filled with steam (note Vivien Leigh's similar entrance in STREETCAR). Completely absorbing from start to finish and very worth your attention. Formerly available on MGM/UA video (now out of print) and just released on DVD to coincide with Garbo's birth centenary (9/05).