Anthony Adverse (1936)

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy

Writers:

Hervey Allen (novel)
Sheridan Gibney (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 August 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

Plot:

In 18th-century Italy, an orphan's debt to the man who raised him threatens to separate him forever from the woman he loves.

Plot Keywords:

Italy | Love | Convent | Africa | Debt

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Fredric March	...	Anthony Adverse
Olivia de Havilland	...	Angela Guiseppe
Donald Woods	...	Vincent Nolte
Anita Louise	...	Maria
Edmund Gwenn	...	John Bonnyfeather
Claude Rains	...	Marquis Don Luis
Louis Hayward	...	Denis Moore
Gale Sondergaard	...	Faith Paleologus
Steffi Duna	...	Neleta
Akim Tamiroff	...	Carlo Cibo
Ralph Morgan	...	Signore De Bruille
Fritz Leiber	...	Ouvrard
Luis Alberni	...	Tony Guiseppe
Billy Mauch	...	Anthony Adverse, at 10
Henry O'Neill	...	Father Xavier

Runtime:

141 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | USA:TV-G | Australia:G | USA:Approved (PCA #1784)

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Humphrey Bogart tested for the role of Napoleon; Bette Davis and Kitty Carlisle were among the many others who auditioned for roles.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Marquis Don Luis: I dare say you wish you'd never left Versailles. You had a very pleasant time at court with those gallant young officers. With one in particular, I recall.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Between Two Worlds: Erich Wolfgang Korngold (2001) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Orfeo (Opera in Leghorn)

Hollywood politics as usual

I rented a tape of Anthony Adverse mainly to see what kind of performance the Academy was looking for in the first-awarded "best supporting actress" category. Gale Sondergaard's time on camera was actually quite brief and her villainous role required a strictly one-dimensional reading. There were no subtleties whatsoever, nor was there any need in the film for them. Ordinarily, it might seem surprising that her part would receive any attention at all, not to mention a prestigious award, but keeping in mind that Oscars in those days were to a large extent self-congratulatory spectacles passed around from studio to studio year by year, it really isn't surprising.

The film was long and episodic, as was the novel, and not particularly good at that. There was the glitz we've come to expect of course with the duels and chases thrown in for good measure. I kept wondering if the novel was written with Hollywood in mind. It's hardly readable nowadays. As far as directorial touches are concerned, it's no wonder that Mervyn LeRoy has long disappeared from anyone's pantheon. The kiddie-car version of France must have excited the Depression audiences. The film is very long and very expensive so perhaps there's something to say about that.