Summer Rerun: Dante's Inferno (2007).

The busy minions at Desuko World HQ are taking a well-deserved summer vacation, so in the meantime, enjoy these favorite posts from the past. [Originally published July 18, 2008]


The Scoop:
One unintended consequence of the electronic media age has been a change in the way we experience classic (i.e., pre-20th century) literature. Now it's all about the adaptation. (Of course, these adaptations make sense for the filmmakers, who get cheap access to familiar material and don't have to deal with authors who demand royalties or protest changes in the script.) More and more, one's first encounter with Shakespeare or Dickens or countless other authors is through a film or television adaptation of one of their works. If audiences aren't rushing to the cineplex for their first tastes of these classics, they are getting them in the classroom -- teachers typically now accompany their reading assignments with screenings of films based on these works to help students better understand them. Shakespeare has now become inseparable from Olivier or Branagh, and Jane Austen from the starlet du jour.

All of which brings us to this version of "Dante's Inferno."

Italian poet Dante Alighieri's "Comedy" -- his epic tale of his journey through hell ("Inferno"), purgatory ("Purgatorio") and heaven ("Paradiso") under the tutelage of his idol, the Roman poet Virgil and Dante's beloved Beatrice -- is notoriously resistant to onscreen adaptation. Except for a couple perfunctory stabs from the silent era and a BBC miniseries from the 1980s, little straight adaptation has been done of the poem. More commonly, elements of the "Comedy" have been used as inspirations or jumping-off points for newer works. (One typical example is the 1935film "Dante's Inferno," a turgid morality play in which Spencer Tracy plays a carnival barker wrestling with the ethics of his profession. The attraction he shills for, a ride based on "Inferno," is shown in only a few scenes, primarily as a comment on the action of the main story.)

So give filmmakers Sean Meredith, Sandow Birk and Paul Zaloom credit for attempting a full adaptation of "Inferno." One reason adaptors have stayed away from Dante is his work's resistance to modernized spins on the material (something that has become a staple of filmed Shakespeare, for instance). But the threesome give it a try, mixing in modern situations and personalities with the arcane issues and obscure historical figures used by Dante. Credit should also go to them for doing it in the form of a puppet show.

In this version Dante (voiced by Dermot Mulroney) wakes up hung over in a seedy alley, not knowing how he got there. He his approached by Virgil (James Cromwell), who leads him down a sewer into the pit of hell, where they encounter pimps and whores, corporate malfeasance and urban decay to go along with the medieval horrors chronicled in the original.

The puppetwork, using paper figures that manage to be terrifically expressive, is wonderful, but many of the other creative choices fall flat. For every update that works (portraying the Maleboge demons as hypervigilant T.S.A. agents, or mounting Ulysses' story as a puppet show within a puppet show) there are a handful that don't (Lucifer's fondue pot, or the multiple references to the rock band Styx).

Pacing is a problem as well. By the film's halfway mark, Virgil and Dante have raced through the first seven pits of hell, then spend the last half in a leisurely stroll through the final two pits, including plenty of non-Dante tangents along the way. Also, purists may be offended that (spoiler alert!) Dante's trip through hell ends with him back on earth rather than preparing to scale the mountain of purgatory.

But in all it's an admirable effort to try to make a 700-year-old epic poem relevant to modern audiences. The somewhat basic approach may make it cringe-worthy for Dante aficionados. But that makes it ideal for use in a high school classroom, giving another generation an opening to understanding a monumental piece of literature.

Best Bit:
The Pope John Paul II cameo.

Side Note:
Zaloom is better known as Beakman from the TV show "Beakman's World."

Companion Viewing:
"Dante's Inferno" (1935).

Links:
IMDb.
Official Site.

Take a Look:
The trailer:


A song and dance number explaining the grip lobbyists hold on Congress:

Watchmen (2009).

The Scoop:
When Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' "Watchmen" was released in 1985, it became a landmark in the emerging genre of graphic novels and has cast a long shadow. Not only did it enlarge the storytelling possibilities in the comics field, but its effects have also been felt in the larger popular culture, particularly the way films and television shows have handled superhero themes. It was also very much a product of its times, delving deep into the Cold War anxieties of the mid-1980s.

All of which make any sort of film version of "Watchmen" especially problematic. As written by David Hayter ("X-Men") and newcomer Alex Tse and directed by Zack Snyder ("300"), the film is full of thunder and excitement, but runs up against a few walls.

The story takes place in a darker, alternate version of 1985 America in which costumed adventurers and vigilantes are common place and, after their halcyon days in the 1940s, have become increasingly distrusted by the public for enforcing the oppresive policies of the U.S. government, led by Richard Nixon in his fifth term as president. Against the backdrop of escalating nuclear tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union, the hero-turned-military-mercenary The Comedian is murdered. As the sociopathic vigilante Rohrshach tries to solve the crime, he and his former compatriots (including Nite Owl, Silk Spectre, Dr. Manhattan and Ozymandias) uncover corruption and a global power grab.

The novel's genius lies in its multi-layered storytelling, which is rich in symbolism, literary allusions and a wonderfully fleshed-out cast of supporting characters. The history of this alternate world is also richly detailed, providing a running commentary on the main story and rewarding careful attention. All these elements combine to debunk the idealized superhero mythos, turning a cynical eye to the corruption possible when so much power is concentrated in the hands of flawed human beings. It is a world that is less about Superman and more about Travis Bickle.

Accordingly, a faithful film adaptation is a pretty tall order. The Cold War paranoia has lost much of its edge in the nearly quarter century since its release, as had the shock of the novel's innovations. The filmmakers do their best to honor the source material, but come up with a mixed bag.

For the sake of brevity and to not alienate those who haven't read the novel, the filmmakers sweep aside much of the complex backstory for the film. While this serves to keep the focus on the current generation of heroes, it also diminishes the psychological realism of the piece. Consequently, a lot of the characters' actions exist in a vaccuum, and much of Moore's original message is lost. Almost all of the cast of minor characters is lost, too, making the proceedings seem so much thinner and one-dimensional.

And then there's the violence. While the novel and the film are each especially violent, they wind up being two different creatures. Snyder and his writers toned down many of the more brutal passages of the book in favor of Snyder's patented garish fight choreography. Limbs shatter and blood gushes in gruesome slow motion. It's hypnotic and balletic, but ultimately just eye candy. The amoral brutality that Moore used to illuminate his hard-edged characters is replaced by empty and gratuitous exercises in CGI wizardry.

But it's not all bad. The novel's greatest weakness -- its convoluted, inorganic ending -- is given a minor revamp here to better effect. It's still not wholly satisfying, but it is definitely a step in the right direction. There is also terrific cinematography by Larry Fong (a veteran of "300" and "Lost") that vividly brings to life some of the best parts of Gibbons' original artwork.

The acting, too, is solid. With the exception of a wooden turn by Malin Ackerman as the second Silk Spectre, this is a talented ensemble. Billy Crudup (as Dr. Manhattan) and Jackie Earle Haley (as Rohrshach) are particularly great.

In total, "Watchmen" is not completely successful, but it's not a failure, either. Just be sure to read the book first, to fully appreciate the story's rich possibilities.

Best Line:
"Never compromise. Not even in the face of Armageddon."

Side Note:
Having been in development for decades, "Watchmen" has had numerous actors, writers and directors attached to the project at various times. Among the directors considered were Terry Gilliam, Darren Aronofsky, Paul Greenglass and Michael Bay. Among the candidates to play Rohrshach were Robin Williams, Simon Pegg, Daniel Craig and Doug Hutchinson.

Companion Viewing:
"V For Vendetta" (2005) and "The Incredibles" (2004).

Links:
IMDb.
Official Site.
Watchmen Wiki.
The Annotated Watchmen.

Take a Look:
The trailer:


Trailer #2:

The Trial (1962).

The Scoop:
Trying to adapt Franz Kafka for the screen is pretty much a losing proposition from the get-go, so Orson Welles, Hollywood's fabled fallen boy wonder, should get extra genius points for even attempting it.

But what results from his version of "The Trial" is a fairly faithful depiction of the physical action of the novel, without much of the overarching existential dread that made it a masterpiece of modern literature.

Well past his physical prime, Welles turned the starring role of Joseph K. over to the underrated Anthony Perkins, who carries the film with another fine performance. Welles instead plays The Advocate, while the rest of the great cast includes Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider and Akim Tamiroff.

By this point, Welles' glory days were long behind him and it was only by overcoming the greatest resistance that he was able to make any movies at all. So, it is something of a miracle that this film even got made in the first place. Because of that, the film's low budget is quite obvious, and Welles seems to be trying to overcompensate by presenting a grand directorial "vision" that winds up overreaching in spots. But despite its flaws, "The Trial" is still a worthy addition to the Welles canon, and proof that he had more cinematic genius in him than just "Citizen Kane" or "Touch of Evil."

Best Line:
"Yes, that's the conspiracy: to persuade us all that the whole world is crazy, formless, meaningless, absurd. That's the dirty game. So I've lost my case. What of it? You, you're losing too. It's all lost, lost. So what? Does that sentence the entire universe to lunacy?"

Side Note:
Welles changed the ending to one in which K. does not get killed, because he thought a scene of a Jew being killed would be too reminiscent of the Holocaust.

Companion Viewing:
"Touch of Evil" (1959).

Links:
IMDb.
Kafka at the Movies.
Combustible Celluloid.

Take a Look:
The trailer:


The typically Wellesian opening sequence:


The court sequence:

The Wizard of Oz (1925).

The Scoop:
It is best to check your expectations at the door with this silent screen adaptation of L. Frank Baum's novel. It is a very different creature than the classic Judy Garland version.

What it is, mainly, is a vanity project for popular silent film comedian Larry Semon. Not only did he star in the film as the Scarecrow, but he also directed and co-wrote (along with L. Frank Baum Jr. and Leon Lee). The result strays pretty far from both the novel and the 1939 film. There are no witches, no yellow brick road, no Muchkins, and no Toto. What plot is left is minimal -- Dorothy, who was born the princess of Oz and sent to Kansas as an infant (for reasons that are never adequately explained), is whisked off to her homeland with some friends (who merely dress up in the familiar parts of the Scarecrow, Tin Woodsman and Cowardly Lion) and reclaims her throne with only token opposition.

The rest of the film's running time is filled, essentially, with Semon's ego, rendered in the form of seemingly endless, unfunny pratfall sequences and long, loving close-ups of Dorothy (played by his wife, Dorothy Dwan). The physical comedy is, frankly, a product of its time and, as such, does not hold up well today. It is well performed, particularly by Semon and the young, up-and-coming Oliver Hardy (as the Tin Woodsman), but isn't very inventive. Especially when compared to the work of Semon's contemporaries, Buster Keaton and Charles Chaplin.

And then there's the Cowardly Lion, played as a mincing charicature by African-American actor Spencer Bell, who is also given the unfortunate screen name of G. Howe Black.

It is sad to say, but an evening watching this movie is just not time well spent.

Best Line:
"In spring, the young man's fancy turns to -- lollipops."

Side Note:
The androgynous Phantom of the Basket is played by Frederick Ko Vert, a well-known drag performer of the time. He had a handful of similar film roles throughout the 1920s, and also designed the costumes for "The Wizard of Oz."

Companion Viewing:
"The Wizard of Oz" (1939).

Links:
IMDb.
Verdoux.

Take a Look:
An abridged version of the first half of the film:

Dracula (1931).

The Scoop:
What would Halloween be without the king of the vampires?

An iconic milestone of horror cinema, "Dracula" made Bela Lugosi a star, made Universal Studios a mint and established the archetypes for all vampire movies to follow.

The script, by Garrett Fort, is a loose adaptation of the immensely popular Hamilton Deane/John L. Balderson play, which in turn was a loose adaptation of the classic Bram Stoker novel. The end result bares little relation to the source material, but that's beside the point. What makes this film a legend is Lugosi's threatening, sexually-charged performance as the undead Transylvanian count who wants to move to London to continue his bloodthirsty ways. Lugosi reprises his performance from the play here, as does Edward Van Sloan, who plays Dr. Van Helsing.

This film marked the high point of Lugosi's career (in only his first American movie) and would dominate his psyche for the rest of his life. It also (along with Boris Karloff's performance in "Frankenstein" that same year) firmly injected the horror genre into the modern consciousness.

Despite its legendary reputation, though, "Dracula" has sequences that are as stagey and talkative as any creaky melodrama of the period. It is considered the crowning achievement of director Tod Browning's career, although it is reported that his drinking problem got so out of hand during the shoot that cinematographer Karl Freund had to step in to do much of the direction. This is evinced best by the contrasts in quality between the moody, gothic atmospherics of the Transylvanian scenes (attributed to Freund) and the stodginess of the London scenes (attributed to Browning). By this point, all of Browning's best work was behind him, left behind in the silent film era, while Freund would go on to be a successful genre director in his own right.

Despite its flaws (armadillos, anyone?), "Dracula" remains a landmark of the genre and a must-see for any serious film fan.

Best Line:
Either "I never drink... wine," or, "The children of the night -- what music they make!"

Side Note:
In spite of being a runaway success and matinee idol for starring in the stage version, Lugosi was the last choice to play the role of the bloodsucking count on film. The producers and other studio executives thought Lugosi did not have the star quality to carry the movie and went through several alternatives, thoroughly ignoring Lugosi's active petitioning for the role. The actor who was finally chosen to play Dracula was Browning's frequent collaborator, the great Lon Chaney, who died just before filming began. When the other contenders weren't available on such short notice, Lugosi was finally given the role simply to keep the production on schedule. Despite playing the title character, Universal wound up paying him only half of what they paid the other principal actors.

Companion Viewing:
"Dracula (Spanish Version)" (1931) and "Frankenstein" (1931).

Links:
IMDb.
The Broadway production, from the Internet Broadway Database.
Bram Stoker's novel.

Take a Look:
Dracula's entrance -- keep your eyes peeled for those famously anachronistic armadillos:


Dracula vs. Van Helsing:


Some scenes that feature the reissue score by Philip Glass:

Dante's Inferno (2007).

The Scoop:
One unintended consequence of the electronic media age has been a change in the way we experience classic (i.e., pre-20th century) literature. Now it's all about the adaptation. (Of course, these adaptations make sense for the filmmakers, who get cheap access to familiar material and don't have to deal with authors who demand royalties or protest changes in the script.) More and more, one's first encounter with Shakespeare or Dickens or countless other authors is through a film or television adaptation of one of their works. If audiences aren't rushing to the cineplex for their first tastes of these classics, they are getting them in the classroom -- teachers typically now accompany their reading assignments with screenings of films based on these works to help students better understand them. Shakespeare has now become inseparable from Olivier or Branagh, and Jane Austen from the starlet du jour.

All of which brings us to this version of "Dante's Inferno."

Italian poet Dante Alighieri's "Comedy" -- his epic tale of his journey through hell ("Inferno"), purgatory ("Purgatorio") and heaven ("Paradiso") under the tutelage of his idol, the Roman poet Virgil and Dante's beloved Beatrice -- is notoriously resistant to onscreen adaptation. Except for a couple perfunctory stabs from the silent era and a BBC miniseries from the 1980s, little straight adaptation has been done of the poem. More commonly, elements of the "Comedy" have been used as inspirations or jumping-off points for newer works. (One typical example is the 1935film "Dante's Inferno," a turgid morality play in which Spencer Tracy plays a carnival barker wrestling with the ethics of his profession. The attraction he shills for, a ride based on "Inferno," is shown in only a few scenes, primarily as a comment on the action of the main story.)

So give filmmakers Sean Meredith, Sandow Birk and Paul Zaloom credit for attempting a full adaptation of "Inferno." One reason adaptors have stayed away from Dante is his work's resistance to modernized spins on the material (something that has become a staple of filmed Shakespeare, for instance). But the threesome give it a try, mixing in modern situations and personalities with the arcane issues and obscure historical figures used by Dante. Credit should also go to them for doing it in the form of a puppet show.

In this version Dante (voiced by Dermot Mulroney) wakes up hung over in a seedy alley, not knowing how he got there. He his approached by Virgil (James Cromwell), who leads him down a sewer into the pit of hell, where they encounter pimps and whores, corporate malfeasance and urban decay to go along with the medieval horrors chronicled in the original.

The puppetwork, using paper figures that manage to be terrifically expressive, is wonderful, but many of the other creative choices fall flat. For every update that works (portraying the Maleboge demons as hypervigilant T.S.A. agents, or mounting Ulysses' story as a puppet show within a puppet show) there are a handful that don't (Lucifer's fondue pot, or the multiple references to the rock band Styx).

Pacing is a problem as well. By the film's halfway mark, Virgil and Dante have raced through the first seven pits of hell, then spend the last half in a leisurely stroll through the final two pits, including plenty of non-Dante tangents along the way. Also, purists may be offended that (spoiler alert!) Dante's trip through hell ends with him back on earth rather than preparing to scale the mountain of purgatory.

But in all it's an admirable effort to try to make a 700-year-old epic poem relevant to modern audiences. The somewhat basic approach may make it cringe-worthy for Dante aficionados. But that makes it ideal for use in a high school classroom, giving another generation an opening to understanding a monumental piece of literature.

Best Bit:
The Pope John Paul II cameo.

Side Note:
Zaloom is better known as Beakman from the TV show "Beakman's World."

Companion Viewing:
"Dante's Inferno" (1935).

Links:
IMDb.
Official Site.

Take a Look:
The trailer:


A song and dance number explaining the grip lobbyists hold on Congress:

William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999).

The Scoop:
Michael Hoffman's version of Shakespeare's classic romantic fantasy gives the material the lush, sexy treatment it deserves. Hoffman has transplanted the action to the late 19th century in the Italian countryside, and the beautiful landscape sets just the right tone. An gorgeous looking all-star cast (led by Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Calista Flockhart and Christian Bale) takes its crack at the Bard, and doesn't embarrass itself too badly, despite a few difficult performances.

(Difficult performances seem to be par for the course with filmed Shakespeare in the past couple decades, but Hoffman does a good job here of minimizing their impact.)

Still, the art direction is memorable and Hoffman shows more skin and sex than is typical, giving the material a much more modern feel, while still maintaining the spirit of the original text. Definitely a winner, and a film that should be accessible even to those who don't ordinarily "get" Shakespeare.

Best Bit:
"The course of true love never did run smooth."

Side Note:
As the Mechanicals are waiting to perform for the Duke, we see other groups rehearsing their own plays -- which include "Oedipus Rex" and "Othello."

Companion Viewing:
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1935).

Links:
IMDb.
The original text.
Greg Ferguson drops some essay-ic knowledge.

Take a Look:
The opening scenes:

Angels and Insects (1995).

The Scoop:
This is one of those art house period pieces that works better for what it means than for what it is -- wonderfully acted and beautiful to look at, but ultimately somewhat hollow at its core.

William Rylance plays an awkward 19th century naturalist marries into a proper upper-class English family, prompting a sort of culture clash that draws out an old family secret. Patsy Kensit play his wife, the fragile Eugenia, Douglas Henshall is her oddly possessive brother Edgar, and Kristen Scott Thomas is Matty Crompton, an spinsterish cousin with a love for studying biology.

The storyline, based on A.S. Byatt's novel "Morpho Eugenio," is slow and only occasionally compelling, but it raises interesting issues about Darwinian evolution, the human animal and mankind's place in the natural world. Shots of the gritty natural lives of the insects contrast nicely with the refined civilization of the family and show that we're not really as far removed from our animal brethren as we like to think. The costume design by Paul Brown strikingly underscores this similarity by mimicking the brilliant markings of the exotic insects, and the cinematography by Bernard Zitzermann wonderfully captures the look of Victorian-era painting.

Best Bit:
The wedding night sex scene between Eugenia and William.

Side Note:
Brown received an Oscar nomination for his costume design here, in what was also his first feature film work.

Companion Viewing:
"The Age of Innocence" (1993).

Links:
IMDb.

Take a Look:
Some kind soul has serialized the entire film on YouTube in 10-minute chunks. Start with part one below and then get the rest here.

Hamlet (1996).

The Scoop:
"Hamlet" is -- period, hands down -- the greatest piece of drama ever written. It's a stupendous achievement that was the keystone of Shakespeare's larger revolution in humanizing the dramatic arts. Unfortunately, its navigations of the psychological terrain are so vast that it has rarely been performed on stage (and never on film) in its entirety. All of Shakespeare's texts have been abridged and adapted over the years (and I'm a big advocate of uncut Shakespeare), but with "Hamlet" it has been as much a case of practical necessity as artistic interpretation. The play is just too long to expect an audience to get through in one sitting. Scholars say that even the very first performances by Shakespeare's company were edited down to a manageable size. However, even the best cuts have done a disservice to the work.

Kenneth Branagh has tried to remedy that history with this film, the only complete and unabridged film version of "Hamlet." The result, clocking in at more than four hours, is a treat. The cinematography is beautiful and extravagant, and the core group of actors (including Branagh, Julie Christie, Derek Jacobi and Kate Winslet) hit all the right notes. Most of the smaller parts feature familiar faces, and with the exception of Jack Lemmon's uncharacteristically wooden take on Marcellus, they do their duties well, too. Charleton Heston is a particularly delightful surprise, in a role (The Player King) that usually doesn't require much more than good diction. This adaptation is essential Shakespeare.

Best Line:
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Side Note:
Nicholas Farrell, who plays Horatio here, was in Franco Zefferelli's "Hamlet" (1990) as Rosencrantz and in Branagh's "A Midwinter's Tale" (1995) as the actor playing Laertes in a stage production of "Hamlet."

Companion Viewing:
"A Midwinter's Tale" (1995).

Links:
IMDb.
Movie Links.
Read the play.

Take a Look:
The trailer:


Branagh asks the most famous question in literature in an odd aspect ratio:


I've always thought this was a better soliloquy than "To be or not to be":

Greed (1924).

The Scoop:
Avarice, violence, hate -- it's all here, every bit of the dark side of human nature. "Greed" is an adaptation of the Frank Norris novel "McTeague," about the disasterous consequences a lottery jackpot has on the lives of two men (Gibson Gowland and Jean Hersholt) who are battling over the same woman (Zasu Pitts). The film is also both Erich von Stroheim's masterpiece and perhaps the most notorious example of loss of creative control in film history.

The original director's cut was nearly nine hours long and was only shown once, to a group of studio executives. After the studio took control, the film was edited down to only 140 minutes. Most of the outtakes were eventually destroyed. Several attempts at reconstructing the movie have been made by film scholars over the years, but it was not until 1999 that Turner Classic Movies released the most complete restoration.

Using the small amount of surviving outtakes and still photographs from the lost scenes, the newest version runs just over four hours. While that might be a mind-numbing length for most movies, "Greed" holds its own the whole way -- and still feels incomplete. Too bad this is probably the most complete version we will ever get to see.

Best Bit:
The grim ending, shot on location in Death Valley. (The 37-day shoot was just as hard on the actors as it was on the characters. Hersholt lost 27 pounds and had to be hospitalized when it was all over.)

Side Note:
Herscholt was better known for his philanthropic efforts, and is the namesake of the Jean Herscholt Humanitarian Award given at the Oscars. He was also the uncle of actor Leslie Nielsen.

Companion Viewing:
"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948).

Links:
IMDb.
Frank Norris' original novel.
Fan site.

Take a Look:
TCM offers this spoiler-y clip from the Death Valley sequence. Watch with caution!

Newsreel footage of the cast and crew trekking into Death Valley:

Alice Through the Looking Glass (1998).

The Scoop:
The makers of this British television production aimed for an adult version of the classic children's tale -- mostly, they seemed to have accomplished this by removing the charm and adding tedium. The childlike dreaminess of the original has been replaced with the quality of a feverish hallucination, which is intriguing, if not entirely successful.

A young Kate Beckinsale is the grown-up Alice, who takes a trip through the mirror while reading the bedtime story to her daughter. There are some wonderful visuals and effects on display, but the overall experiment falls flat. Furthermore, as the title suggests, the film focuses on the second of Lewis Carroll's "Alice" novels, so such familiar crowd-pleasers as the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter are missing.

The end result is an interesting "serious" literary adaptation, but you'd probably still be better off just sticking with something definitive, like the Disney animated version.

Best Bit:
The stylish, music video quality of the "Walrus and the Carpenter" sequence.

Side Note:
Director John Henderson is a veteran of the British "Spitting Image" television series.

Companion Viewing:
"Alice in Wonderland" (1951).

Links:
IMDb.

Take a Look:
Two trailers are available over at IMDb.

The Scarlet Letter (1926).

The Scoop:
Even into the 1920s, Nathaniel Hawthorne's most famous novel was still being censored in many parts of the country, so mounting a film version was no mean feat. Star Lillian Gish was the driving force behind getting this film made, and it was her years of persistence in petitioning studio executives and local morality groups that finally paid off in the release of this film. And she didn't stop there; she followed through with one of her finest performances of her career. Her interpretation of Hester Prynne is still vivid and moving more than eight decades later.

In addition, this adaptation by writer Frances Marion and director Victor Sjöström boasts gorgeous cinematography and the resotred print from 2000 has a wonderful new score by Lisa Ann Miller and Mark Northam. Forget Demi Moore -- Gish's Hester Prynne is perhaps the definitive screen interpretation of that classic character (particularly during the devestating punishment scene), making this one of the greatest silents ever made. Even Lars Hanson's occasional overemoting as Arthur Dimmesdale cannot dampen the power of this movie.

Best Line:
"It would be pleasant, sir, to walk beside thee and hear thee condemn me for my sins."

Side Note:
Before coming to MGM to make this movie, Gish had previously directed "Remodeling Her Husband" (1920), starring her sister Dorothy.

Companion Viewing:
"Greed" (1924).

Links:
IMDb.

Take a Look:
You can stream the whole film from Google Video.