Anne of Green Gables (1934)

Didn't know this version existed until catching it on TCM last night. I read the book first in elementary (my 2nd grade teacher had cassette tapes and we read along with our own books) and have read it many times since then. I remember when the Megan Follows version used to air during the WETA telethons and I used to watch it over and over. Although I wasn't as dramatic as Anne as a child, I could relate to her awkwardness, insecurities, etc. That's just an indication of how great of a writer Montgomery was.Fast forward to this afternoon (day after Thanksgiving laying about), I watched the Dawn O'Day/Anne Shirley version. I thought I recognized the actress, so when I looked her up, I recognized her from 'Stella Dallas' with Barbara Stanwyck. I had assumed that the name Anne Shirley was a coincidence, but she actually changed her name after playing Anne. I guess the role had a major impact on her. Anyway, she's competent as Anne. As in 'Stella Dallas,'she plays drama queen quite well, but it's a very in-your-face style. I would say Megan Follows was much more nuanced in her performance whereas I could tell Anne Shirley was acting. The adaptation is just average. I wouldn't consider myself a purist, but I was disappointed that many key parts of the book were left out. In this version, Mrs. Lynde is now Mrs. Barry and Diana's mother. They left in the scene where Anne gets cross with Mrs. Barry/Lynde, but they took out the Diana getting drunk story as well as many other charming bits. The raspberry cordial scene and the aftermath is highly identifiable and I was shocked it was missing. The movie runs about 90 minutes, so I guess they couldn't get a lot of stuff in, but honestly, the missing parts make me glad I that I've seen it, but less likely to watch again. Don't get me wrong, it's not a completely different story, but it is a severe cliff's notes version. I usually go for original versions, but in this case, the TV version is far superior, so I would recommend this movie if you have time to kill or are interested in other adaptations.

I wasn't expecting much, and I wasn't expecting this film to be completely true to the book it was based on; but I guess I was expecting at least more than a passing resemblance to the book. People have mentioned that it mostly sticks to the book....I wonder which book they read. Although the first half hour of the film is pretty close to the novel, the rest of the film is made up almost completely out of thin air. *SPOILERS*The biggest change which I really hated, was that in the film, Matthew was supposed to have married Gilbert Blythe's mother (in the book, it was Marilla who was supposed to have married Gilbert Blythe's father). Because Gilbert's mother ran off with someone else and left Matthew, Marilla has an inexplicable hatred of Gilbert. Yea, that makes a lot of sense. She dislikes him so much, that when she finds out Anne and Gilbert are romantically involved, she schemes and lies to separate them--by telling Anne that she owes Marilla and Matthew too much to disobey them like this, and lies to Gilbert by telling him Anne doesn't love him. What in the world happened to the lovable Marilla and Matthew of the book? Although Marilla did have pain at seeing Gilbert in the novel, thinking he could have been her son, she certainly would have never schemed and lied to keep Anne and Gilbert separated. And she certainly wouldn't have tried to manipulate Anne into doing what she wanted by reminding her of what she "owed" to the Cuthberts because they took her in. As for the rest of the film, the actors who played Matthew and Gilbert aren't bad--although if I closed my eyes, I would have sworn Gilbert was being played by Mickey Rooney. Anne Shirley plays Anne even more hyper and obnoxious than I would have thought possible in the first half of the film; and then she suddenly morphs into a completely different character as she becomes a teenager and becomes a completely boring typical 1930s female.

Director: George Nichols Jr., Novel: Lucy Maud Montgommery, Script: Sam Mintz, Cast: Anne Shirley, O.P. Heggie, Tom Brown, Helen Westley I bought this film mostly out of curiosity because we have the 1985 Keven Sullivan version which my wife and I both enjoy so we wanted to see what this early version was like. Although the 1985 version is better, this is better than I thought it would be. I haven't had a chance to read the book so I don't know how either film relates to the book but the 1934 version is only about 80 minutes long whereas the 1985 one is 3 hours long. Consequently, much is cut out in this earlier film. Ann's friendship with Diana Berry is way underdeveloped and before you know it, she is already in college! The 1985 version is much more of a coming of age film. A lot of time is spent on the relationship between Ann and Diana.The acting is pretty good in this film. It doesn't really compete with the 1985 film because that has an absolute perfect cast but they were good here also. Much of the lines in this film are the exact same as the 1985 version. O.P. Heggie and Helen Westly did a fine job as Matthew and Marilla. Their perceived characters are much like Richard Farnsworth and Colleen Dewhurst in the 1985. Anne Shirley was played by--well--Anne Shirley. Her birth name was Dawn O'Day. She changed it to Anne Shirley after this film. She had a cute personality in this film. If you are a fan of the 1985 version, you might want to get this also. The shorter length is another reason to buy this DVD. The 1985 version is of epic length so watching it is more like an event. So this one is good if you want just a small dose of Anne. IMDb also lists a silent version from 1919 but it is stated that there are no known prints of the film. That is a shame.

POSSIBLE SPOILERSI caught this on TCM (Turner Classic Movies, a.k.a the "old movie channel") and I found it to be clean, cute, funny at times, and it had a nice happy ending. It's a good film, not great, but not horrible, either. The film does some justice to L.M. Montgomery's novel, however, in the book, "Anne of Green Gables," Matthew experiences a heart attack (or stroke...can't remember) and he dies. It's completely the opposite in the movie.Gilbert and Anne didn't hook up in "Anne of Green Gables" book. They finally got together in the third book titled "Anne of Windy Poplars." In the film, it shows a budding romance between the two of them. It's also amazing that they try to squeeze 3 years of Anne's life into 90 minutes. In the book, Anne was 11 years old; in the film, she's 14. The film wasn't entirely true to the novel, which was disappointing, however it still was enjoyable. It's much different than the 1985 Disney version. In Disney's version, Marilla is much more gentle and nice than the one in the 1934 version. Matthew was pretty much the same, personality-wise. From both the book and Kevin Sullivan's 1985 movie, Diana Barry has black hair. In the old 1934 film, she's a blonde.In this movie, Anne annoyed me a little bit due to her excessive talking, which makes me wonder about the people who hang around me (since I talk too much as well....LOL). All in all, I give the movie 3 out of 5 stars. Still, the 1985 version with Megan Follows as Anne is much better than this movie. However, for all you purists (like me) out there, I suggest renting the 1985 movie since it is much more truer to the book.