Anna Karenina (1948) dvd movie.|
Anna Karenina (1948) dvd videos, dvd movies reviews |
 |
List Price: $7.98 Features • Black & White • Color • DVD-Video • NTSC In Theaters : 1948 DVD Release : 07 July, 1998 |
| [ + Zoom ] [ Buy Now ] | DVD : This item is currently not available. |
|
Anna Karenina (1948) description Vivien Leigh is a "Scarlett" woman as tragic heroine Anna Karenina, unhappily married to "colossal bore" Alexei (Ralph Richardson), who neglects her to attend to affairs of state. When Anna meets the dashing Count Vronsky (Kieron Moore), she begins an affair of her own that scandalizes St. Petersburg and leads to her ostracization from high-society cir ... review details |
|
|
| ♥♥♥♥♥ | No Train Wreck Here |
| The Duvivier ANNA KARENINA has always been considered generally inferior to the Garbo MGM version, and for years was only available in substandard video transfers and dim revival prints. Fox's spiffy new DVD is cause for rejoicing from film fans -- there's plenty to enjoy in this movie. (Only the most dogged of completists will complain that the version on display is the American release print, some 12 or so minutes shorter than the British version. Trust me, you won't miss the differences.) The screenplay, credited to Jean Anouilh, among others, is the usual trot through the novel, with Kitty and Levin receiving their customary short shrift, the better to concentrate on Anna. Leigh is in fine form here, tacking the last of her glamour roles in film with elegance and assurance. Given the turmoil passion wreaked in Leigh's personal life, her Anna's perhaps a bit cool, but she's intelligent, fine-grained, and ultimately very moving. As a nice plus, Leigh looks superb in her chic Beaton duds. Richardson's ideal as Karenin, and, in a large and distinguised supporting cast, Sally Ann Howes' Kitty and Martita Hunt's Princess Betsy give particular pleasure. (Michael Gough, in a bit part, manages to be as over-the-top irritating in a few lines as he was later in leads in such B-classics as KONGA and TROG, thereby putting the lie to my long-held opinion that he's an actor best suited to small parts.) The picture's major weakness is Kieron Moore's Vronsky. Handsome in a horse-faced way, he's no match for Leigh; their scenes together lack life and fire. The director generally throws the scenes her way, and with good reason. Even shrouded in semi-darkness, Moore looks lost. Altogether, not a great classic, but full of many pleasures, great and small. | |
|