Anna Karenina (1948)

Stefan and Dolly Oblonsky have had a little spat and Stefan has asked his sister, Anna Karenina, to come down to Moscow to help mend the rift. Anna's companion on the train from St. ... See full summary »

Director:

Julien Duvivier

Writers:

Jean Anouilh (screenplay), Guy Morgan (screenplay),

Stars:

Vivien Leigh, Ralph Richardson, Kieron Moore

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Vivien Leigh	...	Anna Karenina
Ralph Richardson	...	Karenin
Kieron Moore	...	Count Vronsky
Hugh Dempster	...	Stefan Oblonsky
Mary Kerridge	...	Dolly Oblonsky
Marie Lohr	...	Princess Shcherbatsky
Frank Tickle	...	Prince Shcherbatsky
Sally Ann Howes	...	Kitty Shcherbatsky
Niall MacGinnis	...	Levin (as Niall Macginnis)
Michael Gough	...	Nicholai
Martita Hunt	...	Princess Betty Tversky
Heather Thatcher	...	Countess Lydia Ivanovna
Helen Haye	...	Countess Vronsky
Mary Martlew	...	Princess Nathalia
Ruby Miller	...	Countess Meskov

Storyline

Stefan and Dolly Oblonsky have had a little spat and Stefan has asked his sister, Anna Karenina, to come down to Moscow to help mend the rift. Anna's companion on the train from St. Petersburg is Countess Vronsky who is met at the Moscow station by her son. Col. Vronsky looks very dashing in his uniform and it's love at first sight when he looks at Anna and their eyes meet. Back in St. Petersburg they keep running into each other at parties. Since she has a husband and small son, they must be very discreet if they are going to see each other alone.

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Plot Keywords:

love at first sight | love | train | countess | revenge | 

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Taglines:

This Was Her One Tragic Love !

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

22 January 1948 (UK)

Also Known As:

Ana Karenina

Filming Locations:

London Film Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

London Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

139 min 111 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Opening credits: Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Everything was in confusion in the Oblonsky's House.

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Connections

Version of Anna Karenina (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Ruslan and Lyudmila"
Overture (uncredited)
Music by Mikhail Glinka
Arranged by Constant Lambert

User Reviews

Take a Novel Name, Make Up Your Own Story

This film is like the adaptation of Wuthering Heights Goldwyn made in 1939. --Which is to say it cuts its indebtedness to its literary namesake to the bone so completely you'd swear the producers were paying for the use of the name based on percentage of fidelity to original source material. This is still a common practice, to take a hot literary property or should-be sacrosanct classic and completely wing it on your "interpretation" of the story. (See the recent refry of Scarlet Letter, for example.) Understand, I won't carp about the issue of fidelity, per se. My point is more like why even bother to use the name as a film title if you find it expedient for one reason or another to ditch the plot and refit the original character nuances.

The redeeming feature of this film lies in the way it pays off with a big, teary, dramatically oh-so right finish. You'd have to be pretty flinty not to feel it. --The sad, stunning finish seems, after all is said and done, the films reason for being. See it. 8 stars.