Anna Karenina (1935)

The married Anna Karenina falls in love with Count Vronsky despite her husband's refusal to grant a divorce, and both must contend with the social repercussions.

Director:

Clarence Brown

Writers:

Leo Tolstoy (from the novel by) (as Count Leo Tolstoy), Clemence Dane (screen play)

Stars:

Greta Garbo, Fredric March, Freddie Bartholomew

3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Greta Garbo	...	Anna Karenina
Fredric March	...	Count Vronsky
Freddie Bartholomew	...	Sergei
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Kitty
May Robson	...	Countess Vronsky
Basil Rathbone	...	Alexei Alexandrovitch Karenin
Reginald Owen	...	Stiva
Phoebe Foster	...	Dolly
Reginald Denny	...	Yashvin
Gyles Isham	...	Konstantin Demitrievitch Levin
Joan Marsh	...	Lili
Ethel Griffies	...	Mme. Kartasoff
Harry Beresford	...	Matve
Sarah Padden	...	Governess
Cora Sue Collins	...	Tania

Storyline

This version of the Tolstoy classic lingers longer in Moscow during the weeks that follow the initial meeting of the starstruck lovers-to-be Vronsky and Anna Karenina. The story -- as it unfolds -- also focuses on Kitty, a young woman who is related to Anna's sister-in-law whose marital rift has brought Anna to Moscow. Until Anna shows up, Kitty had hopes of getting Vronsky, who is single and well connected, to propose to her. Ignored by Vronsky, Kitty turns her attention to another suitor, a man who seems to have a lot in common with Tolstoy.

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Plot Keywords:

infidelity | dysfunctional marriage | adultery | character name as title | anna karenina character | 

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Taglines:

THESE TWO LOVED...and the world stood aghast! (original print ad)

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a letter dated January 7, 1935 from David O. Selznick to Greta Garbo, Selznick told Garbo that he preferred a George Cukor-directed Dark Victory to Anna Karenina as a starring vehicle for her, and urged her to agree with him. One week later, in a letter to MGM director J. Walter Ruben, Selznick stated that he would do Dark Victory if he succeeded in purchasing the rights to the play at a reasonable cost and if Philip Barry consented to write the screenplay. Selznick pointed to the box office disappointments of Queen Christina (1933) and The Painted Veil (1934) as evidence that Anna Karenina would be an unwise choice for Garbo, and noted that Fredric March, who was "fed up with doing costume pictures," made it known that he would do Anna Karenina only if required to by his studio. Despite Selznick's best efforts to convince Garbo to do Dark Victory, she insisted on doing Anna Karenina, a story she had already done as a silent movie entitled Love (1927). According to a biography of Garbo, she was determined to do Anna Karenina because she did not like what she had heard about Dark Victory, and because she "had immersed herself in Anna Karenina and it was now too late to make an abrupt turnabout." Furthermore, a clause in Garbo's contract gave her the option to refuse to make a film if she disliked the script.

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Goofs

During the drinking game, while under the table, the officer who is in front of Vronsky disappears.

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Quotes

Dolly: Sometimes I think... I compare my life to yours. You travel, you go to Italy, you do what you like. You are loved. While I... no ecstasy, no glamour, all the things you have. And Sergei? What of him?
Anna Karenina: I don't see him. Karenin won't let me see him.
Dolly: Oh. That must be hard.
Anna Karenina: Well, whatever way one lives, there's a penalty, I suppose.

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Alternate Versions

Despite all previous versions being intact the 2006 UK Warner DVD was cut by 7 secs by the BBFC to remove footage of horse-falls.

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Connections

Referenced in Hollywood Hist-o-Rama: Basil Rathbone (1962)

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Soundtracks

Eugene Onegin, Op. 24)
(1879) (uncredited)
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Libretto by Konstantin Shilovsky, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Modest Tchaikovsky
Based on the novel by Alexander Pushkin
Opera Excerpts performed at the theater

User Reviews

Displeased

I absolutely love the novel Anna Karenina, but I am extremely displeased to find out that none of the movies really focus at all on the Levin/Kitty plot. There have been numerous arguments between scholars over whether or not Tolstoy had two protagonists--Anna, and Levin. To simply gloss over such a large part of Tolstoy's novel doesn't do justice to his work. And as I don't particularly like Anna or Vronsky, I definitely won't be investing my time in watching a movie entirely about them. It's a shame that people who see the many movies made about Anna Karenina won't be getting a better view of what the novel really is like.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 November 1935 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Anna Karenina

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,152,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1