Word: plotting
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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...Anna Karenina" at the University this week is certainly not Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina." True, the essentials of the plot remain, and such changes as have been made are justified by the necessity of condensation. But the spirit of the original has been lost and the characters vitiated beyond recognition. Only Anna and Alexei Karenin retain a spark of life; the others are bloodless lay-figures. Least excusable is the mutilation of Konstantin Levin--in the book a sensitive, passionate, inarticulate, self-contradictory idealist, but reduced in the picture to a formal and awkward lover. Frederick March was no more...
...Farmer Takes a Wife" is pleasantly quiet. It is essentially an idyllic love story concerning Janet Gaynor and Henry Fonds, but the triteness of plot is relieved by the varied minor characters and by its background, the Erie Canal in Pre-Civil War days. The conflict between railway and canal, the lure of western emigration, and the farmer's love of the land are all presented calmly but with force...
...Band" is fine, should one be a personal admirer of Buddy Rogers, his charm, acting ability--but need we rhapsodize further? Smoothie maestro Rogers has a hard time impressing band-mistress June Clyde with his obvious merits until he gets a black eye in her service. That's the plot. The interstices are filled by views of various orchestras, Rogers tooting on various instruments, and amateurish hip-wiggling by June Clyde. There is a fairly good tune called the "Valparaiso," and a passable Spanish dance team, which, however, are soon forgotten when the movie returns to its theme of snuggle...
...must frequently have been tempted to burlesque the story rather than risk having audiences discover their own laughs in its sentimental climaxes. Instead, with the aid of a sympathetic script, by Howard Estabrook and William Hurlbut. he gave it a straight-forward treatment, emphasized the backgrounds rather than the plot. The result is that Way Down East has a disarming charm which is almost a satisfactory substitute for the emotional impact of its famed original...
...essentials, Dead End is simply Street Scene without a plot. But Mr. Kingsley's episode has been immeasurably enhanced by his collection of child actors. Although they are professional mummers, Tommy and most of his gang seem to come straight from Manhattan's slummy East Side. When they play gutter poker, knock each other down or yell, "You stink on ice!" they do so with great natural gusto and authority. Because of Master Halop & Co. and Designer Geddes' work. Dead End belongs on any theatrical "must" list...