"Anna Karenina" by Clarence Brown (1935)

Seems I am on a roll with cinematic adaptations of famous novels, but in this case there is no worry because I have read Leo Tolstoy's novel some three decades ago and nowadays everything evaporated from my memory except vague idea that I felt not for Karenina or Vronsky, but surprisingly for Karenin (who in the novel affectionately accepted child Ana Karenina had with her lover). Obviously, it is a huge novel and it was necessary to tailor it for screen retelling so roughly half of it was skipped.

Make no mistake about it, this is grand Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer extravaganza helmed by David O. Selznick who created this as showcase for his Swedish sensation - even though is lavish production with beautiful costumes, tons of actors and spectacular scenery, focus is exclusively on Greta Garbo and she is so lovingly filmed that we miss her any time she is absent from the screen. Director Clarence Brown takes his sweet time to set the story, initially playing with every cliché associated with Tsarist Russia: sumptuous dinners, officers in shiny boots bursting in the song, gypsy singers and dancers twirling around, you name it, its here. When Vronsky finally glances at Karenina, she appears from a smoke, like a vision - Garbo's entrance couldn't be more carefully planned and from here we are so dazzled with her beauty, poise and elegance that somehow shaky script don't even matter. Strange, for the first time I became aware how androgynous Garbo was - her unusual features were completely sexless, which was the most visible when she was surrounded by other women - although everybody was smothered in heavy costumes, laces and hats, Garbo still stands out amongst them as some unearthly mirage. 

The relationship between Karenina and Vronsky has almost no chemistry, as Fredric March turns very perfunctory, one-dimensional act - than again, its a very ungrateful role as Vronsky is basically a cad - still, its not exactly clear why would woman like Garbo fall for him. Far more interesting is the energy between Garbo and excellent Basil Rathbone (yes, Sherlock Holmes himself) who plays her cold, unloving husband - the movie works very hard to present him as a monster who cares only about propriety and his status in society but for me he is real uncrowned star of the show as his character suffers in silence much more than lovers caught in heat of the moment. The real tragedy is that Karenin never understood his wife and even though he might genuinely love her, he is incapable to show her affection (all we see is jealousy and frustrated anger that she so openly defies him). The fact of Karenina making a choice between motherhood and love is dealt with very gingerly - we know she will suffer one way or the other, either staying in a cold, loveless marriage or leaving child behind (by the way, little Freddie Bartholomew played it as expected in the 1930s but I yelled at him angrily, annoying little brat and future Norman Bates). The ending is quite magnificent and Garbo is hypnotic - she is such a strong, magnetic presence that she carries the whole movie on her shoulders, without her this would be just a fairly amusing old fashioned sentimental melodrama but honestly, I could watch this again.