Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Absolutely Fantastic

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I know there are several well-known-to-verging-on-classic books targeting young girls, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, What Katy Did, Little Women etc; I've never read any of them and being male had no real desire to but I did watch this 1934 adaptation of Anne of Green Gables when it was shown on television earlier today and overall I was enchanted by it's innocence and depiction of an idyllic rural life impossible to replicate outside hard covers or on strips of film with perforations down the side. Ann Shirley is exceptional as the eponymous character but all the cast are excellent and contrive to make a storyline simplistic in the extreme believable. Sara Haden would, within the decade, be appearing in an entire series set in a mythically perfect America, the Andy Hardy films and this is a worthy comparison in a similar genre. If examined under too harsh a light flaws will be detectable but if you're prepared to surrender to it's charm you will be well rewarded.

In "Anne of Green Gables" (1934), Marilla Cuthbert (Helen Westley) and Matthew Cuthbert (O.P. Heggie), middle-aged siblings who live together at Green Gables, a farm in Avonlea, on Prince Edward Island, decide to adopt a boy from distant orphanage to help on their farm. But the orphan sent to them is a precocious girl of 14 named Anne Shirley (Dawn Evelyn Paris-a veteran of Disney's series of "Alice" shorts who later would adopt her character's name). Anne was only 11 in Lucy Maude Montgomery's source novel but the same actress could not credibly go from 11 to college age during the course of the story. The movie suffers somewhat from this concession, as many of Anne's reactions and much of what she says would be far more entertaining coming from an eleven-year-old than from a teenager. As in the book, Anne is bright and quick, eager to please but dissatisfied with her name, her build, her freckles, and her long red hair. Being a child of imagination, however, Anne takes much joy in life, and adapts quickly to her new family and the environment of Prince Edward Island.In fact Anne is the original "Teenage Drama Queen" and the film's screenwriter elected to focus on this aspect of her character. Which transformed the basic genre from mildly amusing family drama to comedy. A change that delighted audiences and that continues to frustrate reader purists. Since the comedy is very much in the spirit of Montgomery's story I can see no reason to take issue with the changes, but let this serve as fair warning to anyone expecting a totally faithful adaptation. The comedy element is the strength of the film as it is one of the earliest self-reflexive parodies of Hollywood conventions. The actress Anne Shirley was one of Hollywood's all- time beauties and the film is in black and white. So much of the amusement is in seeing the title character's endless laments about her appearance and hair color contradicted by what is appearing on the screen. Anne regularly regales her no nonsense rural companions with melodramatic lines like: "If you refuse it will be a lifelong sorrow to me". Perhaps the funniest moment is when she corrects the spelling of her name on the classroom blackboard. Tom Brown does a nice job as Anne's love interest Gilbert Blythe and Sara Haden steals all the scenes in which she appears as the Cuthbert's pompous neighbor. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

As a big fan of the books before I even saw the 80's versions of the movie, I think that the 1934 movie is a fairly good depiction. There is one deviation that they made which bugged me throughout the whole movie. Diana Barry's mother was Miss Rachel in the movie instead of them being 2 separate people. Also Diana had blonde hair, but that I could get past. I'm amused that the actress who played Anne Shirley (with an "e") just so happened to be named Anne Shirley, and she does an excellent job playing the character...it's almost as if the character Anne was modeled after the actress Anne. This movie sticks to the storyline very well, so as to quote many lines from the book. Also, Gilbert is still fairly handsome :)

Vivacious & irrepressible, ANNE OF GREEN GABLES brings unlooked-for happiness into the lives of a lonely old sister & brother on Prince Edward Island.Lucy Maud Montgomery's well-loved novel comes to life in this wonderful little movie. Excellent production values, a literate script and first class performances gives the story exactly the touch of quality it deserves.Taking her professional name from the character she portrayed, actress Anne Shirley is a joy as the red-headed fourteen-year-old orphan who completely alters the lives of her new guardians. Completely assured in her starring role, Miss Shirley is a delight, entertaining the viewer with Anne's boundless imagination, quick temper and not-so-secret sorrows.Playing the stern spinster who gives the girl a home, Helen Westley also completely commands her role; the viewer will enjoy seeing this sharp-tongued woman slowly unbend to Anne's affection and child-like innocence. Australian character actor O. P. Heggie gives one of his finest performances as Westley's shy, gentle brother who welcomes Anne into his heart from the moment he arrives to fetch her from the railroad station.Tom Brown most agreeably plays the schoolboy who quickly grabs Anne's attention. Sara Haden is appropriately prickly as a nosy neighbor. Charley Grapewin makes the most of his few moments as Avonlea's doctor.