This lesser-known version of Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy" (1925) was more successfully filmed by director George Stevens as "A Place in the Sun" (1951). It opens with the dedication, "to the army of men and women all over the world who have tried to make life better for youth." This references a theme present in the novel, but it really isn't placed properly, here. We jump to a scene establishing the fact that handsome protagonist Phillips Holmes (great as Clyde Griffiths), working as a bellhop in Kansas City, is attractive to young women. Visually, this is unnecessary.
More important to the story is that Holmes' character had the difficult childhood noted in the opening. This is conveyed, next, with the introduction of his prayerful mother (a good performance by Lucille La Verne). But, the connection is lost, and Holmes is left carrying an empty character. The "tragedy" isn't what happens to his character - instead, it becomes what happens to poor girlfriend Roberta "Bert" Alden (another good performance, by Sylvia Sidney). This doesn't mean director Josef von Sternberg's "American Tragedy" is a bad film, just one that doesn't achieve its potential.
******* An American Tragedy (8/5/31) Josef von Sternberg ~ Phillips Holmes, Sylvia Sidney, Frances Dee, Lucille La Verne
More important to the story is that Holmes' character had the difficult childhood noted in the opening. This is conveyed, next, with the introduction of his prayerful mother (a good performance by Lucille La Verne). But, the connection is lost, and Holmes is left carrying an empty character. The "tragedy" isn't what happens to his character - instead, it becomes what happens to poor girlfriend Roberta "Bert" Alden (another good performance, by Sylvia Sidney). This doesn't mean director Josef von Sternberg's "American Tragedy" is a bad film, just one that doesn't achieve its potential.
******* An American Tragedy (8/5/31) Josef von Sternberg ~ Phillips Holmes, Sylvia Sidney, Frances Dee, Lucille La Verne