If the staid literary stylings of Nathaniel Hawthorne aren't for you, this is a swell cinematic way to experience one of his most renowned creations.
Purists rightly dispute the film's lack of adherence to the book, but in the end it's all about the Pyncheon family curse-and this the movie handles quite well.
Alas, screenwriter Lester Cole (he of Hollywood 10 fame), inserts an irrelevant abolitionist subplot that improbably (but quite intentionally, I suspect) morphs into pseudo-Bolshevik bromides about the inevitable triumph of the laboring masses. But what's a CP member to do when Stalin is playing pattycake with Hitler during the dubious era of good feelings known as the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
I quibble, as all the principals in this are terrific. Margaret Lindsay turns in the performance of a lifetime. Who knew Vincent Price could croon? While favorite cad George ("as ants to a picnic") Sanders does his usual bounderish best. Although his exit could have done without all the ham & cheese.
Here I blame the director. Sanders is a finely calibrated dramatic tuning fork who operates best within a certain elegant frequency. Don't ask him to get too excited. Not his style.
Still, I'd watch him in anything. You should too, starting with this one!
Purists rightly dispute the film's lack of adherence to the book, but in the end it's all about the Pyncheon family curse-and this the movie handles quite well.
Alas, screenwriter Lester Cole (he of Hollywood 10 fame), inserts an irrelevant abolitionist subplot that improbably (but quite intentionally, I suspect) morphs into pseudo-Bolshevik bromides about the inevitable triumph of the laboring masses. But what's a CP member to do when Stalin is playing pattycake with Hitler during the dubious era of good feelings known as the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
I quibble, as all the principals in this are terrific. Margaret Lindsay turns in the performance of a lifetime. Who knew Vincent Price could croon? While favorite cad George ("as ants to a picnic") Sanders does his usual bounderish best. Although his exit could have done without all the ham & cheese.
Here I blame the director. Sanders is a finely calibrated dramatic tuning fork who operates best within a certain elegant frequency. Don't ask him to get too excited. Not his style.
Still, I'd watch him in anything. You should too, starting with this one!