Anthony Adverse

''Anthony Adverse'' is a 1936 American epic historical drama film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Fredric March and Olivia de Havilland. The screenplay by Sheridan Gibney draws elements of its plot from eight of the nine books in Hervey Allen's historical novel, ''Anthony Adverse.'' Abandoned at a convent as an infant, Anthony comes of age in the tumultuous turn of the 18th to the 19th century, the age of Napoleon. The audience is privy to many truths in Anthony's life, including the tragic story of his origins and the fact that the wealthy merchant who adopts him is his grandfather. Most important of all, Anthony believes that his beloved Angela abandoned him without a word, when in fact she left a note telling him that the theatrical troupe was going to Rome. The gust of wind that blows the note away is one of many fateful and fatal events in Anthony's story.

The film received four Academy Awards, including the inaugural Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, given to Gale Sondergaard for her performance as the villainous Faith Paleologus.

Plot

In 1773, young Scottish beauty Maria Bonnyfeather is the new bride of the cruel and devious middle-aged Spanish nobleman Marquis Don Luis. Don Luis suffers from gout, so the consummation of their marriage is postponed until his cure at a famous spa is complete. Meanwhile, Maria's true love, Denis Moore, follows them and stays near their château. While the marquis is away taking the cure, they meet in the woods, and after 3 months Maria tells him she is carrying his child. The marquis returns home, cured, and Maria is horrified at what awaits her. The lovers plan to flee that night, but the marquis discovers Maria waiting for Denis. Don Luis takes her across Europe, but Denis at last tracks them down at an inn, where Don Luis treacherously kills him in a sword duel.

Months later, Maria dies giving birth to her son at a chalet in the Alps in northern Italy. Don Luis leaves the infant in the foundling wheel of a convent near the port city of Leghorn (Livorno), Italy, where the nuns christen him Anthony because he was found on January 17, the feast day of St. Anthony the Great. Don Luis lies to Maria's father, wealthy merchant John Bonnyfeather, telling him that the infant is also dead. Ten years later, completely by coincidence, Anthony is apprenticed to Bonnyfeather, who discovers his relationship to the boy but keeps it a secret from him. The only explanation for Don Luis’ behavior is that Maria's child was illegitimate, and Bonnyfeather cannot bear to have his daughter—or his grandson—bear that stigma. He gives the boy the surname Adverse in acknowledgement of the difficult life he has led.

From his arrival, Anthony and the cook's daughter, Angela Guisseppi are attracted to each other, and they fall in love. Angela has ambitions to become a great singer. Anthony wants to serve Bonnyfeather and marry Angela, but fate intervenes. Angela's father wins the lottery and the family leaves Leghorn. Years later, Anthony finds her, singing professionally, in the opera chorus. Eventually, the couple wed. Soon after the ceremony, Anthony is asked by Bonnyfeather to depart for Havana to save Bonnyfeather's fortune from a laggard debtor, the merchant trading firm Gallego & Sons. On the day his ship is supposed to set sail, he and Angela are supposed to meet at the convent before departing together, but she arrives first, and he is late. Unable to wait any longer, she leaves a note outside the convent to inform him that she is leaving for Rome with her opera company, but the note is blown away. Confused and upset, he sails without her. Meanwhile, assuming he has abandoned her, she departs and continues her career.

Learning that Gallego has quit Havana, Anthony leaves to take control of Gallego & Sons' only remaining asset—a slave trading post on the Pongo River in Africa. Three years in the slave trade (so he can recover Bonnyfeather's debt) corrupts him, and he takes slave girl Neleta into his bed. Anthony eventually is redeemed by his friendship with Brother François. After the monk is crucified and killed by the natives, Anthony returns to Italy to find Bonnyfeather has died. His housekeeper, Faith Paleologus (Don Luis' longtime co-conspirator and now wife), has inherited Bonnyfeather's fortune. Anthony goes to Paris to rectify the situation and claim his inheritance.

In Paris, Anthony is reunited with his friend, prominent banker Vincent Nolte, whom he saves from bankruptcy by loaning him his entire fortune, having learned from Brother François that "there's something besides money and power".

All Paris is buzzing with gossip about Mademoiselle Georges, the famous opera star and mistress of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the diamond necklace he has given to her, although Josephine wanted it.

Through the intercession of impresario Debrulle, Anthony is reunited with Angela and discovers that she bore him a son. They spend a blissful day or two together. Angela tells him that she is singing at the opera and he goes with Nolte to hear her. He searches the program in vain for her name, but then he hears her voice coming from the stage. He exclaims, “that’s Angela” and Nolte replies, “That’s Mademoiselle Georges!” Angela continues the aria and emerges from the shadows, descending a long staircase. Her voice is superb, she is magnificently costumed—and she is wearing Napoleon's gift. She whispers “Goodbye, Anthony,” as he stands and leaves the box.

Shaken, he returns home to find that she has sent him their son, with a letter stating that he is better suited to raise the boy, and apologizing for not seeing him again. Anthony departs for America with his son in search of a better life.

Cast

* Fredric March as Anthony Adverse
* Olivia de Havilland as Angela Guisseppi
* Donald Woods as Vincent Nolte
* Anita Louise as Maria
* Edmund Gwenn as John Bonnyfeather
* Claude Rains as Marquis Don Luis
* Rollo Lloyd as Napoleon Bonaparte
* Louis Hayward as Denis Moore
* Gale Sondergaard as Faith Paleologus
* Steffi Duna as Neleta
* Billy Mauch as Anthony Adverse (age 10)
* Akim Tamiroff as Carlo Cibo
* Ralph Morgan as Debrulle
* Henry O'Neill as Father Xavier
* Pedro de Cordoba as Brother François
* Alma Lloyd as Florence Udney (as an adult)
* Marilyn Knowlden as Florence Udney (as a child)
* Anne Howard as Angela as a child (uncredited)

Production

Before casting Frederic March to costar with Olivia de Havilland, Warner Bros. considered Robert Donat, Leslie Howard, and George Brent for the title role. The studio during preproduction also intended to cast Errol Flynn in support of March, but Flynn became so popular with moviegoers after his performance in '' Captain Blood'' in 1935 that Warner Bros. assigned him to star instead in the 1936 film '' The Charge of the Light Brigade''.

Billy Mauch plays the young Anthony Adverse in the earlier scenes. Warner Bros. discovered Mauch had a twin, and it put them both under contract. They were given a starring vehicle in ''The Prince and the Pauper''.

Reception

In his 1936 review, ''The New York Times'' critic Frank S. Nugent panned "Warner's gargantuan film":

Writing for ''The Spectator'', Graham Greene expressed similar views, acerbically noting of the film that it "goes on too long, otherwise it might have been the funniest film since ''The Crusades''". ''Variety'' described it as "a bit choppy" and "a bit long-winded" as well; but the popular trade magazine praised Fredric March's performance, adding that he was "an ace choice, playing the role to the hilt." '' Film Daily'' wrote that ''Anthony Adverse'' "easily ranks among the leading pictures of the talking screen" and called the production's acting "flawless". "I don't think Mr. March has done any better piece of work than this", noted John Mosher in his positive review for ''The New Yorker''.

The film was named one of the National Board of Review's Top Ten pictures of the year and ranked eighth in the '' Film Daily'' annual critics' poll. In a much later review, however, Reverend Austin Spencer also found the film adaptation—when compared to the novel—inadequate, especially in its portrayal of the personal challenges that confronted the story's protagonist:

On TCM, film critic Leonard Maltin gives the picture a positive review of 3.5/4 stars, praising the "Blockbuster filmization of Hervey Allen bestseller ... of young man gaining maturity through adventures in various parts of early 19th-century Europe, Cuba, and Africa" and the film's cinematography and "rousing musical score", both winners of Academy Awards.

The film holds a 20% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 4.31/10. This is the lowest score of any Best Picture Oscar-nominated film on the website; yet, Rotten Tomatoes lists just ten reviews, so the cited score reflects only a relatively small sampling of critics.

Box office

The film was Warner Bros.' most popular release of 1936. It was also the studio's most expensive production that year, with an overall budget of $1,192,000. That hefty expense, however, proved to be a wise investment, for ''Anthony Adverse'' generated $1,558,000 in profits at the box office for Warner Bros., earning the studio $1,783,000 domestically and $967,000 in foreign markets.

Academy Awards

;Awards

* Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Gale Sondergaard
* Best Cinematography: Gaetano Gaudio
* Best Film Editing: Ralph Dawson
* Best Music (Scoring): Warner Bros. Studio Music Department, Leo F. Forbstein, head of department (Score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold)

;Nominations

* Outstanding Production: Warner Bros.
* Best Assistant Director: William Cannon
* Best Art Direction: Anton Grot

In culture

The initial theme of the second movement of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's violin concerto was drawn from the music he composed for the film. English singer Julia Gilbert adopted the name of the film's main character when recording for the London-based él record label in the late 1980s.

Screen legend Tony Curtis (1925–2010), who was born Bernard Schwartz, named himself for the titular character: The novel from which this film was adapted was the actor's favorite. Curtis, who was established as a star in ''The Prince Who Was a Thief'' (1951), was buried with a Stetson hat, an Armani scarf, driving gloves, an iPhone and a copy of his favorite novel ''Anthony Adverse''.

Jack Benny parodied ''Anthony Adverse'' on the October 11 and 18 episodes of his "Jell-O Show" in 1936.Jack Benny's "Jell-O Show"

In the 1934 short comedy '' What, No Men!'', when their plane lands in "Indian Country" and Gus (El Brendel) is told to throw out the anchor, he tosses out a rope attached to a huge book titled ''Anthony Adverse''.

In the 1949 cartoon '' Hare Do'', a marquee at a theater advertises the movie.

References

External links

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Complete volume one of the novel
at Project Gutenberg

''Anthony Adverse''
at Virtual History

Hervey Allen Papers, 1831-1965, South Carolina.1952.01, Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh

{{Mervyn LeRoy

1936 films
1930s adventure drama films
1930s historical adventure films
1930s English-language films
Films based on American novels
Warner Bros. films
Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award-winning performance
Films that won the Best Original Score Academy Award
American black-and-white films
Films directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Films scored by Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Films whose cinematographer won the Best Cinematography Academy Award
Films whose editor won the Best Film Editing Academy Award
Films set in the 1800s
Films set in Italy
Films set in Havana
Films set in Africa
Films set in Paris
American historical adventure films
American adventure drama films
1936 drama films
1930s American films