Review of Anna Karenina (1935) by Sean M — 17 Aug 2011

Anna Karenina (Garbo) is a high-strong Russian woman who is married to the icy Karenin (Rathbone). They go to a high class ball with her relatives, and there she meets the dashing Count Vronsky (March), and they end up falling in love.

But soon, Karenin finds out, and not only kicks her out of the house, but does not let her see her son (Bartholomew) who means the world to her. She and Vronsky eventually get married, but is plagued by sadness, guilt, and a passive husband that eventually dooms Anna for her infidelity.

Screen-legend Greta Garbo was at the peak of her career at the time of this movie, and had had success in almost every movie she made before-hand. She already had teamed up with director Clarence Brown in other well-received classics, so by seeing this I knew something good would happen, considering how wonderful the following movies were.

Though this one might not be as good as "Flesh and the Devil" altogether, Garbo's performance is simply amazing here. Her tragic character Anna is so awesome to watch, and so painful at once, and when you watch, you can almost feel the world of hurt her character's feeling.

I wish she would have gotten an Oscar nod for this role, because nobody, could match up to the standard that Greta set. Fredric March never was better in this early role, and I also consider this to be one of his most memorable performances.

His character pretty much hides behind a mask for the first hour, but then you see what he is really like. It's very strange to think how actors could just work with lines and make them their own.

I found Rathbone's acting job to be very satisfying, and is a great love to hate character. Though any spouse would be mad at infidelity, the way Karenin deals with it is so rough and tough, but he never overacts it or makes it cheesy, its done to the perfect extent, making it very well done.

"Anna Karenina" is one of Garbo's best (though I like "Ninotchka" better), and this is one of her finest performances.