A MASTERPIECE OF ROMANCE… AN IMMORTAL LOVE DRAMA… A NEVER-TO-BE FORGOTTEN STORY ENACTED BY THREE GREAT STARS!

In 1870s Russia, the wife (Greta Garbo) of a prominent statesman (Basil Rathbone) begins a love affair with a military officer (Fredric March).

A romantic adaptation of the Leo Tolstoy classic that tries to capture the tragedy of the novel but doesn’t care much for its deeper themes and portrait of Czarist Russia. It’s a fine example of Hollywood’s polished skill at the time, as in the memorable, evocative scene where Garbo is introduced. On the whole, it’s a mournful tale of what passion might cause, balanced with a sense of humor in the portrait of the officers.

Excellent cast, including Rathbone as the humiliated, cruel husband.

1935-U.S. 95 min. B/W. Directed by Clarence Brown. Screenplay: S.N. Behrman, Clemence Dane, Salka Viertel. Novel: Leo Tolstoy. Cast: Greta Garbo (Anna Karenina), Fredric March (Count Vronsky), Freddie Bartholomew (Sergei Karenin), Maureen O’Sullivan, May Robson, Basil Rathbone, Reginald Owen… Mischa Auer. 

Trivia: Garbo also played Karenina in Love (1927). Ronald Colman was reportedly considered for the part of Vronsky.

Last word: “We would bounce a medicine ball back and forth, and one day she stripped to the waist to take the sun. Then she caught herself and asked if it embarrassed me, it did not. I was not overwhelmed by Garbo’s beauty, I think that at the time women were more attracted to her than men.” (March, Garbo Forever)