Had I never seen the 1951 film "A Place in the Sun", I might have enjoyed "An American Tragedy" a bit more. After all, the 1951 film has lots of polish and gloss and the 1931 film is rather flat. But even if the 1931 movie was a bit better, I still think it wouldn't come close to the later version of the same story because the lead, Phillips Holmes, was very, very bland...so bland I can understand why he never became a big star. He's good looking but has practically no screen presence whatsoever.
The story is based on Theodore Dreiser's novel by the same name, though Dreiser apparently did not like this film version and felt it was too different from his novel. I've never read the story, so I cannot really comment on this.
The story is about a guy named Clyde Griffiths (Holmes). Clyde is a guy with very little character and early in the story he runs over a girl while drinking and evades police. Later, he thinks nothing of sweet-talking a young lady (Sylvia Sidney) into sleeping with him by making various promises to her. However, when he's able to move his way to fancy society and make time with his boss' daughter, this other woman is an inconvenience...and especially so when she ends up pregnant. So Clyde has a choice...marry the poor girl who he's used horribly or dump her and possibly be able to marry the rich girl. But how to get rid of the poor girl? Considering his character, what do you think?! What follows is a long, drawn out court drama that is, at times, highly overwrought and emotional.
Overall, this is a good film and worth seeing...though the 1951 version is significantly better in most ways.
The story is based on Theodore Dreiser's novel by the same name, though Dreiser apparently did not like this film version and felt it was too different from his novel. I've never read the story, so I cannot really comment on this.
The story is about a guy named Clyde Griffiths (Holmes). Clyde is a guy with very little character and early in the story he runs over a girl while drinking and evades police. Later, he thinks nothing of sweet-talking a young lady (Sylvia Sidney) into sleeping with him by making various promises to her. However, when he's able to move his way to fancy society and make time with his boss' daughter, this other woman is an inconvenience...and especially so when she ends up pregnant. So Clyde has a choice...marry the poor girl who he's used horribly or dump her and possibly be able to marry the rich girl. But how to get rid of the poor girl? Considering his character, what do you think?! What follows is a long, drawn out court drama that is, at times, highly overwrought and emotional.
Overall, this is a good film and worth seeing...though the 1951 version is significantly better in most ways.