User reviews

Like all the studios Paramount did not believe in idle hands. In between Marlene Dietrich projects, Josef Von Sternberg got assigned to do this adaption of Theodore Dreiser's novel An American Tragedy. Of course Paramount's second adaption of this story A Place In The Sun is far better known.

Paramount was never known as a studio which did films with a message of social significance. Interesting to speculate what the results would have been had this been done at Warner Brothers. Von Sternberg did do a good piece of film making. But the story died at the box office. I suppose the story of a man trying to marry upward to secure a better place in society and the tragedy resulting just wasn't of interest to Depression audiences.

Whether it was or it wasn't Paramount sold the next one with sex, the love story of Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor heating up the screen. That went over big in 1951.

In this story Phillips Holmes is the ne'er do well relative of factory owner Samuel Griffiths who gives him a job in his factory, but keeps him at a distance socially. More than anything else Holmes wants acceptance from the upper crust.

At the factory he drifts into an affair with fellow worker Sylvia Sidney, but when he sees rich Frances Dee she's the ticket to all he's ever wanted. But Sylvia's now pregnant, what's a guy to do?

Dreiser's thoughts about class and class distinction are carefully preserved here. Yet in the most class conscious era in American history this didn't go over with the public. I guess even in those times you need a little sex to get people to the box office.

All the leads performed well and I also would commend Irving Pichel as the prosecuting attorney. This part was also a milestone for Raymond Burr who did it in A Place In The Sun.

An American Tragedy holds up well for today's audience which is also thinking about class distinctions and upward mobility today.

A classic American novel (by Theodore Dreiser) that was twice brought to the screen by master film-makers but, while both were reasonably well-received (the second – George Stevens' A PLACE IN THE SUN {1951} – being even allotted 'masterpiece' status in some quarters), they were also criticized for failing to bring out the essence of their source material! For the record, I had watched the latter version ages ago but will be following this one with it – so, a direct comparison will certainly prove interesting; incidentally, I own two copies of the rare 1931 film and, while I obviously watched the one with superior image quality (acquired only hours prior to the viewing!), I still had to contend with a muffled soundtrack that occasionally rendered the dialogue unintelligible.

Anyway, Sternberg was deemed the wrong director for this subject matter and, to be honest, the plot does feel somewhat dreary here – though the climactic trial undeniably compels attention (with the film's "Pre-Code" vintage being identified via a discussion of the soon-to-be taboo subject of abortion!). Incidentally, I have just stumbled upon the script which the great Soviet film-maker Sergei M. Eisenstein supplied, since he had previously been entrusted with the project for his American debut – which would subsequently never come to pass! Again, it would be fascinating to evaluate the two versions side-by-side but I do not have the time to go through the latter right now; if anything, I would love to check out Sternberg's celebrated autobiography "Fun In A Chinese Laundry" (which I also recently got hold of) to go along with my current retrospective of his work!

As was Sternberg's fashion, the visual aspect of the film rather eclipses narrative concerns. Though the contemporary setting here precludes his usual emphasis on ornate sets and expressive lighting, he still employed one of Hollywood's most renowned cameramen in Lee Garmes (especially noteworthy are the ripple effect throughout the opening credits and his trademark use of sustained dissolves during scene transitions). On his part, the latter managed to externalize the protagonist's conflicted feelings by way of the various milieux in which he moved: mission, factory, hotels, high-society circles, country-side, courtroom and, finally, prison.

This was just as well because stiff leading man Phillips Holmes (who looks an awful lot like Andy Warhol "superstar" Joe Dallesandro!) seems overwhelmed by the complexities of the role, which rather compromises audience identification with his plight! Incidentally, the script's attempt to pass this off as a problem picture was bizarre, to say the least – that said, the whole moralistic angle (which I do not think is present in the 1951 adaptation) led to a predictably serene conclusion, in which the anti-hero accepts the meting out of justice as his only possible fate. Even so, Dreiser was dissatisfied with how the film turned out (apparently ignoring the potent sociological element, he objected to the script's focus on the murder investigation) and took Paramount to court!; though his arguments were ultimately overruled, the studio still ordered considerable re-shoots…and, ironically, it was now Sternberg's turn to express dismay and he even went so far as to disown the released version!

One of the two women with whom the protagonist is involved is played by Sylvia Sidney (this was made the same year her brief major period – including films for Mamoulian, Vidor, Lang, Hitchcock and Wyler – kicked off): she is excellent, with some even suggesting the actress deserved an Oscar for it!; her death scene is very similar to the botched murder attempt, also occurring during a would-be innocent boat ride, in another classic by an equally gifted film-maker i.e. F.W. Murnau's SUNRISE: A SONG OF TWO HUMANS (1927). The other girl is Frances Dee – whose essentially small part, however, is obviously much reduced in comparison to that of Elizabeth Taylor's in the (lengthier) remake but also to Sidney's here; she is excluded, for plot purposes, from the latter stages of the film – but it must be said that the overall compactness of sequences vis-a'-vis the remake was not an artistic choice but merely the prevalent style of the era! Also on hand to fill in the roles of the two formidable lawyers in the case (incorporating an unprecedented re-enactment of the accident, complete with boat and passengers!) are District Attorney Irving Pichel and Defense Counsel Charles Middleton.

This lesser-known version of Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy" (1925) was more successfully filmed by director George Stevens as "A Place in the Sun" (1951). It opens with the dedication, "to the army of men and women all over the world who have tried to make life better for youth." This references a theme present in the novel, but it really isn't placed properly, here. We jump to a scene establishing the fact that handsome protagonist Phillips Holmes (great as Clyde Griffiths), working as a bellhop in Kansas City, is attractive to young women. Visually, this is unnecessary.

More important to the story is that Holmes' character had the difficult childhood noted in the opening. This is conveyed, next, with the introduction of his prayerful mother (a good performance by Lucille La Verne). But, the connection is lost, and Holmes is left carrying an empty character. The "tragedy" isn't what happens to his character - instead, it becomes what happens to poor girlfriend Roberta "Bert" Alden (another good performance, by Sylvia Sidney). This doesn't mean director Josef von Sternberg's "American Tragedy" is a bad film, just one that doesn't achieve its potential.

******* An American Tragedy (8/5/31) Josef von Sternberg ~ Phillips Holmes, Sylvia Sidney, Frances Dee, Lucille La Verne

This seems much closer to the facts of Theodore Dreiser's great novel than the soapy 50s version, good in its own way, with Montgomery Clift.

Even with florid Josef von Sternberg directing, the film follows the basic plot of the novel although there seem to be a few holes. Still, the courtroom scene is electric and makes this all worth it. I also like the casting of Phillips Holmes as Clyde. Holmes is able to capture the bizarre passions and inability to really care that embody Clyde. His subtle performance in the courtroom scenes, as he slowly breaks down and loses any sense of truth under the barrage of lawyers, is quite excellent. His voice goes higher and thinner as he becomes just a frightened boy answering the stupid questions posed by the sadistic and ambitious lawyers.

Sylvia Sidney is quite good as the tragic Roberta, and Frances Dee captures the haughty attitudes of the wealthy of that era. Charles Middleton and Irving Pichel play the lawyers. And Lucille LaVerne plays Clyde's mother.

This was a big hit in its day and helped establish Holmes and Sidney as stars. Holmes had a relatively short starring career and died in WW II but he made several memorable films with Nancy Carroll.

Clyde Griffiths/George Eastman (Phillips Holmes v. Montgomery Clift). Unknown today, Holmes was the son of the better recognized Taylor Holmes (see e.g. Nightmare Alley). In AAT, his youthful good looks, amateur-like acting style and inexperience in film were used to advantage by director Josef Von Sternberg in creating a shallow, weak, amoral young man whose internal behavior compass hardly ever was functional. As he drifted from one crisis to another, it became increasingly evident that he would not grow as a person into a decent human being. Holmes brought Griffiths to life in a plausible and natural way. Clift seems to have created his George Eastman character internally as a cerebral rather than emotional effort. It is a carefully constructed performance--quite the opposite of the understated one played by Holmes. As Clift became George, he somehow also morphed into a sympathetic and pathetic character--a victim of his social class. I have always felt that Clift developed an essentially unrealistic character while Holmes WAS Clyde Griffiths.

Roberta Alden/Alice Tripp (Sylvia Sidney v. Shelley Winters). These roles were presented as very different characters in the two versions of the story. Sidney gave us a sympathetic and likable young woman who was attractive and appealing. On the other hand, Winters played Alice as an annoying, shrill and off-putting person who also happened to be physically unappealing. Some of this emphasis had to come from Winters and not just the script. We certainly liked Alice less than Roberta, and this had to affect how we reacted to what happened to each woman. George Stevens directed a film that was more melodramatic than AAT, and the Alice character was drawn to reinforce that emphasis. Sidney and Winters were both highly competent actresses, but Sidney was better at generating empathy from the audience. We react with a greater sense of loss upon learning what happens to her on the lake that fateful day.

Sondra Finchley/Angela Vickers (Frances Dee v. Elizabeth Taylor). The presentation of these two characters is probably the starkest difference between the two versions---not so much in terms of how each is drawn but in their overall emphasis and significance to the plot development. Dee's Sondra is essentially a minor player, who has a few scenes to establish herself and then disappears from the latter part of the story. On the other hand, Stevens lavishes considerable viewing time and memorable camera closeups on Taylor---who was then in her early twenties and at the peak of her extraordinary beauty. Dee was a lovely and talented actress to be sure, but for whatever reason, she was not given the opportunity to present herself to full advantage. The romantic chemistry between Taylor and Clift was obviously positive, whereas Dee and Holmes merely played scenes together that did not project anything like the same emotion. Clift and Taylor went on to become good friends in real life. As far as we know, this did not happen to Dee and Holmes.

District Attorney Mason/District Attorney Marlowe (Irving Pichel v. Raymond Burr). Pichel went on to become a well known character actor and later a credible director. Burr reached the peak of his popularity a few years later playing Perry Mason on television. Both actors used their opportunity to play the District Attorney in a rather florid and stylized manner that at times seemed almost "over the top." It is interesting to watch Burr chewing the scenery in APITS, and contrast that performance with his measured and contained efforts as defense attorney Mason. And compare Pichel's histrionics here with his subsequent modest effort in Dracula's Daughter (1936).

Mrs. Asa Griffiths/Hannah Eastman (Lucille La Verne v. Anne Revere). La Verne is virtually unknown today, but she will always be remembered as the voice of the Wicked Queen in Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937). She also had a memorable bit as one of the more vocal harridans of the Guillotine watching crowd in A Tale Of Two Cities (1935). Revere was a popular character actress for many years, and specialized in playing strong maternal roles. She was Blacklisted shortly after appearing in APITS, and was not seen in another Hollywood film until 19 years later in 1970. Both were fine here in their respective roles.

AAT And APITS are so different that it is quite difficult to compare them with each other. In this respect, we can draw an analogy to the two film versions of Waterloo Bridge. The earlier one (directed by James Whale) was simpler, grittier and more true to the original source material. The latter one (directed by Mervyn Le Roy) reflected higher production values, a glossy melodramatic story line and a "smoothing of the rough edges)". Take your pick!

Clyde, a poor boy whose mother runs a home for the needy, attains a job as a bell hop. From the very first he wants more; he's trying to break a date to see a ritzy dame who has taken a shine to him carrying her bags. Ma don't approve of his new friends though – "Boys and girls like that are the only friends I've got" – and after he's involved in a drink driving accident he sets out for New York (Mum's praying here is ludicrous. A sentimental note out of keeping with von Sternberg films.)

Now Clyde has risen to foreman of the stamping department in his uncle's Samuel Griffiths collar and shirt factory. These are the best scenes of the film – the depth in the composition of the shots is incredible – with the girls squeaking away on their stampers and flicking their hair as Clyde walks passed.

Sylvia Sydney catches his eye and is very Dietrich like in her mockingly wry approach to Clyde with "I hope you like the collar business" and "You really seem happy Mr. Griffiths" as he pulls a sulk when she won't let him come to her room. If it's not the sensual sound of the water – the film is divided into chapters with dream-like, ominous shots of the water – it's the sound of the girls stamping away, all examples of von Sternberg recording sound in an artificial manner. Listen to the bit where the newsboy is chanting "bad results of accident."

Most of which von Sternberg directs in a perfunctory manner. He isn't interested in the effect that social conditions have on people's motivations/ actions (surely the theme of the book). In his films, people are only roused from their world weary inertia because of their own feelings.

In short, von Sternberg is unsuited to the material. With such an unwieldy novel to film there are too many scenes where he simply points the camera at the actors (like almost every other director does) in boring scenes necessary for plot advancement. Compare this with the contemporaneous Shanghai Express, a film conceived and written by von Sternberg which never fails to be visually compelling, and the Scarlett Empress whose visual quality is unprecedented, perhaps in the whole of cinema.

Based on the 1925 Theodore Dreiser novel of the same name, 'An American Tragedy' tells the tale of a young man (Phillips Holmes) who is nice enough on the surface, but is in reality slimy and weak. He's not a likable figure, and despite an upbringing from virtuous parents, lacks a moral compass. He flees the scene of a fatal hit-and-run early on in the film, and then uses a young factory worker (Sylvia Sidney), getting her pregnant. He lies to her about marrying her while pursuing an affluent woman (Frances Dee). It's a love triangle where we clearly feel empathy and attraction for the two women, and dislike for the man.

The film is strongest in the scenes with Sidney or Dee, both of whom are beautiful and turn in strong performances, perfectly tuned to their characters. Where the film falls down is in its last 30 minutes, where the trial is far too long and has few moments of real interest. It's meant to be riveting as the District Attorney (Irving Pichel) and defense attorney (Emmett Corrigan) raise their voices dramatically, but instead it's tedious and dated. One wonders if the trial scenes were elongated following a successful lawsuit brought by Dreiser, one which distressed Director Josef von Sternberg so much that he disowned the picture. It's certainly the weakest part of the film, which is a shame given Sidney and Dee's performances.

It's interesting to compare this precode era adaptation to the glossier seemingly bigger-budget production, 1951's "A Place in the Sun". People today will likely not remember the stars since so much of their work was done at 1930's Paramount and is never shown anymore. Practically all of the action is centered on working class girl Roberta (Sylvia Sidney) and Clyde Griffiths (Phillips Holmes), who wants what he wants when he wants it. Frances Dee as the rich girl Clyde falls for later in the film barely gets any lines at all as compared to Elizabeth Taylor in the corresponding part in the 1951 film. In fact the whole tale is spartanly told.

Clyde's past is filled in more in this film, along with more about his mother and the fact that she realizes she failed Clyde by concentrating so much on her mission work and thus exposing Clyde to all of the darkness in life with none of the normal attention and happinesses that most children experience, thus making Clyde selfish and hungry for the good things in life.

Clyde gets a break when he runs into the wealthy side of the family, gets a job in their factory, and ultimately works his way up to supervisor. But the family is more oblige toward him than noblesse, as they invite him up to visit them at their house - more for the sake of appearances than anything - and study him like a specimen rather than treat him like a guest. Through all of this, Clyde is stoic and unsurprised at their behavior. You get the feeling he'd do the same if he was in their place.

Clyde selfishly but not maliciously pushes Roberta, one of the assembly line girls in his charge, into a relationship and ultimately into sharing a bed, and apparently this intimate relationship goes on some time until he meets a bigger better deal in the person of Sondra Finchley. Don't expect the sizzle and warmth of Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor here. Here Frances Dee and Philips Holme barely smolder, but that is probably intentional just to feed the impression that this guy truly can't love anybody.

Here Roberta is an unlucky girl that you grow to like as you even meet her family at one point. In Place in the Sun Shelley Winter's rendition is that of a clawing nagging harpy, causing you to somewhat sympathize with Clyde. Here there can really be no sympathy for the guy - he really is a coward, always trying to get what he can out of life here and now, running from the consequences, lying to himself as well as everyone else.

When the pregnant Roberta refuses to just disappear and insists on marriage, Clyde tears himself away from his summer vacation with his new socialite girlfriend long enough to plan a murder that will look like an accidental drowning. Does he want the good things in life enough to do even the foulest of deeds? Watch and find out. And you will find out, because what happens in the boat is clearly shown from beginning to end.

One very interesting moment in this film not included in the remake: You see the jury deliberate and two jurors are tending toward voting not guilty. The other ten threaten the two holdouts, basically saying that they will find it impossible to make a living in that town if they "side with that murderer". In the production code era you would never be allowed to question the integrity of the criminal justice system in such a manner.

This film is an interesting commentary on class consciousness centered on a wrong guy ultimately brought to accidental justice by an equally wrong criminal justice system. Highly recommended.

This first film adaptation of Theodore Dreiser's novel is an extremely troubled release ... first disowned by Dreiser, and then disowned by Josef von Sternberg when Dreiser successfully sued to have footage put back into the theatrical release. In a sense, it's a very faithful adaptation, following the plot of the book more closely than George Stevens's "A Place in the Sun". It still feels pretty truncated as the book's plot is jammed into an hour and a half. As a pre-code film, it's allowed to not skirt around the themes of abortion, murder and erotic obsession. It's one glaring fault is that Phillips Holmes seems completely unable to gain much audience sympathy and thus the movie's main character comes off as a completely amoral monster.

"An American Tragedy" is based on the novel by Theodore Dreiser, which was based on a real murder in 1906, and its subsequent trial. While watching this, I had to remember that the acting style of those days were much more stylized and melodramatic than the method system used today. Having said that, Philips Holmes, who plays our protagonist, Clyde Griffiths, really wasn't all that good. He seemed pretty stiff to me. Sylvia Sidney played Roberta Alden, the girl he gets pregnant and then ends up accidentally killing. Her acting was much better than the rest of the cast. The first half of the film drags, showing Clyde lonely at his job supervising women in a factory. Then he meets Roberta and they get involved. After Clyde gets Roberta pregnant, he meets Sondra (Frances Lee) and falls in love with her. The film really picks up during the trial, where the prosecutor and defense attorneys get really bombastic. This film was later remade as "A Place in the Sun" which was a lot better on the whole.

The tragedy is that Philip Holmes can't act. The lead male character is a spineless weasel to begin with, but Holmes' job is to make us sympathize on at least some level with his tortured choices. Because he fails to do so, we end up with a movie where we not only don't care about Clyde Griffiths, we loathe him. S'too bad, because Sylvia Sidney and Frances Dee are fantastic actresses. They didn't deserve to be saddled with such a stiff. The narrative itself is hopelessly choppy and episodic. I'd like to see the 14 reels Sergie Eisenstein shot when he tried to make this movie before von Sterberg.

Originally this adapation of the Dreiser novel was planned by Sergei Eisenstein, during the Hollywood jaunt that also led to Que Viva Mexico, and his version might have been a cracked masterpiece-- one can imagine him getting all kind of details about the American scene ludicrously wrong, but finding a real connection between Dreiser's depiction of a weak youth whose desire for wealth and comfort sends him on an assembly line to murder, and Eisenstein's own mechanistic editing style and view of capitalism's destructiveness.

Von Sternberg, on the other hand, was the master of knowing sexual politics and intrigue, at his best with characters whose illusions had been left behind many beds ago. Given a Classics Illustrated-level cutdown of the book, and a stiff (if straight out of an Arrow shirt ad) leading man in Phillips Holmes, there's little for him to get hold of here, except for a few scenes in which Sylvia Sidney manages to convey the poignance of a poor girl in a bad spot, losing her boy and helpless to prevent it. There are some reasonably effective scenes between Holmes and Sidney, some nice chiaroscuro from Lee Garmes (though alas, even UCLA's restoration does not look as good as the clips I saw at Cinesation in the 1932 Paramount promo film The House That Shadows Built), and the courtroom scenes, though way over the top (not helped by Irving Pichel's too-perfect E- Nun-Cee-I-A-Shun), are dramatic-- it's fun seeing him defended by Charles "Ming the Merciless" Middleton, in that inimitable voice. But you can't really say it works, or does Dreiser justice-- and I'm not sure any movie could.

The problem with Dreiser's passive characters is that on screen their plights may be involving, but they aren't; we don't get the interior life that the novel gives us, we just see the story of an ineffectual sap making a couple of bad mistakes and getting ground to dust by the wheels of modern society. James Cain's crime novels took the Dreiser- style story and put guilt and cunning back into the main characters' makeup, so they have things to do on screen-- and they know WHY they're doomed. Seeing Sternberg fail to find anything interesting enough to work with here makes you wish Eisenstein had made this film, and Sternberg had had the chance to sink his teeth into The Postman Always Rings Twice or Serenade.

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.

Phillips Holmes (Clyde) is a social climber. He's good-looking but is an outcast from his own family. His mother is a religious sanctimonious do-gooder as played by Lucille La Verne. Not surprisingly, Holmes isn't going to follow her path as it is natural for children to rebel against their parents. He is set up by rich uncle Frederick Burton (Mr Griffiths) with a job at a factory where he works his way up to a supervisory position. However, he is not really accepted by Burton who is fixated on his own social status and self-importance. Clyde gets involved with 2 girls - working class Sylvia Sidney (Roberta) from the factory and wealthy socialite Frances Dee (Sondra). Sylvia gets pregnant to the dismay of Holmes and he thinks up a plan to free himself of this trouble. It involves a lake.

This is an interesting story that concludes with a court case. Unfortunately, the film loses its way a bit during these scenes as the acting becomes pretty awful. The lawyers just shout a lot which is in contrast to the underplayed calculating nature of the first half of the film centring on Holmes and his predicament. The first half of the film is way better and more entertaining. The acting is good apart from the lawyers and a very phony La Verne who over-emotes. She only manages to pull off one of her scenes - just - at the end of the film. Everywhere else she is diabolical with that phony dialogue delivery that signifies somebody who really cares. Only it doesn't. It makes you shout "Oh shut up!" at her on the TV and winds the audience up. I'd like to take her out on the lake.

I remember when I was 4 years old and I went on a picnic with my then girlfriend. She was also 4. We went down to a lake and before I knew it, she was in it. We had been standing throwing sticks into the water and then.....she is suddenly shouting out "You pushed me!" I hadn't. I asked how she was and then ran off to get help. Luckily, she could tread water. So, I understand how situations can suddenly arise and how the truth gets mixed up. Her parents didn't like me after that. This film is different as we see the reactions of Holmes after the accident.

This was the first attempt at Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy.

The second, A Place in the Sun, made two decades later with mega stars Monty Clift and Liz Taylor today might make the first redundant but the original is a game effort on its own.

Bellhop Clyde Bridges (Philips Holmes) finds himself in trouble back east and heads west. He contacts some wealthy relatives and gets a job at the factory overseeing mostly females. Craven but handsome he gets into a relationship with factory girl, Roberta (Sylvia Sydney) and impregnates her. A social climber he finds romance with upper crust played by Anna Lee. On the edge of all he hoped for only Roberta stands in his way. He decides to drown her.

Lee Garmes exquisite photography captures the light and dark side of young romance with some alluring imagery and graceful camera movement. Director Von Sternberg after prologue gives the film a comfortable pace up until the gripping boat scene. The tempo changes at trial where Von Sternberg seems to lose control in the chaotic court scenes with fights breaking out as well as ham acting by both prosecution (Irving Pichel) and defense (Charles Middletown) while the wooden Holmes begins to resort to hysteria. The 12 Angry Men moment is then brief and brutal.

Sylvia Sidney steals the picture with her pitiful tragic eyes a match in comparison to Shelly Winters in the 51; the gap between Holmes and a decent Anna Lee compared to Monty and Liz, immeasurable.

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American Tragedy adapts Theodore Dreiser's classic about the mysterious death of a poor girl under the hand of her philandering blue collar boyfriend who is about to be hitched with her rich girlfriend.

Similar to A Place in the Sun (which is the another adaptation of the book) but less sympathetic to its lead character. It also shows a lot of its age , primarily with the lack of background sounds, the rather stagy framing and particularly wooden acting BUT I think that it works in some ways.

Its more successful in showing the motivation of the Clyde character to do such stuff BUT I think its choice to demote the social aspect of how the rich family sees him is what it truly hurts the film. The trials works better in A Place in the Sun specifically because of it. It provides the doubt to his action, which makes the trial more compelling. Also, I believe the courtroom scene is too drawn out in this version.

Just okay. Not that recommended.

Even keeping in mind that is an early talkie movie, it still was very difficult to wade through. Others have pointed out ---and I agree--- that the lead actor has about as much charisma as a wet sponge. Particularly painful were the trial scenes which seem to drag on forever. Histrionics pile on histrionics. The only saving grace was Sylvia Sidney but she bails out early.

The first and best film adaptation of Theodore Dreiser's classic novel of pointless crime and arbitrary punishment, the 1931 version of AN American TRAGEDY was directed by Josef Von Sternberg, who had just had great success with THE BLUE ANGEL (and who made a total of eight films with star Marlene Dietrich) and who captures the emptiness and isolation and desperate qualities of the characters well. Phillips Holmes, perhaps best known today for GENERAL SPANKY (the strange Our Gang feature film) is a revelation as the heartless, social-climbing Clyde Griffiths, and the young Sylvia Sidney makes a strong impression as the working girl killed in the "accident" that leads to the long trial sequence at the film's end, which is itself a classic of courtroom melodrama. Clyde is represented in court by Charles Middleton (who later played Emperor Ming in the FLASH GORDON films) as a cynical, grandstanding attorney. AN American TRAGEDY still packs a punch today and has a rawness and power and biting commentary on the class structure of society entirely lacking in A PLACE IN THE SUN, the 1951 film adaptation of the same novel.

Original film version of Theodore Dreiser's novel is fairly well done, despite some flaws. Unlike "A Place in the Sun," we get some backstory on the main character Clyde (played by Phillips Holmes).

Sylvia Sidney sparkles as Roberta, Holmes' doomed girlfriend, while Frances Dee, as the rich society girl that Holmes falls for, has a greatly reduced role. Holmes is bland and seems to be just reading his lines, although the final scene with his mother is effective.

The opposing attorneys, played by Irving Pichel (prosecution) and Charles Middleton (defense), are a bit much. In one ridiculous courtroom scene, they start removing their jackets, intending to duke it out.

I kept thinking that it was a good thing that Clyde and Roberta were in a rowboat when the "murder" was committed. Had Clyde used a canoe, he would have been charged with the more serious crime of exerting his white privilege to culturally appropriate a Native American mode of transportation.