The Scarlet Letter

This is an adequate and generally faithful screen version of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter". It is sometimes lacking in energy and dramatic tension, but both the story and its heroine are tough to do justice to on screen, and of the various attempts to do so, only the silent version with Lillian Gish has ever really worked. This features Colleen Moore as Hester, and it brings out the main points of the story well enough.

Moore's performance is actually good in its own right, but it does not really fill the shoes of Hawthorne's conception of Hester. That's nothing against Moore, a good actress, and indeed she makes this version better than the 1990s attempt, which was nearly unwatchable despite having a cast of well-regarded performers. As Dimmesdale, Hardie Albright gives a mostly plain performance, though there are times when this actually works in bringing out the character's inherent weakness of will. Henry B. Walthall gives a good portrayal of the vengeful Roger.

Most of the sequences work in telling the essentials of the story without frills. Some of the screen time is devoted to comic relief by Alan Hale and William Kent, which provides some light moments, although it never really fits in with the rest of the movie.

Overall, it's a solid effort for its time that does get across the main themes of the story. With a little more character development, it actually might have been rather good.

Colleen Moore was without doubt one of the best silent actresses, especially in comedy. Her wit, charm and energy were infectious - even in interviews late in life she still shone. How sad it is, therefore, that she retired so young - only 34 - and that she went out on a film such as this one. Not that this is a terrible film - it has some strong moments - and Colleen is actually very good, but it is hardly worthy of her talents and is certainly not a good showcase for them. She plays the tragic single mother in the Puritan community with strength and dignity and is well matched by Hardie Albright who is very strong as her priest-lover. But Colleen is never allowed to be funny - the part is a grim one. How much more suitable she would have been to something like "It Happened One Night". To waste a great talent like hers is appalling.

Ironically the worst thing in this movie is the attempted comic relief with Alan Hale and William Kent playing a couple of buffoons chasing an eligible widow. They really fall flat.

This version of The Scarlet Letter starring Colleen Moore, Hardie Albright, and Henry B. Walthall was the first one done in sound and the seventh in 10 adaptions according Internet Movie Database. It marked the farewell performance of Colleen Moore who retired from the screen rather than continue in sound where she hadn't done as well as in silent films.

An independent outfit called Majestic Pictures did this one and to give it a nice ring of authenticity it was filmed at what now would be called a Puritan theme park set in Salem, Massachusetts. Author Nathaniel Hawthorne knew this culture well, one of his ancestors was the infamous Judge Hathorne of the Salem Witch Trials which occurred a couple of generations later.

These solemn and dour people who while the action of this film is taking place, 1642-1647, were also busy affecting a revolution over in the mother country that brought Oliver Cromwell to power eventually. Colleen Moore whose husband Henry B. Walthall had disappeared into the American wilderness some years before has an affair which produces a young girl child who is played by Cora Sue Collins.

But this Puritan Society is hard on unwed mothers and the town council deems her punishment to be that she be forced to wear a Scarlett Letter sewn to her garments of dress. Not unlike Jews forced to wear a yellow star of David or gays forced to wear the pink triangle under the Nazis. Walthall returns just in time to see this punishment pronounced, but he does not divulge his identity and he's welcomed in the community because he's a doctor.

Moore will not divulge the identity of the father and that would really rock this smug community as it is the town's pastor, Reverend Hardie Albright. Even back then we had people of the cloth who were not role models.

The problem is that Albright is a believer and he's really just human in a society that does not understand or tolerate human weakness. In the end it destroys him.

The whole novel with all its subtle nuances could not be filmed in a 70 minute running time. Yet I think the film managed to convey all that Hawthorne had to say on the subject. Being an independent film, it lacked production values a big studio could offer. Still the location filming made up for a lot of that.

This version of The Scarlet Letter is not a bad Cliff's Notes version of the classic novel.

It baffles me when people criticize a movie after reading the original book and feel that it doesn't measure up. This movie review delves into the film's plot and characters, providing insights into its strengths and weaknesses without drawing direct comparisons to the book. For those curious about the movie's storyline and overall quality, this review offers a comprehensive analysis. Of course, I really enjoyed this movie based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel after watching it on YouTube through my smart TV. I had never seen the 1926 or 1995 versions of the novel, so the 1934 film is the only version I know and love. Disney lovers may also like this film, which stars Hardie Albright, the voice of Bambi, as a young adult deer.

I found Pearl, the kid in the film, to be adorable. It was unfortunate that the other children wouldn't play with her because they seemed to mimic their parents' behavior. One especially difficult child appeared to have his harridan mother's personality. The comedy between two original characters that everyone criticizes adds a refreshing change to an otherwise somber, yet beautifully told story. Overall, I really love this film; that is my last word.

This movie was made by Majestic Films and has fallen into the public domain. If you'd like to see it, click the link on IMDb and you can either watch it online or download it for later viewing.

"The Scarlet Letter" begins with a prologue which, frankly, was really, really stupid and sought to undo some of the impact of the film. It talked of Puritans and their harsh ways and then described them as being '...a necessity of the times'! What?! What idiot decided to hedge the film's bets by trying to make the Puritans seem like cool folk--and nothing like Hawthorne's novel! This film features some rather familiar actors. Colleen Moore is in the lead, and while she is pretty much forgotten today, was a huge star at the time and in the late silent era. In addition, the ubiquitous Henry Walthall and William Farnum (both silent stars) are on hand as is Alan Hale. Oddly, Hale has been inserted as comic relief--and I certainly didn't think that this novel was a comedy!! However, apart from this inappropriate addition and the stupid prologue, the rest of the film is reasonably close to the novel and is quite good--though some of the more allegorical aspects have been removed--making the story more straight-forward and less symbolic. The only noticeable shortcoming in the film I haven't mentioned is the lack of incidental music--a sure sign of a low-budget production. Still, with such a small budget, the acting and production as a whole was worthy of Hawthorne's novel.