Anne of Green Gables 1934 Movie

Quite by accident...well, sort of...we recorded the 1934 movie version of Anne of Green Gables.  (The DVR was set to record all Anne of Green Gables apparently...I am NOT complaining!)  One evening I had control of the remote control and chose it for our viewing pleasure.  What I was not expecting was for my five year old to be interested in the black and white movie.  However, hearing that it was Anne, she was interested with zero prompting from me!  (I made the mistake of recording the animated Anne series, but I do not recommend it.  It does not follow the book.  She was also familiar due to a picture book we have that I will also write about for the LMM challenge.)

 With the 1934 movie only one and a half hours in length, I knew much would be omitted, and it was.  However, it was an enjoyable movie that displays the general essence of the Anne I know and love-for the most part.  I want to say that for the length of the movie, omissions are fully forgiven even if some classic Anne was left out of the movie.

Within a couple minutes of the movie's beginning, my husband (who I thought was too busy in the kitchen to be watching) asked, "Does she ever stop talking?"  You see, Anne and Matthew were on their way home from the train station.  And she did not stop talking!  I appreciated that much of the dialogue throughout the movie was taken directly from the book.

While it was enjoyable, we do have The BOOK and the Megan Follows movie version to compare.  And really, I think Megan Follows is an incredible Anne.  Perfect.  The newer movie follows the book without glaring differences.

In the 1934 movie Anne of Green Gables...

• Anne didn't mention kindred spirits-that I noticed.  (Granted subtitles were needed for some of it due to The Little Cryer.)  At one point, I think the term "special friend" was used.  Bah!  
• Anne also named Green Gables upon arrival.  Ick.  Cheesey.
• Mrs. Barry and Mrs. Lynde were combined into Rachel Barry.  Really, I didn't see the point.
• Anne doesn't have noticeable freckles.  (But most wouldn't care.)
• Diana is a cute blonde. Forgivable.
• Matthew gets very ill, but the movie ends when he is still sick, without us knowing if he would pass or not.  (I even prepared my daughter for his death!)

My biggest beef with the 1934 movie Anne is that Gilbert and Anne dated for three years.  IN SECRET.  I thought this was just awful.  The movie's other big flaw is how time passed.  It was all in a hair change for Anne, from braids to short hair that left this viewer (and her husband) questioning if time had passed of if it was just a haircut.  The producers didn't really do much else to show that time had passed though suddenly we understand that Gilbert called Anne "Carrots" a year before and in one of the next shots, it says they had been together for three years.

The actors of the movie were fine.  I didn't think Dawn O'Day (later changed her name to Anne Shirley) was fabulous, but then again I'm comparing to Megan Follows.  I really enjoyed the 1934 Marilla, played by Helen Westley.  I can't even say why, but this plump, plain woman seemed to be a good fit for Marilla.

Despite my many criticisms, I enjoyed the 1934 movie version of Anne of Green Gables.  I would even recommend it, but only if you can watch the Megan Follows version soon after!  Has anyone watched this??  Any thoughts?  Am I being too harsh or too gentle?

I watched this as part of the 2012 L.M. Montgomery Reading (ahem) Challenge hosted by Reading to Know.

I need to give this review a bit of a disclaimer.  I watched this movie only one time, and while watching I was occasionally distracted by a baby and my other family members.  When I started it, I thought I would only be watching the first half-hour or so, but I was able to watch it in its entirety.  I hope all of my comments are accurate.