Theodore Dreiser's lengthy 1925 novel was based on the sensational 1906 murder trial of Chester Gillette, who murdered his working class girlfriend in order to marry into a socially prominent family. His book deals with a man who wants to escape the poverty and hopelessness of his background only to be engulfed by the wealth he longs for. It became a successful Broadway play with Miriam Hopkins as Sondra, the society girl.
Initially, Paramount engaged the prestigious Russian director Sergei Eisenstein as director but the deal fell through, then flamboyant director Josef Von Sternberg was hired. Coming in the middle of his Marlene Dietrich pictures the film dripped with atmosphere as he filmed scenes through beaded curtains, venetian blinds and lakeside trees. Even though Sylvia Sidney and Phillips Holmes last co-starring feature was a movie so bad that no director wanted credit ("Confessions of a Co-Ed") they were both immediately signed for "An American Tragedy". Holmes, a very sensitive actor, found the role of a life time as Clyde Griffiths, who we first meet working as a bellhop at the luxurious Green- Davison Hotel. His opportunism is apparent from the start as he would rather attend to the female guests every need than to hobnob with his fellow workers.
When out with friends he is involved in a hit and run (he is not the driver) and though his mother (Lucille LaVerne, in a really over the top performance) who runs the local mission, pleads with him to go to the police, being a coward he refuses. He flees to New York where he has some wealthy relations and it isn't long before, with lying and wheedling, he has attained the post of foreman in the Griffiths Shirt Factory. He meets pretty Roberta (Sylvia Sidney), a factory girl and seems genuinely attracted to her, at the same time he meets his wealthy relatives and is taken up by them. Clyde and Roberta begin their affair, even though the factory frowns against romance in the workplace. Roberta is manipulated by Clyde (with promises of everlasting devotion) into letting him come up to her room. About the same time he meets Sondra (beautiful Frances Dee), a society girl and then conveniently forgets about Roberta. Roberta has some news for Clyde that he doesn't want to hear as he feels he has really fond his niche in life with Sondra by his side.
After reading in the paper about an accidental drowning, Clyde begins to plan his way out - he takes Roberta out on the lake, knowing her fear of water. He plans to capsize the boat and let her drown but when faced with the act, he can't go through with it. Roberta is frightened and accidentally falls in but Clyde does nothing to save her and swims away.
The last third of the film is devoted to the trial with Irving Pichel giving a gripping performance as D.A. Mason, who is determined to find Clyde guilty. Clyde's coldness and amoral attitude, plus the fact that he is already on the run from a fatal car accident does not get sympathy from the jury. Only at the very end, when he admits to his mother that he did intend to kill Roberta but changed his mind does the audience feel any sympathy for him.
There is no comparison between Sylvia Sidney and Shelley Winters (who played Roberta in the 1951 remake). Sidney, a far superior actress, gave Roberta a naive sensitivity, Winters made Roberta seem coarse and crude. Frances Dee, who proved she was a good actress in films like "The Silver Cord" and "Blood Money", a couple of years in the future, in 1931 was just a very pretty face. I think, by making Sondra just a pretty cardboard cut out society girl (in comparison to Elizabeth Taylor's more sensitive portrayal) Sternberg keeps the emphasis on Clyde, defining his callousness and spinelessness and taking away any sympathy the audience may have felt for him.
Highly, Highly Recommended.
Initially, Paramount engaged the prestigious Russian director Sergei Eisenstein as director but the deal fell through, then flamboyant director Josef Von Sternberg was hired. Coming in the middle of his Marlene Dietrich pictures the film dripped with atmosphere as he filmed scenes through beaded curtains, venetian blinds and lakeside trees. Even though Sylvia Sidney and Phillips Holmes last co-starring feature was a movie so bad that no director wanted credit ("Confessions of a Co-Ed") they were both immediately signed for "An American Tragedy". Holmes, a very sensitive actor, found the role of a life time as Clyde Griffiths, who we first meet working as a bellhop at the luxurious Green- Davison Hotel. His opportunism is apparent from the start as he would rather attend to the female guests every need than to hobnob with his fellow workers.
When out with friends he is involved in a hit and run (he is not the driver) and though his mother (Lucille LaVerne, in a really over the top performance) who runs the local mission, pleads with him to go to the police, being a coward he refuses. He flees to New York where he has some wealthy relations and it isn't long before, with lying and wheedling, he has attained the post of foreman in the Griffiths Shirt Factory. He meets pretty Roberta (Sylvia Sidney), a factory girl and seems genuinely attracted to her, at the same time he meets his wealthy relatives and is taken up by them. Clyde and Roberta begin their affair, even though the factory frowns against romance in the workplace. Roberta is manipulated by Clyde (with promises of everlasting devotion) into letting him come up to her room. About the same time he meets Sondra (beautiful Frances Dee), a society girl and then conveniently forgets about Roberta. Roberta has some news for Clyde that he doesn't want to hear as he feels he has really fond his niche in life with Sondra by his side.
After reading in the paper about an accidental drowning, Clyde begins to plan his way out - he takes Roberta out on the lake, knowing her fear of water. He plans to capsize the boat and let her drown but when faced with the act, he can't go through with it. Roberta is frightened and accidentally falls in but Clyde does nothing to save her and swims away.
The last third of the film is devoted to the trial with Irving Pichel giving a gripping performance as D.A. Mason, who is determined to find Clyde guilty. Clyde's coldness and amoral attitude, plus the fact that he is already on the run from a fatal car accident does not get sympathy from the jury. Only at the very end, when he admits to his mother that he did intend to kill Roberta but changed his mind does the audience feel any sympathy for him.
There is no comparison between Sylvia Sidney and Shelley Winters (who played Roberta in the 1951 remake). Sidney, a far superior actress, gave Roberta a naive sensitivity, Winters made Roberta seem coarse and crude. Frances Dee, who proved she was a good actress in films like "The Silver Cord" and "Blood Money", a couple of years in the future, in 1931 was just a very pretty face. I think, by making Sondra just a pretty cardboard cut out society girl (in comparison to Elizabeth Taylor's more sensitive portrayal) Sternberg keeps the emphasis on Clyde, defining his callousness and spinelessness and taking away any sympathy the audience may have felt for him.
Highly, Highly Recommended.