An American Tragedy
Directed by Josef von Sternberg
Written by Samuel Hoffenstein from the novel by Theodore Dreiser
1931/US
Paramount Pictures
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel
Whether we fall by ambition, blood, or lust, like diamonds we are cut with our own dust. – John Webster
This is a case where the remake vastly surpasses the original.
If you have seen A Place in the Sun (1951), you will be familiar with the basic plot of this film. Clyde Griffiths (Phillips Holmes) has been brought up in poverty by his parents who are missionaries. He was a passenger in a car that hit and run, leaving a little girl dead. He flees taking many odd jobs until he applies for one with his wealthy uncle in Lycergus, New York. He becomes foreman of a shop of all female piece workers.
This is where he runs into Roberta Alden. Although the company has a strict policy prohibiting relationships between management and labor, Phillips pursues Roberta. She is a good girl but falls in love with him and he finally seduces her.
About this time, he meets Sondra Finchley (Frances Dee) an eligible high-society heiress. Clyde begins to move in high-class social circles. He abruptly stops seeing Roberta. She waits a few weeks to inform him she is pregnant. Phillips contemplates taking drastic action. The movie ends as a courtroom drama.
Sylvia Sidney, who plays the Shelley Winters part, is the best thing about this picture. She is beautiful, charming, and pathetic when need be. The relationship between Phillips Holmes and Frances Dee, who plays the Elizabeth Taylor part, is totally lacking in heat or chemistry. You would not know von Sternberg directed this without reading the credits. A curiosity.
