Our next film is 1935's "Anna Karenina", the doomed love story of the title character and the dashing Count Alexei Vronsky. Anna and Alexei take their romance from the heights of society to its bottom as they are gossiped about incessantly. And when Alexei joins his regiment for war, Anna makes a daring decision.
The film's cast includes Greta Garbo, Fredric March, Freddie Bartholomew, Maureen O'Sullivan, May Robson, Basil Rathbone, Reginald Owen, Reginald Denny, and Ethel Griffies.
Madame Anna Karenina and Count Alexei Vronsky first lay eyes on each other at a train station in Moscow. The two are instantly attracted to one another. Anna is visiting her brother and his family, while Alexei is meeting his mother at the station.
They meet later at a society ball. Alexei wants to dance every dance with Anna. "When I leave you, I'm
lost in a world of strangers. When I
touch your hand, we're alone," he tells her.
After the ball, Anna decides to return to her husband and child in St. Petersburg. Unbeknownst to her, Alexei follows her and makes his presence known only after they've made a stop during the long journey.
When Anna's husband meets her at the St. Petersburg train station, Alexei addresses Anna, who in turn introduces him to her husband.
Anna arrives at her home and is reunited with her son, Sergei. She showers him with presents, and the two are happy to be in each other's company again.
While in St. Petersburg, Anna and Alexei spend an increasing amount of time together. They become the object of gossip among society, not helped by their imprudent rendezvous together. They eventually confess their love for one another.
Anna is warned by her husband about her behavior. Their marriage is one of convenience, but he refuses to give her a divorce. He also says that if she insists on seeing Alexei that he will keep her from their son.
Alexei's mother also warns her son about the dangers of a relationship with Anna. She's concerned for his career and for his place in society. "I came here to give
you some good advice, which I knew in advance would not be
taken.It’s so refreshing not to be disappointed," says Countess Vronsky as she leaves.
Alexei is asked by his regiment to choose between his army career and Anna. Angrily, he resigns his commission.
He and Anna abandon everything in Russia and run away together to Venice to continue their love affair. "We'll be punished," says Anna, "for being so happy."
The reality of their situation begins to rear its ugly head. Anna's husband has refused her permission to see their son and has even told him that she is dead.
The cracks in their relationship eventually begin to show. Anna is upset at the situation with her son and she even feels that Alexei resents her for giving up everything so they can be together.
Back in St. Petersburg, they attend an opera in full view of the gathered society, who whisper about how it is inappropriate for Anna to even be there.
To make matters worse for Anna, Countess Vronsky has a lovely young companion whom she introduces to Alexei. Anna watches from her box jealously.
Anna's presence at the opera causes minor skirmishes to break out, drawing the attention of those in the nearby boxes, including Alexei who watches from afar.
However, during the next scene of the opera, Anna and Alexei patch up their differences and reaffirm their love.
When Alexei receives a letter requesting him to rejoin his regiment to take part in a war, Anna begs him not to go. Alexei refuses to be dishonorable and not rejoin his regiment when he's asked. He and Anna separate.
Anna goes to see him off at the station. However, she does not make her presence known when she sees Alexei saying goodbye to his mother and her young companion.
Thinking Alexei has abandoned her, Anna becomes despondent. She stays at the train station late into the night. Finally, when she can stand it no longer, Anna throws herself under the wheels of the moving train and commits suicide.
Later, Alexei is filled with regret as he stares at his picture of Anna, wishing that they had parted on better terms.
Cast rundown:
Greta Garbo................................Anna Karenina
And that's it for Anna Karenina. Apparently, Fredric March had a reputation in Hollywood for seducing his leading ladies. Aware of this and unwilling to participate in any of those antics, Greta Garbo wore garlic under her clothes and purposely had bad breath to hold his advances at bay. Because Garbo refused to work at night, MGM built a stage over the railway station in the final scene so that it could simulate darkness.
Our next film is 1938's classic comedy "Bringing Up Baby", a film in which two people encounter one mishap after another in each other's company. They also have to deliver a leopard from the city to the country and get into trouble when the leopard gets loose!
The film's cast includes Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Charles Ruggles, Walter Catlett, Barry Fitzgerald, May Robson, Virginia Wallace, Jack Carson, Asta, and Nissa.
Dr. David Huxley works at the Stuyvesant Museum of Natural History and has been working tirelessly to put together a brontosaurus skeleton. He only needs one bone to complete it. Luckily for him, it's in the mail and will be delivered the next day.
Meanwhile, he's got to impress a potential million dollar donor, Mrs. Carlton Random, to the museum. He goes golfing with the donor's legal representative in an effort to sway the donor to give to the museum.
On the golf course, David meets Susan Vance after she picks up his ball. Already disliking her because of the way she took his ball, she really gets under his skin when she drives away in his car, which is identical to hers. "Your golf ball, your
car. Is there anything in the world that doesn’t belong to you?" she asks after he confronts her. "Yes, thank heaven. You!" he exclaims.
When they run into each other at dinner that night, Susan still causes mishaps when she crushes David's hat.
And things go from bad to worse when Susan tears David's jacket and he steps on her dress, causing it to come apart. (It's a very funny scene.)
The next day David is very excited when his dinosaur bone arrives, but he is distracted when he inexplicably gets a call from Susan.
She tells him that she's got a leopard in her apartment. The leopard is very tame, but Susan pretends that the leopard is attacking her in order for David to get to her apartment in a hurry.
David hurries over and finds himself confronted with a leopard. Susan was sent the leopard by her brother who is in South America. It was meant to be a present for Susan's aunt Elizabeth.
The leopard's name is Baby, and Baby really enjoys music, particularly one song: "I Can't Give You Anything But Love".
Baby also seems to like David a great deal, playing with him and following him when he decides to let Susan fend for herself with the leopard.
Susan wants to take Baby to her place in the country. Realizing he's got no choice, David agrees to help. With his dinosaur bone under his arm, he gets in the car. Along the way, a wreck with a poultry truck sees that Baby gets a good meal, and David and Susan get filthy trying to get the leopard back in the car.
Once they get to Susan's country home, David is given a chance to clean up with a shower. Susan, wanting David to be near her a bit longer, hides his clothes, and he is forced to wear a negligee. The doorbell rings. Seeing nobody around, David reluctantly answers it.
Low and behold, David opens the door to none other than Mrs. Carlton Random, the million dollar donor he's trying to woo. She also happens to be Susan's aunt Elizabeth. She arrives with her dog George, and seeing David dressed like he is, thinks he is as crazy as a loon.
And when George steals David's dinosaur bone and buries it, it's up to David and Susan to follow him around until he show's them its location. Eventually, George gets tired and watches the two of them dig.
By dinner time they still haven't found the bone. David keeps an eagle eye on George all evening long. Every time George moves, David follows.
It turns into an adventure of more than just finding a bone when Baby gets loose. Now, David and Susan have to find the leopard, too. They catch up with Baby when he is playing with George. However, Baby runs off before they can capture him.
More mishaps occur when David and Susan fall into a stream, their clothes become soaking wet, and David's glasses crack. While the clothes are drying, David vents his frustrations to Susan.
Unbeknownst to them, another leopard in the area gets loose. This one is more dangerous. When they try to sing Baby's favorite song to this second leopard, it just gets mad and cries.
They get arrested after they're caught prowling around somebody's property in search of Baby. Susan shrugs the arrest off. "Anyway, David, when
they find out who we are, they’ll let us out," she says. David just rolls his eyes and says, "When they find out who you are, they'll pad the cell."
Everything works out in the end. David returns to his job and Susan arrives unexpectedly, announcing she's found his lost dinosaur bone. Her aunt also gave her the million dollars and she wants to give it to David for the museum.
She also tells David that everything she did the last time they were together was so that she could be near him. David tells Susan that after thinking it over, he's come to the realization that he never had such a good day in his life. Susan runs up the ladder to be nearer to him.
While they are telling each other how much they love one another, the ladder starts swaying and Susan has to jump onto the dinosaur skeleton to keep from falling. Unfortunately, her weight causes it to collapse, and David has to quickly grab her arm to keep her from disaster.
All he can do is shrug as they fall into each other's arms in an embrace.
And that's it for Bringing Up Baby. This very humorous film has been included on several the American Film Institute's lists. The National Society of Film Critics included it on their list of 100 Essential Films. One of my favorite quotes in the film comes when David is talking with Susan: "Now, it isn’t that I
don’t like you, Susan, because, after all, in moments of quiet, I’m
strangely drawn towards you.But, well,
there haven’t been any quiet
moments."
