This jumbo story of a man's ups and downs in Napoleonic Europe -- and Cuba and Africa -- appeared as a novel in the depths of the Great Depression, when people must have had a lot of time to read. I doubt that it's much read today because its appeal is for such a limited audience. The film adapted from it is more than two hours long and pretty dull.It was directed by a seasoned pro but you wouldn't know it. The casting and editing are clumsy, and everyone except Anthony Adverse (Frederick March) overacts. You expect a bit of ham from performers like J. Carrol Naish but not from the delicate and beautiful Olivia De Havilland. (Wardrobe has at least given her some daring necklines, which didn't happen often.) The plot? An illegitimate boy starts out with nothing, grows up, gains power and wealth, realizes it doesn't mean much, and takes off with his son to start a new life in a New World.Casting got the two leads right. March and De Havilland look right for their parts. But the rest of the cast -- well. As is usual in these epics, there are good people and bad people. Aside from a few harmless comics. You know how you can tell the good from the bad here? The good look good; the bad look ugly. Take the greedy housekeeper in the millionaire's estate, Gail Sondergaard. Her every smile is an evil sneer. Those teeth could gnaw their way through an anchor chain in no time. She does her best to cheat March out of his inheritance and, failing that, she marries a Spanish Count by means of extortion.A bonus point for the score. When you get tired of watching Frederick March wrestling with his conscience, or the supporting players conniving to screw up his life, you can listen to Eric Wolfgang Korngold's magnificent music.

I have not read the largely forgotten book on which this movie is based.My favorite films are from the early 30's to the mid 40's. The cast in this film is stellar, including some of my favorite leads and supporting actors. I love costume dramas and adventures set in exotic places. However, with all of those factors to prejudice me in favor of Anthony Adverse, I was hugely disappointed.The plot seems okay. The sets and costumes are excellent. The cast, as I already mentioned, is stellar (in the credits!). The score seems appropriate. The expensive production shows throughout. The reason this film is so unsatisfying is rather puzzling. I think it may be one of those times everybody from the director on down was simply going through the motions. Hard to believe, given the cast. But they all seem so - not just two-dimensional, but - lifeless. Perhaps, as one other reviewer suggests, this film would have been better if de Havilland had been teamed with Errol Flynn instead of Frederic March. I don't remember seeing Flynn ever give a less than energetic performance.Frederic March, one of America's greats, fails to create a character that I could like, sympathize with or root for with any enthusiasm. In fact enthusiasm is what he seems to lack in this role. Olivia de Havilland is somewhat better, but this is one of her least impressive performances. Gale Sondergaard did very little to receive an academy award. The appearances of Louis Heyward and Anita Louise are entirely too short. I like both, and I would have liked more of them and less of March and de Havilland. Perhaps they should have reversed roles...Edmund Gwenn delivers a typically endearing performance in a typical Edmund Gwenn role. Henry O'Neill is usually very interesting, because he plays both sides of the fence - both good and bad guys. Here, his father Xavier is far more enjoyable than Pedro De Cordoba's Father Francoise.The only bright spot in this under-achieving ensemble is Claude Rains. He, too, plays both good and bad guys. Here he is an aristocratic charmer and schemer - despicable and deceitful. He is great! In the scene where he laughs demonically, he sends a chill up my spine. Thank you, Mr. Rains, for delivering a great, under-appreciated performance, in an otherwise deservedly forgotten film.At film's end, I felt like I had read a 1200 page novel - and simultaneously like I had no interest in reading THIS one.

I rented a tape of Anthony Adverse mainly to see what kind of performance the Academy was looking for in the first-awarded "best supporting actress" category. Gale Sondergaard's time on camera was actually quite brief and her villainous role required a strictly one-dimensional reading. There were no subtleties whatsoever, nor was there any need in the film for them. Ordinarily, it might seem surprising that her part would receive any attention at all, not to mention a prestigious award, but keeping in mind that Oscars in those days were to a large extent self-congratulatory spectacles passed around from studio to studio year by year, it really isn't surprising. The film was long and episodic, as was the novel, and not particularly good at that. There was the glitz we've come to expect of course with the duels and chases thrown in for good measure. I kept wondering if the novel was written with Hollywood in mind. It's hardly readable nowadays. As far as directorial touches are concerned, it's no wonder that Mervyn LeRoy has long disappeared from anyone's pantheon. The kiddie-car version of France must have excited the Depression audiences. The film is very long and very expensive so perhaps there's something to say about that.

This is a great classic black and white film of the 1930's and a fantastic cast of veteran classic actors. Fredric March,(Anthony Adverse)," Hombre",'67, played a child who was abandoned with very little hope of ever having a family to love him or any future. Olivia Dee Havilland,(Angela Guisepple),"Hush..Hush Sweet Charlotte",'64, played a servant girl and also an opera star and had a childhood crush on Anthony Adverse. Edmund Gwenn,(John Bonnyfeather),"The Trouble with Harry",'55, managed to help Anthony Adverse and gave him the support he needed to find a place in this world. Claude Rains,(Marquis Don Luis),"The Invisible Man",'33, played a ruthless individual who stopped at nothing to make life difficult for Anthony Adverse along with his charming wife, Gale Sondergaard,(Faith Paleologus),"Sherlock Holmes and the Spider Woman",'44. This film takes many twists and turns throughout Europe and there is even mention that going to America will "Give You Peace of Mind".