Hollywood’s first talkie version of the Nathaniel Hawthorne classic was also the final film of silent superstar Colleen Moore. The dramatization of the Puritan ABCs (what do the B & C stand for?) is also a post-Code downer, putting the shame firmly on Mame Hester Prynne even as it exposes the hypocrisy of colonial intolerance. The disc extras by commentator Jason A. Ney explain how a Poverty Row movie managed such high production values, and why it was reissued in 1965 — as an exploitation shocker.

The Scarlet Letter ’34
Blu-ray
Film Masters
1934 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 69 min. / Street Date November 21, 2023 / Available from Amazon / 24.99
Starring: Colleen Moore, Hardie Albright, Henry B. Walthall, Cora Sue Collins, Alan Hale, Virginia Howell, William Kent, William Farnum , Betty Blythe, Al C. Henderson, Jules Cowles, Tommy Bupp, Iron Eyes Cody.
Cinematography: James S. Brown Jr.
Settings: Frank Dexter
Film Editor: Charles Harris
Music Supervisor: Abe Meyer
Screenplay by Leonard Fields, David Silverstein from the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Produced by Larry Darmour
Directed by Robert A. Vignola

Our filmic education continues with Film Masters’ release of a ‘Poverty Row’ picture, now reasonably obscure, that doesn’t look cheap at all. This respectful 1934 version of Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter stars Colleen Moore, one of Hollywood’s most popular actresses of the silent era. It became her farewell to the movies. The former silent comedienne didn’t like this literary adaptation as much as her other notable sound-era film, the now much-studied 1933 picture The Power and the Glory.

The thoughtful academic / film history approach of Film Masters’ extras brings the show to life — audio commmentator Jason A. Ney even tracked down a surviving cast member, almost 90 years later. The film was released right at the beginning of the enforcement of the Production Code. It is respectful and tame almost to the point of endorsing harsh Puritan values — and yet the newly-formed Catholic Legion of Decency initially slapped it with a ‘Condemned’ “C” rating.

As did the respected Lillian Gish-Victor Sjostrom silent version, the ’34 Scarlet Letter sticks fairly close to the original story, while flattening the characters into less interesting ‘types.”  Along with Ms. Moore, the director and most of the actors were known from silent pictures, and the picture plays out in a decidedly old-fashioned style. In the Puritan community of Salem, Hester Prynne (Colleen Moore) is found guilty of adultery with the evidence of a new baby. She refuses to name the father, and her punishment is to wear a Scarlet letter ‘A.’  The real penalty is ostracization by the community, especially its vindictive womenfolk. Hester is continually criticized as bad example.

The baby’s unacknowledged father is Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale (Hardie Albright). He agonizes in guilt for Hester’s ordeal, but she insists that he remain silent on the matter. Hester finds herself in a double bind — her doctor husband Roger (Henry B. Walthall) was feared lost at sea, but now shows up on the day of Hester’s public shaming. Roger hides his identity, giving his name as Chillingworth. Hester refuses to reveal her lover to the much older man, who she didn’t want to marry in the first place. Roger swears that he will uncover the guilty party and take his revenge.

Thus the three are locked in a stalemate of guilt, fear, and anger that drags on for years. Arthur helps Hester retain custody of her young girl Pearl (Cora Sue Collins), after she is unjustly labeled a delinquent. Arthur’s health deteriorates with the stress, and Roger begins to form suspicions about him.

If The Scarlet Letter were not a literary classic the Production Code would likely never have approved is release. As if courting censor approval, the screenplay blames Hester almost as much as do the biddies of Salem. Unlike the book’s recognizably flawed heroine, Colleen Moore’s Hester is an angel of virtue, suffering in silence and continuing in grace and mercy. She only fights back when the Salem authorities threaten to take Pearl away.

The main characters are more noble than those written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. We never get a clue as to how Arthur and Hester could possibly have succumbed to Carnal Temptation. Arthur Dimmesdale comes off as a contemptible coward, unable to face his mistake. The movie accepts that Hester’s crime of passion is a shame to be borne forever. Even 1934 audiences would expect some acknowledgement of an unjust Double Standard at work. But Sin is Sin, and that’s that.

The flattening of the book is evident when little Pearl is depicted as a cutesy-pie movie moppet from a Shirley Temple mold. Hawthorne’s Pearl, ostracized from normal social development, became a behavior problem — commendable psychological insight, that. Our little Pearl here is a standard cliché.

Silent veteran Henry B. Walthall reprises his role from the 1926 version, and plays it like it’s 1916. Both he and Colleen Moore have solid voices for the talkie microphone. The deliberate dialogue delivery and the attempt to retain the language of the book bogs down the pace almost as much as Robert G. Vignola’s slow direction. We’re always way ahead of events. Arthur Dimmesdale is so visibly uncomfortable, a blind man would sense his guilt. Salem is riddled with intrusive, abusive gossips — how come nobody guessed that Dimmesdale and Hester had a thing going, even if it was just tea and crumpets after services?

The major scenes don’t disappoint. But the filmmakers also bow to show biz convention, inventing a sidebar comic relief storyline. Two townsmen (Alan Hale Senior & William Kent  ↑  ) clown romantically with the widow Abagail Crakstone (Virginia Howell). Some business is repeated from the silent version, like a scene featuring a prudent ‘conversation trumpet,’ a long tube that allows sweethearts to whisper endearments to each other . . . while sitting six feet apart.

Robert A. Vignola’s direction stays on track throughtout — except near the end, when little Pearl wanders away while the adults talk over their troubles. The shot sequence signals impending danger — will Pearl fall into the creek?  For a minute we fear that the filmmakers will radically depart from Hawthorne’s story. But Majestic Pictures does not try to improve Hawthorne’s storyline, as First National had done with Melville’s Moby Dick, adding a romantic angle. The show remains true to the letter of the original.

Film Masters’ Blu-ray of The Scarlet Letter comes from the film’s original negative, which has been kept in perfect condition. The sound mix is also clean and clear. The show was restored by The UCLA Motion Picture and Television Archive.

The disc extras answer a lot of questions. In an illustrated audio speec, mini-distributor Samuel M. Sherman explains how in the early 1960s he purchased the original negatives of some Majestic Pictures. He also seems to have bought The Sin of Nora Moran, directed by this movie’s producer, Larry Darmour. Another noted Majestic production is Frank Strayer’s The Vampire Bat.

Sam Sherman proceeded to re-issue Scarlet Letter to theaters, mostly in the South. His talk shows him to be respectful of movie history. He reads letters of thanks, including one from Colleen Moore.

The commentary by Jason A. Ney reveals several fascinating angles on this old, forgotten movie. Ney evaluates the film in relation to the original book, and explains the complicated politics of Poverty Row studios. Majestic Pictures functioned fitfully for a few years before being absorbed by Republic, along with the companies Mascot and Chesterfield. Majestic’s Phil Goldstone was well connected at other studios, especially at MGM. The show’s costumes are excellent, and the crowd scenes were actually filmed at MGM. The Colleen Moore Scarlet does not look like a Poverty Row production.

Ney’s commentary includes an audio interview he conducted with child star Cora Sue Collins, now 96 years old. We get a good accounting of the daily life of a busy child actress. She’s candid when explaining how, as a teenager, she came to quit the movies: an executive propositioned her for sex with the promise of a film role. When she complained to Louis B. Mayer, the mogul basically told her ‘that’s just how things are.’

Ney’s research undercuts Sam Sherman’s characterization of his 1965 regional reissue of The Scarlet Letter — he reads from the pressbook, which sells the film as if it were sensational sleaze with forbidden content. Roger Chillingworth is described with the blurb “The Madman’s Eyes Hid the Most Fiendish Secrets.”  Sherman soon partnered with filmmaker Al Adamson for several decades’ worth of grindhouse fare.

Mr. Sherman’s reissue trailer is present, complete with salacious voiceover and zooming title cards, in the style of Horror of the Blood Monsters or Brain of Blood. The back corners of movie history can be pretty strange.

Another extra is a video produced by Sam Sherman and narrated by an elderly John Carradine. Salem and the Scarlet Letter tours the Massachusetts town and shows us its local museums dedicated to the witch trials and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Carradine reads short passages from Scarlet and The House of Seven Gables.

Ballyhoo formats Sam Sherman’s audio piece and also offers a visually slick video lecture by Justin Humphreys, listing films from works by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

And finally, the insert pamphlet carries a thoughtful, amusing piece on actress Colleen Moore by Jason A. Ney. Her exit from Hollywood stardom was not a defeat, but the beginning of a different, satisfying ‘second act.’

We were forced to read The Scarlet Letter in high school. The moral dilemma did not appeal; I was much more engaged in Great Expectations and Lord of the Flies. Are teachers still allowed to assign Scarlet Letter in high school, with its central theme of adultery and children (gasp) born out of wedlock?  This disc made the entire subject interesting again.

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

The Scarlet Letter
Blu-ray rates:
Movie: Good
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements:
Audio commentary by Jason A. Ney
Short documentary Salem and the Scarlet Letter narrated by John Carradine
Interview Revealing the Scarlet Letter with producer Sam Sherman
Ballyhoo docu A Sin of Passion: Hawthorne in Film featuring Justin Humphreys
Restored 1965 reissue trailer.
Insert pamphlet with article by Jason A. Ney, on star Colleen Moore
Deaf and Hearing-impaired Friendly? YES; Subtitles: English (feature only)
Packaging: One Blu-ray in Keep case
Reviewed: November 9, 2023
(7025scar)

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