Can We Talk 2

Anna Christie

         Anna Christie is a play by Eugene O'Neill. I have never seen it, but I saw the movie based on it tonight. It was made in 1930. It was Marlene Dietrich's first talkie. I was expecting more of an accent from her, but she controlled it quite well.

         It also starred two people who played drunks. I apologize for not remembering their names. But I waited for the romantic lead to finally appear, Charles Bickford. I'm more familiar with him as the father or even grandfather of adult children. It was amazing to see him at that earlier stage in his life.

         His hair was much darker. It was a black and white movie, so I don't know what the color really was. In real life, he was a reddish blond which thinned as he grew older. Here it was thick, but still curly. He seemed a foot taller! His voice was still authoritative and deep. He had a roughness about him. He was slim and muscular. He wasn't exactly a romantic figure, but you wanted him to fall for Marlene.

         He was in The Unforgiven with Burt Lancaster and Audrey Hepburn, a movie about racism towards Native Americans. He was fierce and tough, there, the leader of his clan. He was a narrow minded tough guy and leader in The Big Country, playing opposite Burl Ives, with Gregory Peck, Chuck Connors, and Charlton Heston. I know him best as the loving grandfather and gentle rancher on The Virginian, a series he starred in until his death.

It definitely felt like a play, rather than a movie, because of the transitions between scenes. It was a sad story of people who had suffered, but it had a happy ending. It would have been pleasant to watch, even if I hadn't been enjoying watching Bickford so much.