Film Masters has a new 4K scan (from the original
film elements) of director Frank Dexter’s 1934 film adaptation of Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s classic The Scarlet Letter,
starring Colleen Moore as the ever-enduring Hester Prynne.
Both DVD and Blu-ray editions will be available from
Film Masters on Nov. 21.
Who could have imagined that an independently-produced
and distributed black and white film from the 1930s would turned out to be the
definitive film presentation of Hawthorne’s 1850 novel.
The Majestic Producing Corp.? Not exactly MGM, 20th Century-Fox or Warner
Brothers. Hollywood tried three silent versions,
including MGM’s 1926 production starring Lillian Gish. And of course, there was the big budget 1995
adaptation by director Roland Joffé, with Demi Moore as Hester and Gary Oldman as
Dimmesdale … this 1934 version is superior in every way.
As to bonus goodies, Prof. Jason A. Ney provides commentary,
plus there’s director Samuel M. Sherman’s 1978 film, Salem and
the Scarlet Letter (narrated by John Carradine),
the Ballyhoo Motion Pictures’ presentation of “A Sin of Passion: Hawthorne on
Film” and the featurette titled “Revealing the Scarlet Letter.”
