Sternberg obviously saw the future.

I suppose we may call it a warning against moral ambiguity, but whatever the framework of its intent, I think its lopsided balance of appetites is subservient to the complex characterizations themselves; almost Biblical losers in their climb for worldly pleasures, attempted class jumping, and dismissing the power of societal taboos. Von Sternberg's simmering pot smells of Christian zealot myopia, gender inequality, economic disability, and the bubbling poisons of an American system praised as open to opportunity if one dedicates oneself ruthlessly to its attainment--with the unspoken caveat that frailty brings ruin like Moses brings frogs.

The court sequence was a film in itself. Irving Pichel, a prosecutor for the ages. AAT boasted courageous temporal editing which may not have been lost on more modern auteurs.

Feels like one of those strong, authoritative, foundational texts from 1931 that set templates for future filmmakers to follow... except this one doesn't come with a genre attached, so it never earned the iconic status of a Frankenstein or a Public Enemy.

Right from the beginning, with the 1931 hot-jazz playing over the credits, Von Sternberg foregrounds the modernist elements of the story, playing up the irony of that word 'tragedy' in the title. Class distinctions have evolved, and the nobility of the (classically-defined) tragic hero no longer exists; beyond that, the movie repeatedly highlights the ways this 'tragedy' is reproduced and sensationalized in news-cycle media. Tragedy in the era of mechanical reproduction...

While the third act painfully stops the narrative flow in its tracks, it also provides the most discomfiting court scene I've ever seen, denying any and all pleasure. Thank god Eisenstein didn't get his grubby paws on this one.

The tragedy is the weak and cowardly character of poor boy Clyde Griffiths (Phillip Holmes) and the tragic deaths that result from his weakness.

One of Joseph von Sternberg’s lesser films is based on a novel by Theodore Dreiser.

JUSTICE FOR SYLVIA SIDNEY!

This first film adaptation of Theodore Dreiser's novel is an extremely troubled release ... first disowned by Dreiser, and then disowned by Josef von Sternberg when Dreiser successfully sued to have footage put back into the theatrical release. In a sense, it's a very faithful adaptation, following the plot of the book more closely than George Stevens's "A Place in the Sun". It still feels pretty truncated as the book's plot is jammed into an hour and a half. As a pre-code film, it's allowed to not skirt around the themes of abortion, murder and erotic obsession. It's one glaring fault is that Phillips Holmes seems completely unable to gain much audience sympathy and thus the movie's main character comes off as a completely amoral monster.

An American Tragedy, or Leave Him to Heaven

Why don't more murder trials hinge on the old "mental and moral cowardice" defense? I wonder.

strong version, but ' place in the sun ' will always be best.

Seems like it should have been great, considering that it had a director like von Sternberg at the helm, but the novel simply wasn't adapted well; the film hurries from one scene to the next, illustrating the story but not really telling it. Despite the subject matter and the skill of the actors, there are only a few moments that have any real dramatic tension.

Still, though, it's worth watching for its particular perspective on the American experience. There's something unvarnished and very un-Hollywood about the movie, and even though Phillips Holmes sometimes delivers his lines a bit flatly, he has a twitchy intensity that feels decades ahead of its time.

I didn't get any emotions out of this. I could care less for everybody involved even though this story to me is very interesting. We all know what you need to watch. It came out in 1951.

The tragedy is the weak and cowardly character of poor boy Clyde Griffiths (Phillip Holmes) and the tragic deaths that result from his weakness.

One of Joseph von Sternberg’s lesser films is based on a novel by Theodore Dreiser.

Von Sternberg's pre-code version of Drieser's novel is highlighted by Sylvia Sydney's wonderful performance as the poor blue collar worker unfortunate enough to fall in love with the social climbing Clyde Griffiths, portrayed by Philip Holmes. Holmes peformance is the weakest link in the film. He reflects none of the depth that made Montgomery Clift's performance in A Place in the Sun so memorable. Still, it's a good film that should be seen.

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.