Unsuccessful “Anthony Adverse” The film "Anthony Adverse", directed by Mervyn LeRoy and Michael Curtiz, I watched as part of my exploration of the Academy Award winners and nominees. The movie won four Oscars, making it one of the record holders of the 1937 ceremony. However, I didn’t get much enjoyment from watching it. Without exaggeration, I would call this film a soap opera. And yes — usually I don’t like such movies, and this one proved that once again. The acting doesn’t feel believable; I constantly had the impression that the actors were overacting. Still, Frederick March’s character, Anthony, wasn’t bad. Despite all the hardships that befell him, he keeps trying to put his life in order. The actor sometimes looks unconvincing, but overall does a decent job. I also paid attention to Gale Sondergaard’s performance. She portrayed Faith — a woman shown as a negative character. Her hypocrisy, greed, cunning, and complete lack of moral principles define her personality. It’s probably fair that Sondergaard’s performance was recognized by the Academy — she won her first and only Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Another actor I liked was Edmund Gwenn. He did a fine job portraying Anthony’s grandfather. It was interesting to watch how he had to hide their true family connection for so long. There was something subtle and difficult to describe in that. It takes strength to restrain yourself from revealing who you really are to your grandson. As for the rest, the film comes across as dull. The setting barely resembles a convincing historical piece, focusing too much on melodrama — and that’s undoubtedly the fault of both the director and the acting choices, which are full of exaggerated expressions in words, voices, and glances. Frankly speaking, this is a film for a niche audience. Despite its Oscars for Best Cinematography, Best Score, Best Editing (and the supporting actress award I already mentioned), the movie doesn’t offer anything particularly special for me. Of course, I take into account that it was released nearly a century ago, but there are plenty of films from that era that are far more engaging. "Anthony Adverse" simply doesn’t belong among them — at least for me. 4 out of 10