The Diary of Anne Frank

One must grow a callous around one's heart to critique anything based on the life of Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager who hid for more than two years from the Nazis in an Amsterdam attic, before being caught and dying in a concentration camp. I'm reminded somewhat of Schindler's List, which was able to withstand this sort of thing by virtue of being very good. The Diary of Anne Frank, which was one of the nominees for Best Picture in 1959, is so-so, but I find it interesting that collective guilt wasn't enough to catapult it to a win over the colossus that was Ben-Hur.

Of course, America was a different place in 1959 than it was in 1992. Anti-Semitism was still out in the open, and organizations could still be restricted. Gentile audiences could go see The Diary of Anne Frank and feel bad and sniffle when Anne Frank says, "Despite everything, I still believe people are good at heart" and then go home and avoid contact with Jews.

The film, adapted from the stage play, was directed by George Stevens with utmost respect. Parts of it are quite good. The claustrophobia of eight people sharing a small space having to be quiet is palpable (though Stevens shot the film, curiously, in CinemaScope). Some of the performances are very good. Shelley Winters won an Oscar as the materialistic Mrs. Van Daan, and Lou Jacobi, who only recently passed away, is excellent as her husband, who craves cigarettes and is caught stealing food. Ed Wynn, known as a comedian, was also nominated as the fussy dentist Mr. Dussel, and Joseph Schildkraut expressed the dignity of Mr. Frank quite well.

The problem at the core of the film was the performance of Millie Perkins as Anne. She was a teenage model who had never acted before, and it shows. I was interested to read that she received good notices at the time, but I wonder if that was just critics being kind (which seems impossible, I know). Anne in the film is a complex character--a willful, spoiled Daddy's girl, and Perkins just isn't up to the task of handling that. She was also about five years too old for the part. Her scenes of romance with Richard Beymer, the son of Winters and Jacobi, are a disaster, and are best utilized as a bathroom break.

As I watched the film I admired much of the craftsmanship and skill of Stevens as a director, but wasn't particularly moved. I thought that maybe the story of Anne Frank is just too well known to hit me on that level. But then, while reading her Wikipedia entry, I started to get choked up. Sometimes just the facts of the thing are enough, and a big Hollywood production is overkill.