I wasn't even going to watch this, because I wasn't all that thrilled with the film starring Vivien Leigh, and didn't even know about this prior effort, but I saw it blurbed on TCM and it had Bette Davis in it and was pre-code, so I figured what the hell, give it a try, especially based on reviews here.
I have to agree with the reviews, I have never seen a movie from this time period acted so naturally and realistically, and have never been so involved in a story I thought I already knew.
It's a shame the leads did not win Oscars for their performances or go on to better and greater things, because they totally convinced me with their performances; in fact all the cast were perfect as they had to be, and, while the ending was a bit clunky and rather abrupt and therefore wasn't the devastation I expected, I was already crying anyway.
See this and forget the remake, it cannot compare.
I have to agree with the reviews, I have never seen a movie from this time period acted so naturally and realistically, and have never been so involved in a story I thought I already knew.
It's a shame the leads did not win Oscars for their performances or go on to better and greater things, because they totally convinced me with their performances; in fact all the cast were perfect as they had to be, and, while the ending was a bit clunky and rather abrupt and therefore wasn't the devastation I expected, I was already crying anyway.
See this and forget the remake, it cannot compare.