The Scarlet Letter

1934
G
1h 9m

IMDb RATING

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Hardie Albright, Cora Sue Collins, William Farnum, and Colleen Moore in The Scarlet Letter (1934)

Period Drama Tragedy Tragic Romance Drama Romance

In the seventeenth century, in Massachusetts, a young woman is forced to wear a scarlet "A" on her dress for bearing a child out of wedlock.In the seventeenth century, in Massachusetts, a young woman is forced to wear a scarlet "A" on her dress for bearing a child out of wedlock.In the seventeenth century, in Massachusetts, a young woman is forced to wear a scarlet "A" on her dress for bearing a child out of wedlock.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.4/10

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YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos72

+ 66

Top cast17

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Colleen Moore

Hester Prynne

Hardie Albright

Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale

Henry B. Walthall

Roger Chillingworth

Cora Sue Collins

Pearl

Alan Hale

Bartholomew Hockings

Virginia Howell

Abigail Crakstone

William Kent

Sampson Goodfellow
(as William T. Kent)

William Farnum

Gov. Bellingham

Betty Blythe

Innkeeper

Al O. Henderson

Master Wilson
(as Al C. Henderson)

Jules Cowles

Beadle

Mickey Rentschler

Digerie Crakstone
(as Mickey Rentchler)

Shirley Jean Rickert

Humility Crakstone

Flora Finch

Faith Bartle--Gossip

Tommy Bupp

Marching Boy
(uncredited)

Iron Eyes Cody

Indian
(uncredited)

Dorothea Wolbert

Mistress Allerton
(uncredited)

Director
- Robert G. Vignola
Writers
All cast & crew
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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Henry B. Walthall played Chillingworth in both this and the silent version (The Scarlet Letter (1926) ).

Goofs
In the scene where Chillingworth visits Hester in her home, the letter 'A' on Hester's garment changes position. It starts out just below the border of Hester's shawl collar, and soon after is seen to be nearer her waist.

Connections
Featured in Easy A (2010)

User reviews14

Review

Featured review

6/10

A charming film of a great novel from the early talkies.

Made in 1934 not long after the 'talkies' took over from the silent era this is one of the many versions of the classic novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It has been made many times and I still love the 1995 version with Demi Moore and Gary Oldman. Here we have Colleen Moore (who was a star of the silent era) playing the fallen woman Esther Prynne – ordered to wear the scarlet letter 'A' for adultery to ever mark her sin and shame.

Hardie Albright plays the Reverend Arthur Dimmsdale and they still do that acting without words that was reminiscent of earlier filmatic days. They manage to get a lot of chemistry going despite the limited dialogue in places. There is also some humour ably supplied by a strong supporting cast. One of which is an early appearance of Alan Hale who went on to appear in many of Errol Flynn's films.

It is a poor quality audio but it does not detract from the overall feel of this time piece of a film. Made about history it has become a part of cinema history in its own right. I really enjoyed it as I love films from all eras. If you are a film history fan then this will be one you will be pleased to have seen.