We Live Again

Infobox Film
name = We Live Again


image_size = 225px
caption = French theatrical poster
director = Rouben Mamoulian
producer = Samuel Goldwyn
writer = Novel:
Leo Tolstoy
Adaptation:
Leonard Praskins
Preston Sturges
Screenplay:
Maxwell Anderson
Uncredited:
Paul Green
Talbot Jennings
Willard Mack
Edward G. Ulmer
Thorton Wilder
narrator =
starring = Anna Sten
Frederic March
music = Alfred Newman
cinematography = Gregg Toland
editing = Otho Lovering
distributor = United Artists
released = 1 November fy|1934
runtime = 85 minutes
country = FilmUS
language = English
budget =
gross =
imdb_id = 0025964

"We Live Again" is a fy|1934 film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's 1899 novel "Resurrection" ("Voskraeseniye"), starring Anna Sten and Frederic March. Directed by Rouben Mamoulian, the screenplay was written by Maxwell Anderson with contributions from numerous writers, including Preston Sturges and Thorton Wilder.

Producer Samuel Goldwyn made the film to showcase Russian actress Anna Sten, his newest discovery. It was Goldwyn who named the film "We Live Again", on the theory that it meant the same thing as "Resurrection" and was easier to understand. The first film adaptation of the Tolstoy novel was made in fy|1909 by D.W. Griffith, and ran 10 minutes. Erickson, Hal [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:116127~T0 Plot synopsis (Allmovie)] ] Numerous other film versions have been made since then.

Plot

Russian Prince Dmitri Nekhlyudov (Frederic March) seduces innocent young Katusha Maslova (Anna Sten), a servant to his aunts. After they spend the night together in the greenhouse, Dmitri leaves the next morning, outraging Katusha by not leaving a note for her, only money. When she becomes pregnant, she is fired, and when the baby is born, it dies and is buried unbaptized. Katusha then goes to Moscow, where she falls into a life of prostitution, poverty and degradation.

Dmitri, now engaged to Missy (Jane Baxter), the daughter of the wealthy judge, Prince Kortchagin (C. Aubrey Smith), is called for jury duty in Kotchagin's court for a murder trial. The case is about a merchant who has been killed, and Dmitri is astonished to see that Katusha is one of the defendants. The jury finds that she is not guilty, but because of a technicality, the judge sentences her to five years hard labor in Siberia.

Feeling guilty about abandoning Katusha years before, and wanting to redeem her and himself as well, the once-callous nobleman attempts to get her released from prison. He fails in his efforts, so he returns to the prison to ask Katusha to marry him. When he doesn't show up on the day the prisoners are to be transported, Katusha gives up hope, but then he appears on the border of Siberia where the prisoners are being processed: he has divided his land among his servants and wants to "live again" with her forgiveness, help and love. [TCM [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=95208&category=Full%20Synopsis Full synopsis] ] [Beaver, Jim [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025964/plotsummary Plot summary (IMDB)] ]

Cast

Cast notes:
*Samuel Goldwyn had introduced Anna Sten, who he hoped would become the "new Garbo", earlier in fy|1934 in the film "Nana", then showcased her in this film, and tried again in fy|1935 with "The Wedding Night". None of the three films was a box office success, and Goldwyn released "The Passionate Peasant" from her contract. [IMDB [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0826479/bio "Anna Sten" bio] ]
*This was the first Hollywood film for English actress Jane Baxter.TCM [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=95208&category=Notes Notes] ]

Production

Unlike many films made in the 1930s, "We Live Again", which had the working title of "Resurrection", met with the approval of the censors at the Hays Office. Joseph I. Breen wrote to Will H. Hays: "Though dealing with a sex affair and its attendant consequences, the story has been handled with such fine emphasis on the moral values of repentance and retribution, as to emerge with a definite spiritual quality. We feel that this picture could, in fact, serve as a model for the proper treatment of the Alement of illicit sex in pictures."

The film was in production from 12 June to 2 August fy|1934. The New York opening took place during the week of 1 November of that year, with the general American release on 16 November. [TCM [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=95208&category=Overview Overview] ]

Notes

External links

*imdb title|0025964
*tcmdb title|95208
*amg movie|1:116127