Spotlight on Movie Mothers - Mothers Dearest and Star Birthday - Maureen O'Sullivan
Star Birthday - Maureen O'Sullivan
Maureen O'Sullivan was born on 17 May 1911 and is the mother of actress of Mia Farrow. She is most famous for playing the role of Jane in the original Tarzan the Ape Man (1932).
Recommended viewing
- Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
- Payment Deferred (1932)
- Strange Interlude (1932)
- Tugboat Annie (1933)
- The Thin Man (1934)
- Hide Out (1934)
- The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
- David Copperfield (1935)
- Anna Karenina (1935)
- West Point of the Air (1935)
- The Voice of Bugle Ann (1936)
- The Devil-Doll (1936)
- A Day at the Races (1937)
- The Emperor's Candlesticks (1937)
- A Yank at Oxford (1938)
- The Crowd Roars (1938)
- Pride and Prejudice (1940)
- Maisie Was A Lady (1941)
Keeping with the spotlight on Movie Mothers throughout May, I have selected her performance as Kitty in Anna Karenina (1935) for my blog.
Anna Karenina (1935)
Anna Karenina (1935) starring Greta Garbo is the most famous and critically acclaimed film version of the Tolstoy novel.
The film tells of Anna Karenina, the wife of an official who falls in love with a military officer while she is on a trip. The indiscreet affair causes the ruin of her marriage, and her ability to see her son.
As usual Garbo is both glamorous and tragic in this film. Her first appearance in the film is magical as she emerges from the train in a cloud of smoke. Garbo received a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress.
Anna's relationship with her son
**Spoiler alert**
At the beginning of the film, Anna misses her son, and says: "My only child. I've never left him before". During their scenes together, the camera frames Anna and Sergei quite close together, to symbolise the mother-son bond they share. Sergei even says to Anna: "When I'm as big as you are, I won't let you travel alone. I'll take you every place." As Anna is saying goodbye to Sergei he tells her, "You know I can't sleep unless you kiss me good night."
At the beginning of the film, Anna misses her son, and says: "My only child. I've never left him before". During their scenes together, the camera frames Anna and Sergei quite close together, to symbolise the mother-son bond they share. Sergei even says to Anna: "When I'm as big as you are, I won't let you travel alone. I'll take you every place." As Anna is saying goodbye to Sergei he tells her, "You know I can't sleep unless you kiss me good night."
Ironically, after her husband refuses to give her a divorce Anna chooses life with her lover over her son. At the end of the film when Anna chooses to throw herself in front of the train, we can't help but wonder who Anna loved more, her love or her son.
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