Tuesday | October 10, 2006 9:00 pm

Tess of the Storm Country

Screening on Film

Directed by Alfred Santell.
With Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, Dudley Digges.
US, 1932, 35mm, black & white, 75 min.

Based on the book by Grace Miller White, Tess of the Storm Country was such a hit for Mary Pickford at Famous Players in 1914 that she reprised the role—in the only remake of her career—for a 1922 version at United Artists. The success of both silent pictures guaranteed a sound adaptation, which Fox conceived as another vehicle for Gaynor and Farrell, their eleventh of twelve screen teamings. Gaynor shines in the title part as the plucky daughter of an ornery skipper (Digges), while Farrell portrays the son of a dastardly local landowner on the seafaring coastline of the otherwise nameless “Storm Country.” Director Alfred Santell considerably softened the naturalistic, often brutal source novel in an effort to fashion an upbeat, affirmative film for Gaynor’s legion of faithful fans.