![]() ![]() While each novel is supposed to be able to stand alone, I've listed them below in chronological order by the date each story begins. There would be eleven more books in the series through 1960 with the eventual time span covered ranging one hundred years, 1853-1953. The previous four books had moved forward with the Whiteoaks saga while Young Renny would be the first to dip back in time to tell a story of Jalna previous to the original novel. When Jalna released in 1935 Mazo de la Roche had just completed her fifth novel in the series, Young Renny. But I won’t spoil that for you.Įden (David Manners) delights in an uncomfortable scene. Despite the character emerging as the Whiteoaks black sheep I found myself, for once, pulling for Manners, hoping his Eden would get his act together and find a happy reward. While I still had an issue with that in Jalna his Eden is so petulant and full of himself that I didn’t mind it nearly as much. Manners is especially frustrating because I believe he had the presence of a star, always heightening my expectations, but with performances that seem to fall short for me.įinally all those negative traits I always seem to find in Manners' characters fit him as Eden Whiteoaks! Beyond being so hard for me to root for in those earlier roles I also find Manners terrible at delivering his lines, often sounding like someone reading them off a page without any idea of the emotion they’re supposed to suggest. Clive and Zeffie Tilbury also are impressive in supporting roles." Butler stated that The Mystery of Edwin Drood "may not be a great film, but the actors make it decent entertainment.Often cast as a romantic leading man Manners often comes off to me as whiny and immature, not at all dashing, but a little boy seeming more inconvenienced than challenged by whatever hardships screenwriters toss his way. Douglass Montgomery is quite good in a dual role, and Heather Angel is appropriately lovely and timid. In a modern-day retrospective review, Craig Butler of AllMovie stated that "the film's screenplay, which is too often predictable and too seldom surprising" and that Stuart Walker had directed the film "efficiently and with a touch of flair here and there it's not outstanding work." Butler concluded: "Where Drood shines is in its cast, led by a typically marvelous Claude Rains, who conveys the lust, shame, desperation, and determination of his character with aplomb. William Boehnel of The New York World-Telegram declared the film "a thoroughly entertaining, exciting and atmospherically fine screen version of the novel." Eileen Creelman of the New York Sun declared it "a gruesome melodrama with enough action and background mystery to make it go." Bland Johaneson of the New York Daily Mirror declared the film "handsomely produced and acted" and that it would hold audiences in "complete interest." Īndre Sennwald of The New York Times declared that " combination of adroit direction and acting isn't strong enough to overcome an essentially weak narrative." In the United Kingdom, Kinematograph Weekly said that "Individual acting is very good, and the atmosphere is faithful in detail, but neither can invest the story development with strong suspense nor preserve its secret," concluding that "There is no denying that Claude Rains is a brilliant actor, this does not prevent his mannerisms and inflections from becoming a trifle monotonous." The film was generally well received by critics upon its release. In the book Universal Horrors, the film is described as "neither an all-out horror story nor a puzzling whodunnit" and defined in contemporary terms as "a quaintly charming and atmospheric Victorian melodrama" lacking real suspense. The film was released by Universal Pictures on February 4, 1935. it was not a good movie at all." Reception It has no unity." When asked about The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Manners responded that ". Movies, you do little bits and you don't know where it fits in. You see, in a play you become the play, because you start in the beginning and end up at the end of the script. ![]() In later years, Manners said: " didn't like movies. The film was the last for David Manners, who plays Edwin Drood. Production began on November 12, 1934, and continued until January 1935. The film's shooting was initially delayed because of casting difficulties. A set was built in Universal's backlot that was the largest for the studio since the filming of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. According to Universal publicity, the studio's London office shot thousands of feet of film and took numerous still shots of Victorian-style structures in Rochester in 1934 for the film. Universal afforded the film a budget of $215,375 and developed an aggressive advertising campaign to exploit the novel's unresolved ending. Universal Pictures was enthusiastic about adapting The Mystery of Edwin Drood and exploiting its lack of a finale. Douglass Montgomery as Neville Landless. ![]()
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