Anne With an "E" for Extraordinary

When I discovered that I would be working on Halloween this year, I wanted to come up with a bookish costume such as would be suitable for someone working in a bookstore. October 30 arrived and I still hadn’t gotten around to figuring something out, but luckily for me I happened to have several items of clothing stashed away that, together, made me into the perfect Anne of Green Gables. For a finishing touch, I got some temporary dye and colored my hair red, then put it into twin braids. The costume was a hit, though I was a bit embarrassed when I realized I was the only one who had come to work in costume. No matter. It was an opportunity to reacquaint myself with one of my favorite literary characters, the irrepressible Anne Shirley. She is also the subject of one of the most delightful – and faithful – film adaptations of a book that I have ever seen, and after Halloween we had to pull it out and watch it again.

When I was younger, my two cousins would come over and spend the night with my brother and me. Sometimes we spent the whole night together and sometimes Shawn and Benjamin went off on their own to put their potion-making powers to use while Kristen and I spent the night amongst pearler beads and paint-by-numbers. But no matter what, we almost always put on Anne of Green Gables shortly after their arrival and switched to Anne of Avonlea when the former ended. We rarely watched much of them, but for seven hours they provided a comforting backdrop to our nocturnal activities.

Megan Follows turns in a magnificent portrayal of Anne (“with an ‘e’”), an eccentric orphan who comes to live with siblings Matthew (Richard Farnsworth) and Marilla (Colleen Dewhurst) Cuthbert by mistake when they request a boy to help out with the family farm. She has a great flair for the melodramatic, insisting on speaking the most elegant words she can think of with the most desperate intonation she can muster. Her whimsy does not entirely meet with the stern and practical Marilla’s approval, but she charms the quiet and gentle Matthew from the start, easing her transition into Marilla’s good graces in spite of the vocal misgivings of busybody neighbor Rachel Lynde (Patricia Hamilton). No one in the community knows quiet what to make of her, but she soon finds acceptance and a much-longed-for “bosom friend.”

Diana Barry (Schuyler Grant) is as timid and feminine as Anne is outspoken and tomboyish, but they form an unbreakable bond and learn a bit from each other as well. Anne inspires Diana to do things she once would have thought too daring while learning from Diana the virtues of restraint. Her primary education, however, comes from Marilla, who keeps a strong guiding hand on her adopted daughter, amused by some of her antics but also insistent that she learn to be respectful. We see too little of Matthew in the movie, but when he shows up he is marvelously kind and his near lack of words stands in comical contrast to Anne’s unending stream of them. Of all the unique supporting characters in the film – and the book – he stands out as my clear favorite.

The other fellow who grabs our attention is Gilbert Blythe (Jonathan Crombie), a dashing young man who makes the practically fatal mistake of intoning Anne’s red hair while trying to get her attention during her first day at school. From then on, he is on her naughty list, even though he takes the blame when she smashes a slate over his head, apologizes profusely to her after class and continues to treat her with nothing but kindness in the ensuing years. Gilbert is a true gentleman, and it is in the matter of her interaction with him that I find Anne’s fiery temper most frustrating. The chorus of the Bryan Adams song Right Here Waiting for You always comes to mind when I think of Gilbert, so patient, so gallant, trying again and again to win the favor of a girl he greatly admires but inadvertently insulted. When Anne finally begins to come around, it is a joyous thing indeed, though her growing feelings of affection do not find true resolution until Anne of Avonlea.

There are many things about this film that appeal. Anne is such an entrancing heroine, all the more so for her frequent foibles. From dying her hair green to mistakenly getting Diana drunk – an act which earns her a lengthy separation from her most beloved friend, Anne always seems to be getting into the most ridiculous of messes. But she is also a girl of great intelligence, ranking high in all her class activities and impressing the community with her literary and theatrical gifts. She is surrounded by well-developed supporting characters with quirks of their own, and they add to the emotional resonance and entertainment of the film.

Another asset is the utter G-ratedness of this film. There is nothing in it that a parent would find objectionable, while Anne’s misadventures provide enough amusement to entrance the youngest viewers, especially during the first half. Anne of Green Gables is a remnant of a more innocent era, with a setting to match. The filmmakers depict turn-of-the-century Prince Edward Island as an arcadian wonderland whose simple beauty approaches that of the Shire, my literary landscape of choice. We are as enchanted as Anne during her first exposure to the landmarks that will become so familiar in years to come. The wistful soundtrack, heavy with strings, evokes a longing for a return to such times as depicted in the film.

Not that Anne’s world is free of heartache. Her early life was full of it, and when tragedy rears its ugly head in Green Gables it is all the more painful because this has become her haven. For a film so full of light and delight, it ends with what must be the most devastating event of Anne’s young life. But such is the power of the story and its characters that this scene is almost as crippling to the audience as to Anne herself. Though the movie has a three-and-a-half-hour running time, it never seems to drag. It was my favorite film of that length until Fellowship of the Ring, one that I don’t mind watching repeatedly and treasuring anew each time. If you haven’t ever experienced it, give the movie a try and let yourself fall in love with Anne of Green Gables for the first – but probably not the last – time.