Today’s Prayer Focus
MOVIE REVIEW

The Diary of Anne Frank

Reviewed by: Brett Willis
STAFF WRITER

Moral Rating: Better Than Average
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: 10 to Adult
Genre: Historical / War Drama
Length: 3 hr.
Year of Release: 1959
USA Release:
Relevant Issues
Box art for “The Diary of Anne Frank”
Featuring Millie Perkins, Joseph Schildkraut, Shelley Winters, Richard Beymer, Gusti Huber, Lou Jacobi, Diane Baker, Ed Wynn
Director George Stevens
Producer George Stevens
Distributor Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Trademark logo.20th Century Fox

Josef Stalin said something like “One death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.” that’s why the most effective war-related movies focus on just a few characters as representatives of a larger group. No exception here.

This film is based on the story of Anne Frank, who hid along with seven other Dutch Jews in an attic for two years and three months during WWII. They were discovered by the Nazis and shipped to concentration camps, just weeks before the Allies liberated Amsterdam. The opening scene shows Anne’s father, the only survivor, returning to the attic to retrieve Anne’s diary; the main body of the film is flashback, as he spot-reads the diary and reminisces.

All the major players—Millie Perkins as Anne, Joseph Schildkraut as her father, Shelley Winters as Mrs. Van Dean, Richard Beymer as Anne’s “boyfriend” Peter, and Ed Wynn as the fussbudgety dentist, Albert Dussell—do an outstanding job. What we see are ordinary, average human beings trying to live their lives and hold on to their hopes and dreams in the midst of extraordinary circumstances.

Content Warnings

There are about four uses of d*. There’s one exterior scene in which German soldiers machine-gun a fleeing off-camera suspect. Also images of Jews being rounded up, antiaircraft fire against British planes flying over the city on their way to German targets, and the tastefully-handled climax in which the Franks’ hiding place is discovered. The entire film is claustrophobic and tension-filled; the tension ratchets up a notch in scenes where the families believe someone in the factory below may have heard them.

Perkins, actually 21 at the time, effectively portrays a 13—to 15-year-old girl trying to make sense out of the world she finds herself in. Sometimes a plum role at the beginning of an actor’s career is hard to top; that seems to be the case with Perkins, although she’s been active ever since (she played Elvis Presley’s girlfriend and later his mother, and she’s Pete Maravich’s mother in “The Pistol”).

Winters [Shirley Schrift] earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as the contrary Mrs. Van Dean, who berates her husband and occasionally makes suggestive moves at Anne’s father. In 1986 she again played a Jewish victim in the Chuck Norris vehicle “The Delta Force,” a very-fictionalized retelling of a 1985 airline hijacking by Arab/Muslim terrorists.

Wynn [Isaiah Edwin Leopold], who played numerous Disney comic roles and also worked with the Three Stooges, is perfect as Dussell. Our emotions are yanked in all directions because Wynn’s personality and mannerisms scream out “comedy,” yet in this setting there’s little to laugh about. At the same moment that the news of D-Day comes over the hidden radio, an argument breaks out between the families about unequal distribution of food. Wynn chimes in with “Stop it! You’re spoiling the whole invasion!” Priceless work.

Some have challenged Anne’s diary as faked; others have challenged the entire story of WWII exterminations as faked. Those wanting a “second witness” about the practice of hiding Jews in Holland should read, or watch the film version of, Corrie Ten Boom’s story “The Hiding Place.”

Remakes: TV movies (1967, 1980, 1987 and 2001).


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Aside from the slight cussing, this movie is a good one. I saw this in my 8th grade history class and I really enjoyed it. Good morals.
My Ratings: [Better than Average / 3½]
Shannon, age 20
Positive—I loved this movie Dear Frankie. First off, I am a fan of Girard Butler. My heart went out to Lizzie. Because of her situation she tried to protect her son from the truth about his Dad and her life was ruled by writing the letters and moving from town to town to keep from being found by the abusive husbands family. When Lizzie realized she was in big trouble, she chose to cover up the lie by hiring Girard to pose as Frankies Dad. I loved the way Davy(Girard) starts to care for Frankie and Lizzy. My favorite scene is when Davy takes Frankie to the fish store and is staring at him through the aquarium. The compassion and love on his face was amazing to me.Hats off to Girard for his ability to portray this emotion. I loved the way it ended, because I believe Frankie knew the truth and I also think Girard would come back and become part of the two-some permanately. I guess I was not offended by this movie because it was obviously a story of an unbelieving Mom who did not trust in God or his sovereignty. She was fearful and bitter and was living a lie. I think she did the best she could having no hope in Christ, but making descions as an unbeliever. I think this was a great love story, very touching.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Holly, age 41