While this 1949 adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel isn’t the first movie version, it is the earliest surviving film of the book. A 1926 silent film version has been lost to time, making director Elliott Nugent’s take the de facto starting comparison for all subsequent film adaptations. All of the pieces are here, including the creepy bespectacled eyes billboard, but the presentation is fairly flat and workmanlike compared to the later adaptations.
Buy The Great Gatsby (1949) Blu-rayAlan Ladd stars as Gatsby, and he nails the character with his innocent, winsome charm, making him a far more sympathetic character than Leonardo DiCaprio’s smarmy, calculating version. Gatsby goes through the story paces, working his way up from destitute fisherman to flashy New York millionaire as he yearns to win back his first love, Daisy Buchanan (Betty Field). Even with all of his riches, he hasn’t found happiness, pinning his hopes for satisfaction on his plan to reconnect with Daisy. That plan involves her cousin, Nick Carraway (Macdonald Carey), unknowingly brought into Gatsby’s Long Island enclave solely to get Gatsby close to Daisy.
Meanwhile, Daisy’s husband has been cheating with the local gas-station owner’s wife, Myrtle (Shelley Winters), leading to a tragic accident when Myrtle mistakes a fast-approaching luxury car as his and instead meets her doom from an identical car recklessly driven by Daisy with Gatsby as a passenger. Even as Gatsby has happiness within his grasp, he’s a victim of mistaken identity as the enraged gas-station owner sets out with his gun for revenge.
The film was made at an interesting time in the book’s trajectory, because the book hadn’t yet become a great American classic, so it was treated as little more than a common adaptation. As a result, the film feels pedestrian, just another day at the office for the cast and crew rather than an artistic examination of a hallowed masterwork. Aside from Gatsby’s expansive mansion front room, the sets and framing lack any spark, with Nugent staging scenes with all the pizazz of a sitcom set and largely avoiding exterior shots. The car accident is both surprisingly explicit and unintentionally comedic, with clear contact shown on Winters as she subsequently spins out of frame like a bowling pin knocked to the rafters.
Field is unconvincing as the object of Gatsby’s obsession, exhibiting too little glamour, beauty, or charm to entrance the star. Macdonald Carey is also just putting in his hours like sands through the hourglass, delivering his lines but little thoughtful expression communicating how they’re affecting him. The film fully belongs to Ladd, and he’s the only player who actually makes the most of it, contributing an ethereal, nuanced take on the lead character that drives home his passion, discontent, and yearning for a brighter future.
The film is presented in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio, originating from a brand new HD master from a 4K scan. Black and white tones are crisply defined, and little debris is present. Mono DTS sound is similarly free of defects. Special features are sparse, including an interview with Ladd’s son, the theatrical trailer, and an audio commentary track by a film historian.
