Winterset

1233. WINTERSET (1936-usa). With Burgess Meredith, Margo, Eduardo Ciannelli, John Carradine, MYRON McCORMlCK, MISCHA AUER. A powerful, poetic, wonderfully acted screen version of MAXWELL ANDERSON’S brilliant stage play, which in 1935 copped the first annual New York Drama Critics Circle award as the best American play of the year. The film lived up to this honor by being named one of the 10 best films of 1937. The story is set in the slums of New York City. Burgess Meredith, in his screen debut, is most impressive as Mio the son of a man who had been an anarchist. Years earlier, he had been framed by gangsters for a crime he did not commit, and had been executed. The vengeful Mio seeks out evidence to prove his father’s innocence. Along the way, he falls in love with a poor young girl (Margo, who specialized in portraying tragic, suffering victims). Her brother knows the identity of the real culprit, but has chosen to keep quiet because he fears reprisals from the hoods. The cast is sprinkled with a host of familiar faces and names, with Meredith, Margo, and Eduardo Ciannelli replaying the roles they created on the stage. 77 minutes. Drama