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Movie:		8.0
Picture:		7.0
Sound:		8.0
Extras:		9.0
Score:		8.0

Director(s):	George Stevens
Writer(s):	Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett (screenplay), Anne Frank
Starring:	Shelley Winters • Millie Perkins • Ed Wynn • Richard Beymer
Genre:	Drama
Release Date:	June 16, 2009

List Price:	Blu-ray - $21.99
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After the works of Elie Wiesel, the manuscript of Anne Frank written during hiding in World War II may be the most essential memoir written by someone who experienced the Holocaust firsthand. Anne Frank’s diary relays the struggles of two families inhabiting a hidden attic at the height of Nazi occupation in Europe. The journal as is possesses incredible historic value; but when you consider Anne Frank died of typhus in a concentration camp, that her writings survived to tell her harrowing story of survival becomes borderline miraculous. Now, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl is read by students around the world as a key piece of literature on the subject of Holocaust education. The English translation of Anne’s diary appeared in 1952 and quickly spawned a play and eventually a film adaptation by George Stevens.

These days when you tell someone you’re going to watch a three-hour-long Holocaust epic, the first film which comes to mind for most is Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List. Spielberg’s film sparked plenty of controversy worldwide with a few Arabic countries unwilling to show it in theaters only helping the film to gain traction as a cinematic event. With publicity like that, it’s not hard to understand why The Diary of Anne Frank, which received its film adaptation thirty-four years earlier, would be overlooked. After that, however, excuses for Schindler’s List’s supremacy over The Diary of Anne Frank become harder to produce.

George Stevens’ The Diary of Anne Frank takes an iconic World War II story and gives it the cinematic life it deserves. Few directors can do so much with such little movement and space. The intrinsic limitations on space and action require Stevens to properly translate the drama via character – which he does. Millie Perkins as the titular Frank delivers the performance with wavering levels of conviction. In the longer stretches of conversation Perkins holds her own amidst the more notable and seasoned actors stuck in the attic with her. It’s when the film’s moments of tension roll by that Millie’s mask slips away – but then again, consider the role. Here’s a 21-year-old actress in playing the part of a 13-year-old girl whose family must go into hiding and stay there for two years. You could be the greatest actress in the world and read the book a dozen times over and never truly be able to grasp the fear required to make your performance reach the heights of sincerity required for such a role. Millie Perkins filled the role as best she could, but there’s an element of fear that she just couldn’t reproduce and that took its toll on the film’s conviction.

The most notable performance comes from Shelley Winters as matriarch Petronella of the Van Daan. Where Ms. Perkins left holes in her character’s portrayal, Winters as Petronella helped to fill some of those holes in. All at once a warm and tender as a human being, Petronella also has the strongest elements of humanity buried at her very core. When the Franks and Van Daans begin to struggle in their cohabitation in such tight confines, the choice of Winters as Petronella proves its merit. Winters can shift moods on a dime and it creates a simultaneously endearing and loathsome character in Petronella Van Daan.

The restoration of the film dazzles. The crystal clear pictures help to fascinate considering the camera doesn’t have much movement. There are brief flashes of film deterioration but they’re outweighed by the predominantly beautiful presentation. The audio, like the video, also wavers at points but for the most part retains a pristine track.

Blu-ray Bonus Features

This alone could merit a two-page write-up as the Blu-ray is packed. There are retrospectives offered by director George Stevens, Millie Perkins, Diane Baker and Shelley Winters. Production featurettes include a brief “making of” piece which looks back instead of conjuring up archive footage that I wish they had. Finally “Echoes of the Past” blends bits and pieces of the other interviews into an all-around retrospective (which means you could seriously consider watching this instead of all the others. There is an audio commentary but beware, it doesn’t feature the director but rather his son and Millie Perkins. I’m not sure what genius had the idea to put his son on the microphone, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. There’s so much to keep you busy – it’s incredible. If you honestly still want more after this three-hour-long behemoth comes to a close, there’s plenty to nibble on.