Harrowing, unforgettable true story of a 13-year-old Jewish girl in WWII Amsterdam who writes of her experience hiding from the Nazis along with her family and friends in an employer's attic. Adaptation of Anne Frank's memoirs by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, filtered through the theatrics of their Broadway show, is worth-seeing but suffers from sluggish pacing and unsuitable CinemaScope presentation. The film was hotly anticipated in 1959, as was the lead performance by newcomer Millie Perkins, yet she's simply too mature and conventionally pretty as Anne (a 20-year-old model, Perkins reportedly won the part over some 10,000 hopefuls). The supporting cast fares better, with Shelley Winters winning a Supporting Oscar as Anne's flirtatious neighbor (the sequence where she brags about her love-life is particularly sweet). For those who haven't read the book or seen the play, the film may be a good place to start as it features moving and suspenseful moments. William C. Mellor also won an Oscar for his widescreen cinematography, though it doesn't suit the claustrophobic mood director George Stevens was apparently trying to create. Remade for TV in 1980. **1/2 from ****
Review of The Diary of Anne Frank
