THE AGE OF INNOCENCE (1934)

Martin Scorsese’s THE IRISHMAN/’19 was original, but had such a strong déjà vu feel, it often seemed like a remake.  His actual remakes came from 1962's CAPE FEAR in 1991; and 2002's INFERNAL AFFAIRS, spun out as THE DEPARTED/’06.  Each of them overcooked beyond the material's tolerance.  (Who’da thunk?  CAPE FEAR’s J. Lee Thompson besting Martin Scorsese.)  Forgotten in the discussion, his other remake, a buffed & bloated vision of Edith Wharton’s THE AGE OF INNOCENCE/’93.  Strictly speaking, it’s a remake of a remake, a 1924 silent is lost.  But this 1934 version, directed by B’way stage director Philip Moeller in the first of his two film credits, gets a lot across in 81 minutes.  Mediocre stuff, based on a play from the novel, Scorsese’s film much the better work (well cast; sumptuously produced).  Yet, the older film has an advantage in closer contact to Wharton’s characters, knowing what to take seriously and when the author is guying American sense & sensibilities.  Never succumbing to the upper-crust period envy of a DOWNTON ABBEY, as Scorsese does with every showy camera shot.  What remains of the story still works as Irene Dunne’s European sophisticate brings home marital difficulties that  throw an uncomfortable light on the cloistered social set of the New York ‘400,’ finding an unlikely champion in John Boles’ engaged gentleman, typically underwhelming as simpatico putative lover.  Will he toss society mores away for love?  Will she allow him to?  Quite effective in its modest way, with grand gestures from the largely eccentric supporting cast and far less comfort than you get in Scorsese’s dramatic misreading.

DOUBLE-BILL/ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: As Countess Olenska, Irene Dunne seems much younger than Michelle Pfeiffer in the remake, yet was two years older.  She’s quite the best thing in either film, though having Daniel Day Lewis rather than John Boles in the remake certainly helps even things out!