It is so rare for me to find anything critical to say about “Anne of Green Gables.” My adoration for everything Anne and for L.M. Montgomery exceeds all mortal comprehension. I am very sorry to say, though, that when they made “Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story,” they messed up big time.
The chronology of the movie is completely wrong. When World War I (called The Great War at the time) began, Anne was a mother. She had children who were old enough to go fight in the war. I will write more about this when I review “Rilla of Ingleside,” which tells about The Great War. In the movie, Anne is depicted as a younger woman, not yet married to Gilbert.
In fact, there is nothing in the movie that remotely ties in to the Anne of Green Gables story. Gilbert goes off to fight in the war, which he never really did, and Anne tries to find him. They are reunited only at the end of the show.
While Anne is waiting for Gilbert, we find that Diana has inherited quite a large sum of money from her Aunt Josephine, and she has turned into a snob. Her husband, Fred, is disenchanted with his wife and doesn’t feel like the man of the house anymore. He turns to Anne and ends up developing a crush on her. Together they take in an orphan boy and care for him, forming an odd family unit.
Anne goes to work for a publisher in New York and submits a manuscript to him, only to have it stolen out from under her nose with another person’s name on it as author.
The storyline depicted in the movie is very interesting, but they shouldn’t have tried to make it into an Anne movie. The story has nothing to do with L.M. Montgomery’s creation and I hate to think of that poor woman turning over in her grave when she found out what was happening to the memory of her life’s work.
My advice to diehard Anne fans: Read the books. Watch the first two Anne movies. Swoon over Gilbert, laugh at Anne’s mishaps, and love every minute of it. You’re not missing anything by not seeing “Anne: The Continuing Story.” I rather wish I hadn’t seen it; it seemed like sacrilege.
Related Blogs:
Anne of Green Gables: An Introduction
Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel
(This movie can be found at Amazon.)