Touchstone and Beyond: A History of Disney’s “The Scarlet Letter”

Life in the Massachusetts Bay colony is a difficult road to travel for Hester Prynne, as she navigates the new world in The Scarlet Letter.

The Plot

Hester Prynne has arrived in the Massachusetts Bay colony to set up a home for her forthcoming husband Roger. The life of freedom promised in the new world is not what greets Hester.

Amongst the settlers, a puritanical form of control has been implemented. Freedom of choice is an illusion. Society is tightly controlled and if Hester wants to fit in, she will need to conform. Hester is unwilling to bend her beliefs just to satiate the needs of the political elites.

Disappointed by what she finds, Hester is content with a burgeoning friendship with Arthur Dimmesdale. The joy they have is kept from getting out of control because she is waiting for her husband. When it is believed that Roger was killed in an attack from the First Nations people, the passion that has been smoldering between the two erupts into a torrid affair.

When Hester becomes pregnant with Arthur’s child, she is attacked by the community, imprisoned, and rejected by the people. Though he begs her to name him as the father, Hester is unwilling and quietly protects Arthur from the wrath of the governor. Roger’s untimely arrival further complicates matters. Though the usual witch trials and fear of the puritans starts to rein in the community, an attack by the First Nations groups who are tired of the Europeans, alter the future of Hester and Arthur forever.

The Good

The scenery is beautiful, and the film is well shot.

Gary Oldman in any film will lift the storyline in many ways. His passion and talent is evident from his first moment on screen.

Demi Moore and Gary Oldman have great chemistry and do work well together.

The Bad and the Ugly

The Scarlet Letter is not a good film. While the movie is well shot, and the scenery makes the world of the new Massachusetts colony look inviting, there are just too many problems with the film that hamper its success.

The characters and film are too neat and clean. This story takes place in North America sometime between 1642 to 1649. I absolutely refuse to believe that the colony would be as neat and orderly as it is depicted in the movie, and that everyone in the film would be so clean, all the time. There is not one speck of dirt on any of the clothes, the buildings look professionally built. This doesn’t look like a colony that is scratching out a living on the cusp of the frontier.

Demi Moore is a great actor, but I don’t think she needed to use an accent to convey this is a story from centuries ago. The main reason is that the accent is inconsistent and many other actors including Oldman do not have an accent in the film.

While Moore and Oldman have great chemistry, the love story is silly. It’s not well organized and makes the two actors who have incredible talent look bad.

The Scarlet Letter is trying hard to fit the mold of an epic period piece that so many other films succeed at during the 1990s. The movie falls flat on its face. Showing Demi Moore and Oldman naked was silly and only detracted from the film.

Robert Duvall did not work as Roger. He is a talented actor with dozens of great roles, but this is not one of them.

Beyond the Film Facts

The Streamy Award

{The following four categories are based on a Film Reel scale.

1 Reel-Bored and Killing Time, 2 Reels-When You Have Some Time, 3 Reels-Make Some Time, 4 Reels-Big Screen Event}

I cannot recommend this film. While I will concede that Moore was probably right in saying that the book in its form needed to be changed to make a cinematic version of the story, the book would probably benefit from being adapted as a limited series.

Excuses aside, The Scarlet Letter is not a good movie. There are moments of joy, but not enough to recommend anyone sit through this two-hour tale. It’s not good.

I don’t care that the ending of the book was changed for the film. I’m fine with that. The biggest problem that I have is that throughout the whole runtime of the feature I felt like this was the silliest film I had watched in a long time. The movie is inconsistent in tone, focus, dialogue, and the accents are bad. What should be a historical epic is a major joke. From the sex scene to the Moore’s topless moment, it felt like that the movie was almost trying to parody other historical features.  

Demi Moore is great, but I think this was a role that was best for someone else. Oldman makes a fine Dimmesdale, but the rest of the movie doesn’t work. Robert Duvall as Roger is a mistake. He looks far too old to play the psychotic Roger, and his performance is on another level compared to the rest of the film. (I don’t mean this as a compliment.)

Therein is the problem with The Scarlet Letter, it is vastly inconsistent and ridiculous. I agree with Gary Oldman that there is good work in the movie, but not enough for me to ever recommend someone sit down and watch this movie.

Cast and Crew

Directed by Roland Joffe

Produced by Hollywood Pictures / Allied Stars Ltd. / Cinergi Pictures Entertainment

Release Date: October 13, 1995

Budget: $46 million

Box Office Gross

Domestic: $10,382,407

Coming Soon

Next week a look at the early Touchstone comedy, Off Beat.