The Scarlet Letter

A passion project for star (and uncredited producer) Lillian Gish, this starkly powerful film—written by trailblazing screenwriter Frances Marion—remains the definitive film adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel. A radiant Gish conveys both the untamed free spirit and defiant strength of Hester Prynne, who must withstand the devastating judgment of her strict Puritan village when she becomes pregnant by the town’s reverend (Lars Hanson). Contrasting the light-filled lyricism of the natural world with the austere shadows of the Puritan community, director Victor Sjöström vividly underscores the story’s central clash between free will and social repression.