VISUAL ARTS

This version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel of love and infidelity among the rich on Long Island is remembered today as a disappointment, and its lukewarm reception doubtless contributed to the ensuing gap of nine years before Clayton’s next film. He adopts a languorous pace that was criticized as inappropriate for the Jazz Age setting, but seen today, this choice gives the film an almost Viscontian sense of people adrift in a doomed era. Credited to Francis Ford Coppola – who later distanced himself from the film – the screenplay remains remarkably faithful to the novel, often using much of Fitzgerald’s dialogue.