The Diary of Anne Frank

The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) is a historical drama you can watch online on iFILM, directed by George Stevens and adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play. It tells the true story of a teenage Jewish girl who spent more than two years hidden with her family inside a concealed annex of a warehouse in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam.

Eight people share the cramped attic rooms: the Frank family, the Van Daans, and the dentist Mr. Dussel. Every footstep must be quiet; every cough is a risk. Millie Perkins plays Anne with quiet intensity, recording in her diary the small arguments and fleeting joys of people trying to live normally while waiting for a knock at the door. Shelley Winters won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Mrs. Van Daan.

At 179 minutes, the film takes its time with each character, refusing to reduce real lives to a summary of catastrophe. It is the record of a girl who kept writing. Watch The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) online on iFILM.