in anne of green gable ( 1934 ) and marilla cuthbert ( helen westley ) and matthew cuthbert ( o. p. heggie ) and middle age sibling who live together at green gable and a farm in avonlea and on prince edward island and decide to adopt a boy from distant orphanage to help on their farm . but the orphan sent to them be a precocious girl of 14 name anne shirley ( dawn evelyn paris a veteran of disney series of alice short who later would adopt her character name ) . anne be only 11 in lucy maude montgomery source novel but the same actress could not credibly go from 11 to college age during the course of the story . the movie suffers somewhat from this concession and a many of anne reaction and much of what she say be more entertaining come from an eleven year old that from a teenager . a in the book and anne be bright and quick and eager to please but dissatisfied with her name and her build and her freckle and and her long red hair . be a child of imagination and however and anne take much joy in life and and adapts quickly to her new family and the environment of prince edward island . in fact anne be the original teenage drama queen and the film screenwriter elect to focus on this aspect of her character . which transform the basic genre from mildly amuse family drama to comedy . a change that delight audience and that continue to frustrate reader purist . since the comedy be very much in the spirit of the montgomery story i can see no reason to take issue with the change and but let this serve a fair warn to anyone expect a totally faithful adaptation . the comedy element be the strength of the film a it be one of the early self reflexive parody of hollywood convention . the actress anne shirley be one of hollywood all time beauty and the film be in black and white . so much of the amusement be in see the title character endless lament about her appearance and hair color contradict by what be appear on the screen . anne regularly regales her no nonsense rural companion with melodramatic line like represent if you refuse it will be a lifelong sorrow to me . perhaps the funny moment be when she correct the spelling of her name on the classroom blackboard . tom brown do a nice job a anne love interest gilbert blythe and sara haden steal all the scene in which she appear a the cuthbert pompous neighbor . then again and what do i know . i be only a child .