Customer Reviews

Anna Christie [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Of the two versions I saw, I preferred the German version with English subtitles. Garbo's performance as well as that of the supporting cast was more inspired. I will keep looking for that version before I buy!

The once highly esteemed script-writer, Frances Marion, faithfully followed the text of the famous Eugene O'Neil play which starred Blanche Sweet on Broadway in the early twenties. Bette Davis, who was a devout "Garbomaniac" (as Garbo fans were called in the thirties), once stated about Garbo's acting: "What Garbo did on the screen was sheer witchcraft... I cannot analyze this woman's acting". In her first sound film, after what seems an eternity, Garbo finally comes into view, weary and cynical, she says to the bartender: "Gif me a viskey - chinger ale on the side. And don't be stingy, baby!". Her voice was blissfully right on target! This 1930 antique is very talky and reminds one of a silent movie with dialogue. If it were not so well-acted, it would be very tiresome indeed. Garbo's voice was noted as being in strange and beautiful accord with the Garbo personality of the silent pictures. Garbo had, more than than any other actress on the screen in the early thirties, the ability to emit the power of suggestion, and, in infinite degrees, expose the isolated mysteriousness of the human soul. Charles Bickford does quite well as the Irish seaman, and as the the old waterfront hag, Marthy Owens, Marie Dressler put an infinite amount of detail in her excellent (albeit a bit hammy) characterization; Garbo was so impressed by Dressler's performance that she personally brought a bouquet of chrysanthemums to Dressler's home in appreciation. On both the stage and screen, George Marion seemed destined to be old Chris; his remarks about "Dat old davil sea" has made audiences laugh for over 70 years.

"Anna Christie" is most famous as the film which released Greta Garbo from the silent era, the last major star to make the transition. The marketing of the film ensured that this was a major cinematic event and the film was a box office smash but it does not really stand the test of time.

Based on a depressing Eugene O'Neill play, this is an unusual piece for Garbo because she plays a contemporary figure surrounded by 3 character actors in demanding parts. She suffers by comparison. George Marion as her father and Marie Dressler as his mistress create incredibly real people. The scenes with Dressler are wonderful; Garbo, the mistress of underacting, with Dressler, the mistress of overacting, and meeting in the middle with genuine rapport. Charles Bickford as the boorish Irish lover is good too but he has no charisma, no screen magnetism. It is just not convincing that Garbo could fall for him. The film has endless talk, little action, a static camera and a soundtrack which is often hard to understand. Garbo's unease with American slang is obvious with some of her line readings emphasising the wrong words. The story has a poor ending, moving from hysteria to rationalisation in the flick of an eye and with what has gone on before, it is easy to speculate that this motley group have got lots of bad times ahead.

The print of the film is surprisingly good and far superior to other Garbo DVDs of later talkies. The package includes the German version of the film too. It is shorter and darker. Garbo looks more seedy and it is obvious that she is more comfortable with the German language.

The DVD is best purchased as part of one of the Garbo collections because only then will you obtain any extras which will tell you more about the star and the film.

ANNA CHRISTIE is a wonderful film, beacause its stylistic clumsiness doesn't make in any less touching than it is. Garbo's performance is simultanousley ridiculous and terrific, her Anna being lost in the world a little bit less than Greta is lost in the English pronountiation. She swifts perfectly between radiant expressions of hope and innocence, and the sad knowledge of being 'doomed' by her past.

The shortest possible synopsis would be this: Anna Christie admits to her father and fiance-to-be that she 'was in the house'. 'Yes, in that kind of house'. And when they hear this, they all want her to 'beat it'. I wouldn't spoil much by revealing that there actually is a happy ending. It involves a very funny moment, when Anna is making an oath upon the catholic cross, and suddenly admits that she isn't catholic. Poor Matt's eyes at this very moment express all the anguish of pre-modern heterosexual man, who wanted his 'beloved' to be not only virgin, but also an eunuch.

Great fun--as long as you don't treat it too seriously.

Michal Oleszczyk, Tarnowskie Gory, Poland

This film is the great Eugene O'Neil in all his dark glory. Moody, dark, slow-paced, and bearing his intense psychology, it is not a film for all audiences or tastes. In addition to the great Garbo, is a magnificent perfomance by the silent film legend Marie Dressler. Before her death, she would make 3 classics with Wallace Beery, one of which was FDR's favorite film of all time: "Tugboat Annie." Her banter with Jean Harlow in "Dinner at Eight," was peerless and hysterical.
This film is a one of those "transition" pieces from the silent to the talking era, and as such, carries aspects of both periods.
Well worth seeing and having in one's collection.

If it doesn't match the quality of 'Queen Christina' (my favorite Gabo movie) it does bring an eerie, melancholic, and oniric feeling to the viewer. It must be the excellent script based on Eugene O'Neill's play. It feels like watching a play too, even though there are so many exterior shots, all that fog and the small oppressive rooms contribute to the claustrophobia.

The characters, all of them, are superb. Garbo is just great. But it is a curious thing to flip the disc and view the German version, just to see (and judge) the difference. Completely different in tone. She looks more natural in the German -as if not acting at all-, and more histrionic in the US version.

For history aficionados it is also a little gem to enjoy, since you can see here immigrants from different parts of Europe meeting and contrasting each their own idiosyncrasies.

Whether you watch it as a documentary, a play, or a classic film it is a really enjoyable experience.

"Garbo Talks" - that was the tagline when this movie opened in 1930. It was Greta Garbo's first talking picture after most movie studios were starting to make the big switch to sound pictures. "Anna Christie", if only for that one reason only, was a major motion picture event, yet somehow I feel the movie is dated and doesn't quite take as many chances as other movies from the time period.

Oh I know what many of you are thinking, hey what's wrong with you? How could a movie take too many chances when there was a production code in effect? My answer to you is the production code didn't come until 1933 this movie was made in 1930. Have you ever seen "Grand Hotel"? "Paid"? "Possessed (1931)"? All of those movies took chances. They showed images that were truly ahead of their time. They tackled issues head on. "Anna Christie" I think could have been a great movie but it just doesn't risk enough.

Garbo plays the title character a girl who hasn't seen her father, Chris (George F. Marion) in 15 years after he sent her to live with some relatives in St. Paul. Anna comes back to her father after being in the hospital and says she's sick. But her father doesn't exactly know what kind of life she has been leading while away. He think she was a nurse when in fact she was a prostitute.

Chris, a sailor, decides that Anna might enjoy life on the sea. Out in the fresh air her health might improve. Things go along fine until a violent storm brings Matt into their life after they rescue him out at sea. Matt (Charles Bickford) falls for Anna and after a while tells her he wants to marry her. And soon Anna must decide whether or not she should tell Matt and her father about her past life.

While reading this review the movie might sound pretty brave but wait until to you see it.

The movie is based on a play by Eugene O' Neil and was directed by Clarence Brown who had worked with Garbo on several other pictures including "Anna Karenina", "Romance" and "Devil in the Flesh". Brown though was a really great director. I'm not sure how well known he is to today's audience but with such films as "Wife vs Secretary" (With Clark Gable and Jean Harlow) and "Possessed" (Also with Gable and Joan Crawford) he proved his status as an "A" list director.

But "Anna Christie" is a different matter. The film's most powerful moments are in the climax. The rest of the movie just floats along. I wasn't involved in what was happening to these people. Garbo is fine though, she always had an amazing screen presence to her. Your eyes just tend to follow her, she had the true makings of a star. But you can't say that about everyone else in this. I found George F. Marion annoying. Was that accent real?

In a surprise role Marie Dressler plays a woman who was living with Chris before Anna arrives. It is a surprise because for those who don't know Dressler was something of a comic. She appeared with Charlie Chaplin in his first film in 1914, yes she's that old. And is probably best known for co-starring with Jean Harlow in that sparkling 1930s all-star comedy "Dinner at Eight". At one time believe it or not she was a top box-office draw. But in this movie she tries to play it straight. Sure she has a few mild attempts at comedy, but she not as broad as she usually is. And I think she pulls the role off quite nicely. One almost wonders what would have happen she if played more of these kinds of roles.

I hate to sound like I hate this movie. It is worth seeing. The final moments are strong, Garbo is good, the dialogue is so-so, and Brown pulls things together nicely. And despite whatever complaints I may have the movie was up for three Oscars, "Best Director" and Garbo was up for "Best Actress", her first nomination.

Bottom-line: Moderately entertaining Clarence Brown\Greta Garbo film take just doesn't take enough chances. Could have been a powerhouse of a movie instead is just average.

Garbo seems to float onto the screen like a genie let out of a corked bottle, she moves like liquid mercury, slumping at the bar and barking at the aggrieved bartender, "Gimmie a Visky--chinger ale on the side--and don't be stingy, baby." It's as though the director, Clarence Brown, wanted as soon as possible to get it out of the way--Garbo's first words heard on film--to jump right into the heart of the picture. Her performance is all jitters and sighs, restless, despite the heavy alcholic haze that lingers over the film like a miasma, despite the apparently refreshing boat scenes, which really look as though they were filmed out in the ocean. If anyone could steal this movie away from Greta Garbo, it would be Marie Dressler, who has a small part--astonishly small, considering her stature at the time of one of MGM's biggest box office draws. If Garbo was MGN's prestige star, Dressler was the one the people loved and they'd flock to see her in anything. A strange kettle of fish when a fifty-something former hasbeen becomes the world's greatest star. It would be an unlikely occurrence if this was to happen again in today's Hollywood, although I suppose there was a moment, in 1986 or so, when Bette Midler was the biggest sensation in the movies and she is said to have saved Disney Studios with a string of box office hits. From DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS through BEACHES she approached Marie Dressler's total box office domination . . .

.....Hollywoods mystery women passes the talk test. Both the English and German versions were dark and of poor quality with the German version being Garbo's favorite. Garbo was a huge star in Europe and the Foreign market always assured that her films would be moneymakers.

.....I liked the German version because I just couldn't buy Charles Bickford as a romantic lead although the English version did reintroduce Marie Dressler to American audiences and gave her a second career.

.....Either video is worth the price just to watch the magical Garbo in action.

The English version of O'Neills moody "Anna Christie", with the great
Greta Garbo, is simply wonderful! I's short, almost like a one-act play, but packed with the great stuff those great old films were known for.
Garbo is the lynch-pin here, to be sure, but the supporting cast, Marie
Dressler, a Garbo veteran team-mate, Charles Bickford as Garbo's would-be
inamorata, and George Marion, as her father, all support her magnificently,
in a real ensemble performance! They don't make 'em like THIS any more!
Bryan Sheedy