Anna Christie (1930)

Nominated for 3 Academy Awards:

Best Directing

Clarence Brown

Best Actress

Greta Garbo

Best Cinematography

William H. Daniels

It won 0 Oscars out of a total of 3 nominations in 1929-30.


Anna Christie is the titular character who is reunited with her father, a barge captain who is rather fond of the drink.  After the two rescue a sailor, Anna becomes romantically involved.  But her dark past as a prostitute still haunts her and she remains untrustworthy of men.

It is an adaptation of the play by Eugene O'Neill.

Three versions of this particular film were made at the time.  One was recorded in English, a second was recorded in German, and a third was released as a silent film complete with title cards.

This film was the first talkie for Greta Garbo and allowed her to successfully transition from silent films to sound films.  Her studio was actually weary of allowing her to appear in a talkie for the first time, and with good reason.  Critics and audiences were indeed taken aback by the unexpectedly deep voice of Garbo.

It was, however, a box office sensation and became the highest-grossing film of 1930.


Editorial:

There are simply very few noteworthy elements discuss regarding this film other than that it is uninteresting and the drinking in this movie is excessive.  So excessive that it is probably the most memorable element of the entire picture.  Even Greta Garbo's famous quote is a drink order.

The single positive thing about this film is that there are a handful of very interesting shots at different points.  There are some shots of the barge in the midst of a storm that are technically well done, and the shots of the roller coaster and the high striker at the carnival are outstanding.  But it is hardly worth watching just for these brief moments.

Score  |  02/10  |  This motion picture is not worth watching.