Anna Christie (1930) - film review

For years, the old coal barge captain Chris Christopherson has led a free and solitary life.  Then, one evening, his daughter, Anna, decides to re-enter his life.   They haven’t seen each other for fifteen years, since the day Chris left the five-year-old Anna with a farming family so he could pursue a life as a sailor.  With nowhere to go, Anna persuades her father to let her stay with him on his cramped barge.  During a storm, they rescue a shipwrecked sailor, Matt Burke, who takes an immediate liking to Anna.  Matt insists on marrying her, but she is reluctant, and reveals that before returning to her father she was forced to work as a prostitute...

"Garbo speaks" is how MGM promoted this insipid adaptation of the famous (and vastly overrated) stageplay by Eugene O’Neill.  The Swedish sphinx Greta Garbo appears in her first talking role, having made a substantial name for herself in silent films for a decade.  And what a voice – hoarse, gutsy and heavily accented, every bit as exotic and captivating as her screen persona.  Cinema audiences grew even fonder of her.   Garbo’s first line: "Gimme a whiskey with ginger ale on the side."

The film itself leaves a great deal to be desired and Garbo’s presence is probably the only thing saving it from total obscurity.  Whilst popular in its day and despite receiving three Oscar nominations (including one for Garbo), the film now appears positively ancient.   It is clearly hampered by the primitive sound recording technology, which weakens the film’s realism and makes it seem stilted and overly theatrical.

The sets are sparse, the editing is clunky, but the cinematography does at least achieve an atmosphere of murk and oppression, more suggestive of European cinema than Hollywood.  The film also offers two great performances, from George F. Marion and Marie Dressler, playing the old barge captain and his ragged love interest.  Marion had previously played the part in the original 1921 Broadway production and then in the first film adaptation in 1923.   Garbo reprised her role in a German version of the film, released in 1931 and directed by Jacques Feyder, who had previously directed Garbo’s last silent film, The Kiss (1929).

© James Travers 2008

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