Romance (1930)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Writers:

Edwin Justus Mayer (writer)
Bess Meredyth (writer)

Release Date:

26 August 1930 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Young Harry is in love and wants to marry an actress, much to the displeasure of his family. Harry thinks...

Plot Keywords:

Opera | New York City | Courtship | Illicit Love | Clergyman

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Greta Garbo	...	Madame Rita Cavallini
Lewis Stone	...	Cornelius 'Corny' Van Tuyl
Gavin Gordon	...	Tom Armstrong
Elliott Nugent	...	Harry
Florence Lake	...	Susan Van Tuyl
Clara Blandick	...	Miss Abigail Armstrong
Henry Armetta	...	Beppo, the Opera Theater Manager
Mathilde Comont	...	Vannucci, Rita's Maid
Rina De Liguoro	...	Nina

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Adapted from a Broadway play by Edward Sheldon. The original stage production of "Romance" starred Doris Keane as Rita Cavallini; it opened at Maxine Elliott's Theatre in New York on Feb. 10, 1913 and ran for 160 performances.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Romance (1920)

Soundtrack:

Auld Lang Syne

Two Lesser Garbo's

Romance (1930)

** (out of 4)

An Italian opera diva (Greta Garbo) with a troubled past falls in love with a priest (Gavin Gordon). Like many early sound films this one here talks and talks and talks but sadly most of the talk isn't very interesting. Garbo is very good in her role, although it's a bit hard to believe her as an opera star. Gordon on the other hand is fairly weak and it's a shame Garbo couldn't get Gary Cooper like she wanted. The ending is so incredibly bad you can't help but laughs but hey, there's Garbo.

Inspiration (1931)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A beautiful model (Greta Garbo) begins dating a good, shy guy (Robert Montgomery) but things hit hard times when he learns of her rather sluttish past. Once again Garbo is quite good and Montgomery is strong but the story lets both of them down. Things start off quite nice and move well but at the 45-minute mark things just fall apart because the story keeps repeating itself. He forgives her, learns something else, hates her, forgives her, learns something else and hates her again. A nice ending almost saves the film but not quite.