Queen Christina (1933)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Rouben Mamoulian

Writers:

H.M. Harwood (screenplay) and
Salka Viertel (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

9 February 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History | Romance | War

Plot:

Queen Christina of Sweden is a dominant European ruler in the 17th century, and has never thought of romance...

Plot Keywords:

Queen | Throne | Cross Dressing | Male Female Relationship | War Hero

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Greta Garbo	...	Queen Christina
John Gilbert	...	Antonio
Ian Keith	...	Magnus
Lewis Stone	...	Oxenstierna
Elizabeth Young	...	Ebba
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Aage
Reginald Owen	...	Charles
Georges Renavent	...	French Ambassador
David Torrence	...	Archbishop
Gustav von Seyffertitz	...	General (as Gustav Von Seyffertitz)
Ferdinand Munier	...	Innkeeper

Runtime:

99 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G (TV rating) | Sweden:11 (re-rating) (1964) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Australia:PG | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved | UK:U (re-rating) (2005) (uncut) | UK:U (re-rating) (2005)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The scene where Christina goes around the room at the inn, remember the night she spent with her lover, was choreographed so meticulously that Greta Garbo performed the scene to a metronome.

Goofs:

Continuity: Christina signs some reports, moves a stack to her right, then hands a stack to the treasurer. The first stack disappeared.

Quotes:

Queen Christina: Great love...
Antonio: Don't you believe in it's possibility?
Queen Christina: In it's possibility - yes. But not in its existence. A great love, perfect love, is an illusion. It is the golden fable of which we all dream. But in ordinary life it doesn't happen. In ordinary life one must be content with less.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Titanic (1997)

Garbo and Gilbert Together Again

One of silent cinema's greatest pairings, Greta Garbo and John Gilbert starred together one last time in Queen Christina. Gilbert's career was in tatters by 1933 after a string on failures, and Laurence Olivier had already bailed from the role, but Garbo insisted on Gilbert. And he is wonderful as the Spanish envoy. He looks great and gives a sly performance with plenty of wit. This is also one of Garbo's best talkies. Together they light up the screen. This film also boasts some of the most gorgeous close ups of Garbo you've ever seen. Solid historical drama of Swedish queen who abdicates for love. Good supporting cast includes Lewis Stone, Reginald Owen, Akim Tamiroff, Ian Keith as the slimy Magnus, C. Aubrey Smith, Elizabeth Young, and David Torrence. Beautiful film with solid performances and, dare I say, very feminist in its view. Gilbert's performance in this film and Downstairs (1932) should have put him back on top. What a shame. Norma Desmond was right when she said, "They took the idols and they smashed them. The The Gilberts, the Fairbankses, the Valentinos."