Garbo Talks (1984)

Director:

Sidney Lumet

Writer:

Larry Grusin (written by)

Release Date:

12 October 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Sometimes you can catch a star...

Plot:

The son of a woman dying of a brain tumour tries to fulfil his mother's last wish - to meet Greta Garbo.

Plot Keywords:

Jail | Brain Tumor | Greta Garbo | Photographer | Mother Son Relationship

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Cast

Anne Bancroft	...	Estelle Rolfe
Ron Silver	...	Gilbert Rolfe
Carrie Fisher	...	Lisa Rolfe
Catherine Hicks	...	Jane Mortimer
Steven Hill	...	Walter Rolfe
Howard Da Silva	...	Angelo Dokakis
Dorothy Loudon	...	Sonya Apollinar
Harvey Fierstein	...	Bernie Whitlock
Hermione Gingold	...	Elizabeth Rennick
Richard B. Shull	...	Shepard Plotkin
Michael Lombard	...	Mr. Morganelli
Ed Crowley	...	Mr. Goldhammer
Alice Spivak	...	Claire Rolfe
Maurice Sterman	...	Dr. Cohen
Antonia Rey	...	Puerto Rican Nurse

Also Known As:

Garbo Talks! (UK)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:PG-13 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Fire Island, Long Island, New York, USA

Company:

United Artists

Trivia:

This is the last film of Hermione Gingold.

Goofs:

Continuity: The construction worker (Mr. Electric Tongue!) has his pop can in his right hand and a sandwich in his left. In the next shot, they are each in the other hands.

Quotes:

Estelle Rolfe: Could I see that picture of Garbo in the window?
Shopkeeper: Ha ha, it's from Grand Hotel.
Estelle Rolfe: It's from Mata Hari.
Shopkeeper: Grand Hotel, I own the shop!
Estelle Rolfe: No, it's from Mata Hari, it's the scene in the prison cell, where she has a reunion with Rosanoff, just before they take him to the firing squad to be executed. Look at the costumes, it's "Mata Hari".
Shopkeeper: That's 35 dollars.
Estelle Rolfe: This isn't rare, I've seen it before!
Shopkeeper: Then buy it before! The frame makes it higher.
Estelle Rolfe: I'll take it without the frame!
Shopkeeper: I don't sell it without the frame. That's 35 dollars!
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Mata Hari (1931)

Bad title (how about "Looking for Garbo"?), good movie

Ron Silver's decision to try and grant his dying mother's wish to meet Greta Garbo becomes an all-consuming obsession in "Garbo Talks" (***1/2). This unusual story touches upon a theme that is seldom explored with much depth in films: the effect the movies or a particular star may have on our entire lives. How many of us have had the experience of watching a golden oldie that evokes a vivid memory of where we were and what our lives were like the very first time we saw it? Most of us, I'll bet. This thought is crystallized in the funny and touching monologue Anne Bancroft delivers in her hospital bed to her idol as she tells Garbo what her films have meant to her during key moments of her life. Ron Silver is effectively low-key as Bancroft's devoted son, and the telling cameos contributed by a great supporting cast playing assorted New York oddballs he meets during his odyssey are a special bonus (Hermione Gingold is a rare hoot). There are a few gaps that could probably have been filled in better between the vignettes (I would have been curious to know how Silver spent his night on Fire Island after missing the last ferry boat), but all-in-all this is a wonderful little sleeper. Those who are tuned into it will know what I mean.