Romance (1930)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

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:

Previously produced as the silent film Romance (1920) starring Doris Keane, who had originated the role of Rita Cavallini in the stage play.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Romance (1920)

Soundtrack:

Liebestraum No. 3 (A Dream of Love)

Garbo. nuff said

ROMANCE is one of Greta Garbo's most forgotten films and one can see why. It's basically a filmed stage-play and not much happens in it. In fact, if you watch ROMANCE and no other Garbo movie, you basically saw every other Garbo film. Garbo plays a European woman who is attached to an older man but falls in love with a younger man, who's beyond her reach. This is the same story for INSPIRATION, SUSAN LENOX, MATA HARI, CAMILLE, etc. One has a vivid sense of deja vu while watching it, certainly if you saw her other films just before this one. And certainly because it also stars one of Garbo's most frequent co-stars, Lewis Stone.

So, is ROMANCE good? Yes, it's good. Not great but good. The fact that the story resembles so many other Garbo films, which are better than this one, sorta makes it less good or original. It's probably Garbo's least "sleazy" story. She's not a tramp or prostitute. She plays an opera singer. There's something chaste about ROMANCE, which is probably the film's most original aspect.

Needless to say, ROMANCE is a must see for fans of Garbo. She's looks lovely and she's good in it, even if she's, like the story, a bit stagy herself.