Anna Christie (1930)

Director:

Clarence Brown

Writers:

Frances Marion (adaptation)
Eugene O'Neill (play)

Release Date:

21 February 1930 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Garbo talks!

Plot:

It has been 15 years since Chris has sent 5 year old Anna to live with relatives in St. Paul, and now she is coming back...

Plot Keywords:

Sailor | Rescue | Love | Barge | Sea Captain

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars.

Cast

Greta Garbo	...	Anna Christie
Charles Bickford	...	Matt Burke
George F. Marion	...	Chris Christofferson
Marie Dressler	...	Marthy Owens
James T. Mack	...	Johnny the Harp
Lee Phelps	...	Larry - the Bartender
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jack Baxley	...	Coney Island Barker (uncredited)
William H. O'Brien	...	Waiter (uncredited)

Directed by
Clarence Brown

Writing credits
Frances Marion		(adaptation)
Eugene O'Neill		(play "Anna Christie")

Produced by
Clarence Brown	....	producer
Paul Bern	....	producer (uncredited)
Irving Thalberg	....	producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
William H. Daniels		(as William Daniels)

Film Editing by
Hugh Wynn

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Costume Design by
Adrian		(gowns)

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director
G.A. Burns	....	sound recording engineer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Milton Brown	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1930) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:A (Original rating) | UK:U (Video rating)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Greta Garbo's first sound film.

Quotes:

Anna Christie: Gif me a visky, ginger ale on the side, and don' be stingy, baby.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in American Pop (1981)

Soundtrack:

Let Me Call You Sweetheart

Garbo and Dressler remarkable in static early talkie

This is an extremely static film - many of the camera setups remain stationery while the players walk around in them - and scenes go on seemingly interminably in one set, as in the original play - but once this is accepted, one does register an extremely moody and realistic piece with some clever cinematography and two marvelous full-blooded performances - Garbo in her first talkie and Dressler in the performance that made her a star.

The Garbo performance, Clarence Brown's direction and William Daniels' cinematography all earned Oscar noms.

Dressler would have netted one for support but the category didn't exist as yet.

As long as you are warned that it is an early talkie effort, I think you'll be pleased by the naturalness of all the players and the earnestness with which the production is realized. It's solid and stark and quite unlike anything else MGM did at the time.

It was available on MGM/UA video but has been cut out of the catalogue.

Very worth seeking out.