Anna Christie (1931)

Director:

Jacques Feyder

Writers:

Walter Hasenclever (German dialogue)
Frances Marion (adaptation)

Release Date:

27 March 1931 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Old sailor Chris Christofferson eagerly awaits the arrival of his grown daughter Anna, whom he sent...

Plot Keywords:

Sailor | Storm | Father Daughter Relationship | Waterfront | Rescue

Cast

Greta Garbo	...	Anna Christie
Theo Shall	...	Matt Burke
Hans Junkermann	...	Chris Christofferson
Salka Viertel	...	Marthy Owens (as Salka Steuermann)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The second scene of the English language version, an exterior shot with George Marion and Marie Dressler drunkenly traveling from the coal barge to the bar, is used in the German language version as the first scene. There is overdubbing in German and the film is darkened so that the faces of Marion and Dressler are not identifiable.

Movie Connections:

Version of Anna Christie (1936) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Let Me Call You Sweetheart

Better than the first in small ways, and Garbo glows (again)

Anna Christie (1931)

On its own terms, this version of Garbo's Anna Christie, shot a year later in German with a whole new cast, is just toned down and refined enough to work better than the English version (both are American MGM productions). Garbo is if anything more commanding (or more beautiful as a screen presence) and her acting is more restrained. And she seems frankly more at ease, probably for a lot of reasons, but we can speculate that she was no longer making her first talking picture, so had adjusted quickly.

Without comparing always one film to the other, this Anna Christie is still the same O'Neill play with too many words. His themes of a woman wanting love without losing her independence are here, but it comes off as oddly old fashioned anyway. There are some scenes missing--the Coney Island section is shortened and isn't as good--but overall it's a direct echo of the first film. The director, Jacques Feyder (Belgian-French), is simply redoing what was done already, which I assume must be a frustrating experience.

It's interesting to see both films in succession because they are blocked out exactly the same way (not only the sets, but the shots, are all the same). There is an occasional scene lifted from the earlier film--some of the storm, understandably, but also a brief scene where Marie Dressler (from the English language version) is walking with her friend on a plank over a canal, drunk as can be. But they are just silhouettes, and when the next scene shows their faces, we see the German actors taking their parts. There is no replacing Dressler, for sure, but for me the German father is more believable and honest in his performance.

Clearly the themes--immigration, wayward fathers, daughters turning to prostitution, and the troubles of finding true love--have strong currents back then, especially with European threads (Garbo, appropriately, plays a Swedish young woman).