Anna Christie (1931)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

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 | Coney Island | Prostitution | Fog | Bar

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:

Featured in Garbo (2005)

Soundtrack:

Carry Me Back to Old Virginny

It's Better in German

This version is much better than the English-language version: brisker pacing (although very, very slow by modern standards), generally better performances, and even Eugene O'Neill's somewhat ponderous dialog is rendered more believable in the subtitles. While Marie Dressler's performance in the English version is fabulous, Salka Viertel's in the German version is also very, very good, just different. Garbo seems more natural in the German version, perhaps because she was at that time more comfortable speaking German than speaking English. Garbo's acting style may have been a bit old-fashioned, but she was never dull in any film. A true star.