Anna Karenina (1927)

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Movie
German title Anna Karenina
Original title Love
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1927
length 84 minutes
Rod
Director Edmund Goulding
script Frances Marion
production Irving Thalberg for MGM
camera William Daniels
cut Hugh Wynn
occupation

Anna Karenina (OT: Love ) is an American silent film with Greta Garbo and John Gilbert directed by Edmund Goulding from 1927. It is based on Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina .

action

Young Anna is unhappily married to older Karenin. She has a son she loves immensely. After getting to know the daredevil and womanizer Vronsky, she begins an affair with him that soon becomes the talk of the town. The scandal causes Karenin to separate from his wife. The longing for her child secretly drives Anna back to her home. In the end, she finds no other way out than suicide.

background

After their nearly seven-month strike, the studio and Greta Garbo finally agreed in mid-1927 to revise their current contract, which earned her a weekly salary of $ 5,000. Encouraged by the success of the previous collaboration with John Gilbert in It Was One, the two stars, who were now also a couple in private, were used in an adaptation by Anna Karenina and finally called Love . The simple and catchy advertising message for the rental company was therefore: "John Gilbert and Greta Garbo in Love "

The film has a complicated production history. Originally, Anna Karenina with Lillian Gish and John Gilbert and directed by Dimitri Buchowetzki was planned as a follow-up project for the stars' joint work in La Bohème . Then it was internally decided to start working with Greta Garbo and Norman Kerry . A small part of the film was completed, but Garbo's strike ended shooting and the studio crushed all of the footage. The cost until then was $ 200,000. A second attempt with Ricardo Cortez as Wronsky also failed before filming was finally restarted from scratch with John Gilbert in the male lead. The film version for the American market, which was not so familiar with the tragic original, was given a happy ending in which Anna and Wronsky are happy. For the European market, more familiar with Tolstoy and Anna's unhappy end, Anna jumped in front of the arriving train. Anna Karenina premiered on November 29, 1927.

Theatrical release

The production cost of $ 488,000 was above the average for a Garbofilm. The grossing results of 946,000 US dollars in the US and a further 731,000 US dollars in the foreign markets meant a cumulative total result of 1,677,000 US dollars, which was a very high value for a silent film. The studio ended up making a profit of $ 571,000. This showed that the screen couple Greta Garbo and John Gilbert had become one of MGM's most prized “possessions”.

criticism

Variety , the leading industry journal, pondered the future of the leading actors:

“The pairing Gilbert-Garbo is a bit strange. Both of them rose suddenly and quickly, Miss Garbo even out of nowhere. Unfortunately, it is not yet as big as it should be. But let's not forget: it's always the scripts that count. She has also not been seen in enough films so far. But if her career is treated properly, and if she allows it, it will become the greatest box office draw. With a start like the one they got, Miss Garbo and Mr. Gilbert will surely become the most popular screen team this country has ever known. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Photoplay, July 1927. p. 6 above . However, it is stated here that Garbo stopped filming due to illness. In a later issue, the loss of the studio will be reported as $ 100,000.
  2. ^ Peculiar combination this Gilbert-Garbo hook-up. Both jumped up suddenly and fast, Miss Garbo from nowhere. The latter isn't now as big as she should be or will be, always remembering it's the stories that count. Neither has she been in enough pictures of late. But if handled, and she will allow herself to be handled, she's the biggest skirt prospect now in pictures. With the start they've got, Miss Garbo and Mr. Gilbert are in a fair way to become the biggest box office mixed team this country has yet known.