Romance (film)

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Movie
German title romance
Original title Romance
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1930
length 76 minutes
Rod
Director Clarence Brown
script Bess Meredyth
Edwin Justus Mayer
production Paul Bern for MGM
music William ax
camera William H. Daniels
cut Hugh Wynn
occupation

Romance (Original title: Romance ) is an American film by Clarence Brown from 1930. The main role is played by Greta Garbo . The actress received a nomination for best actress for her appearances in Romance and Anna Christie at the Academy Awards 1930 (November) .

action

A young man falls in love with an actress and seeks advice from his uncle, a bishop of the Church of England. He leans back in the wing chair and talks about his youth. As a young vicar, he fell in love with the singer Rita Cavallini, who in turn is the mistress of the fabulously rich but ancient Cornelius Van Tuyle. He succeeds in winning Cavallini for himself, only to find in the end that he only desires her as a woman, but not for her own sake. The singer senses the young vicar's troubles of conscience and secretly leaves his life to end her life in a monastery. At the end of the story, the bishop's nephew is ready to do anything for his friend and will marry her out of love and not for other less than honorable reasons.

background

Romance went for national distribution on August 22, 1930. The film was Greta Garbo's third sound film after the English and German versions of Anna Christie . After her portrayal of a bitter prostitute, he marked her return as a long-suffering, renunciation-rich lover who, in lavish costumes, suffers for and from love. As usual, the actress was presented again as a foreigner, this time as an Italian soprano. Adrian designed some of the most elaborate costumes the actress had to wear throughout her career. The film made fashion history through a hat designed by Adrian, which was worn in the style of Empress Eugenie like a beret across the head and pulled slightly across the face. It has been copied a million times. The film sets by Cedric Gibbons , which are stylistically quite seriously as early MGM might be called, were opulent and very eager to create a world of luxury and wealth. William Daniels took the actress again in many close-ups with a very bright skylight. In contrast to Anna Christie , shadows and contrasts between light and dark disappeared almost completely, and the MGM studio look common at the time dominated with its clearly contoured scenes. The dialogues sound like spoken subtitles from a silent film . In her first monologue, Garbo explains the essence of love:

"What is love? Nothing more than kisses in the dark, hot breath on the face and a heart that pounds until it bursts. Love is nothing more than a wild animal that is fed all night long, and when morning comes - love dies. "

As an Italian, the actress sounded like a Swede most of the time, speaking English with a British accent. Her phlegm, which characterized most of the actress' portrayals, was not as pronounced in any other film. Instead of being temperamentally southern European, her Cavallerina seemed impulsive and extremely passive. Her vocal performances were dubbed by the soprano Diana Gaylen and Garbo made no move to move her mouth to match the singing. The shooting was quite short at 30 days for a Garbo film. While filming, lead actor Gavin Gordon suffered a car accident and was out for a few days. Greta Garbo then refused to have Gordon replaced by another actor. The main male role was originally intended for Gary Cooper , but he was already working on Morocco with Marlene Dietrich . Today, the film with Yvonne from the following year is one of the actress' most unknown appearances.

Theatrical release

At $ 496,000 to produce, Romance was an average expensive production. After all the excitement surrounding Garbo's sound film debut, box office profits in America were over a third lower than for Anna Christie at $ 733,000 . Outside the United States, the film grossed an additional $ 523,000 for a total of $ 1,256,000. The profit for the studio was $ 287,000.

Reviews

Most of the critics were enthusiastic about Garbo and her portrayal. Mordaunt Hall , a reviewer at the New York Times , said:

"Garbo gives an extremely respectable, honest and personable portrayal."

Awards

The film entered the 1930 Academy Awards (November) with nominations in two categories:

  • Best Actress - Greta Garbo (together with her appearance in Anna Christie )
  • Best Director - Clarence Brown

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ What is love? made of kisses in the dark, hot breath on the face, a heart that beats with terrible strong blows. Love is just a beast that you feed all through the night. And when the morning comes, love dies.
  2. ↑ Miss Garbo gives a thoroughly dignified, sincere and sympathetic portrayal.