Romance

"Romance" is the story of a love that cannot last between a world famous opera singer, Rita (Greta Garbo), and a rector (a preacher), Tom (Gavin Gordon). They fall in love but their lives are too different...and she has a past. This past the film never says, but you can only assume this implies she was promiscuous and was probably Cornelius' (Lewis Stone) mistress.

I am going to say something very shocking to many readers. Although Greta Garbo is considered one of the screen's greatest artists, I cannot understand this...especially as I watched "Romance". "Romance" is a lovely film in many ways, but Garbo is the problem with the picture. Her acting just seems so dated and over the top. While it played well in 1930, here in 2021 she seems almost ridiculous in her overacting. Additionally, her accent is just bizarre...and captions really would have helped to make her understandable.

It is a real shame, as in many other ways the film is quite lovely and has the glossy MGM look. Some fine acting by the rest of the cast, lovely music and nice cinematography...it's a pretty and sentimental film but one that just didn't work for me due to Garbo's odd acting style.

An elderly Tom Armstrong recounts his great love affair to his grandson Harry who faces a similar issue. Many years earlier, famous opera singer Rita Cavallini (Greta Garbo) is rumored to be the mistress of wealthy benefactor Cornelius Van Tuyl (Lewis Stone). 28 year old Tom Armstrong (Gavin Gordon) falls in love with her, but his family disapproves.

There is one main thing worthy of attention in this movie. It's Garbo. She is the magnetic center of this. I am less impressed with the directing although both the director and Garbo received Oscar nominations. The direction are functional. Maybe it's less dynamic due to its era. The plot is rather slow and it's a matter of waiting for the reveal. I do wish the guy to be more charismatic. He's written a little light. He needs more boyish charms.

Cornelius Van Tuyl (Lewis Stone) is having a soiree, and in attendance is his mistress, the opera star Rita Cavallini (Greta Garbo). Also in attendance is the 28 year-old rector of his church, Tom Armstrong (Gavin Gordon). Tom does not know what Madame Cavallini looks like, so when he encounters her that night, alone, he does not know who she is, but he is immediately smitten. They begin to see each other and fall in love, but others are not exactly approving of the match.

How can Tom be courting Cavallini without betraying his friend Van Tuyl? Because one of the first conversations of the film is Van Tuyl telling Cavallini that he is an "old man" of 51 and that he has lived his life and that she should find a younger man. I realize that, today, for a 51 year old man to declare that he is in his dotage sounds ridiculous, but just go with it. This opens the door for the Tom/Cavallini pairing. But complications do ensue as these two - the rector and the opera star - come from very different worlds.

MGM had already debuted Garbo in a sound film, "Anna Christie", and it had been a success. So I guess they got a little careless the second time around, even though this film and Anna Christie had the same director, Clarence Brown, who definitely understood how to direct Garbo.

Among the problems - Garbo is hard to understand. It's not just the sound recording because Lewis Stone can be heard very clearly in the same conversation where Garbo's words are garbled. Also - I'm supposed to believe that Garbo chose Gavin Gordon's character over the distinguished Lewis Stone? I don't care how aged he says he is, Stone looks terrific. He always did. Gordon was probably picked because he had a good voice, and that counted for something in the first couple of years of talking film. But I just sense no chemistry between himself and Garbo.

Finally, the kinds of things that you could count on Golden Age MGM for, such as art design and cinematography, looks like they were skimped on here. I will say that for what is largely a drawing room drama it does not drag and kept my attention. Still, there is probably a 50/50 chance you would find this worth your while unless you are a Garbo completist.

Romance is a very simple movie with nearly no plot twists, yet it is the basic romance from which we derive all our contemporary romances with. Forbidden love tries to take a role in this film, but does not exactly succeed. The cinematography is simply "mahvelous" for 1930, and Greta Garbo is stunning! She is the lady of the 1930s. The male leads are not as strong as Garbo, but what male lead ever will? The dialogue at times is weak, but for the most part fairly enjoyable. A great example of early romances! A must-see!

Romance (1930)

** (out of 4)

An Italian opera diva (Greta Garbo) with a troubled past falls in love with a priest (Gavin Gordon). Like many early sound films this one here talks and talks and talks but sadly most of the talk isn't very interesting. Garbo is very good in her role, although it's a bit hard to believe her as an opera star. Gordon on the other hand is fairly weak and it's a shame Garbo couldn't get Gary Cooper like she wanted. The ending is so incredibly bad you can't help but laughs but hey, there's Garbo.

Inspiration (1931)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A beautiful model (Greta Garbo) begins dating a good, shy guy (Robert Montgomery) but things hit hard times when he learns of her rather sluttish past. Once again Garbo is quite good and Montgomery is strong but the story lets both of them down. Things start off quite nice and move well but at the 45-minute mark things just fall apart because the story keeps repeating itself. He forgives her, learns something else, hates her, forgives her, learns something else and hates her again. A nice ending almost saves the film but not quite.