Romance

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.

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.

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 one of Greta Garbo's most forgotten films and one can see why. It's basically a filmed stage-play and not much happens in it. In fact, if you watch ROMANCE and no other Garbo movie, you basically saw every other Garbo film. Garbo plays a European woman who is attached to an older man but falls in love with a younger man, who's beyond her reach. This is the same story for INSPIRATION, SUSAN LENOX, MATA HARI, CAMILLE, etc. One has a vivid sense of deja vu while watching it, certainly if you saw her other films just before this one. And certainly because it also stars one of Garbo's most frequent co-stars, Lewis Stone.

So, is ROMANCE good? Yes, it's good. Not great but good. The fact that the story resembles so many other Garbo films, which are better than this one, sorta makes it less good or original. It's probably Garbo's least "sleazy" story. She's not a tramp or prostitute. She plays an opera singer. There's something chaste about ROMANCE, which is probably the film's most original aspect.

Needless to say, ROMANCE is a must see for fans of Garbo. She's looks lovely and she's good in it, even if she's, like the story, a bit stagy herself.

Greta Garbo was always mesmerising in looks and in acting ability which leaves me in a dazzle every time when seeing any of her films. Not every film was great, a few like 'Romance' not even good, but she always transcended her material and made it better than deserved. Lewis Stone, in one of seven collaborations with Garbo, was always interesting to watch and with the right material Clarence Brown was a sympathetic director without being one of the greats in my mind.

'Romance' was Garbo's second talkie and while she comes off well, as does Stone, she and he were well above what they are given here (though they do the best they can with it). One of her weaker early talkies and a lesser early effort. Same goes for Stone. 'Romance' doesn't see Brown on form either. It was nominated for two Oscars/Academy Awards, Best Actress and Best Director, both puzzling in my humble opinion and am saying this with a heavy heart.

Both Garbo and Stone, as said, are not bad at all. Garbo's presence is magical and she gives a sincere performance. Stone is distinguished and has the film's most interesting character. They have nice chemistry which is far more interesting and makes much more sense than that between Garbo and Gavin Gordon.

Production values are high in quality and not too primitive, beautifully photographed and the interiors and costumes don't look too stage-bound. William Axt's music score doesn't get over-bearing and is quite lush.

However, the script is far too talky, which makes it feel very stagy and the talk itself is not engaging or natural in the least. While the story does nothing with a premise that was a stretch to begin with, it badly drags frequently, is incredibly flimsy (not enough content and the content never comes to life) and some of it is even more of a stretch than the premise itself. Brown's direction is undistinguished at best, he has been far more engaging and accomodating in other films of his.

Didn't believe in the chemistry between Garbo and Gordon for a second, there is no spark at all between them, no charm and the not explored enough relationship between Garbo and Stone rings true far more. It doesn't help that Gordon is incredibly weak in his role, the character is a dull one and Gordon makes him even more dreary and personality-void. The ending is hokey and felt last minute throw in. Nothing memorable about the rest of the cast.

On the whole, watchable for curiosity and completest sake but look elsewhere if you want Garbo especially done justice. 5/10