Romance (1930 film)

Romance
Directed by Clarence Brown
Produced by Clarence Brown
Written by Edwin Justus Mayer
Bess Meredyth
Edward Sheldon (play)
Starring Greta Garbo
Lewis Stone
Music by William Axt
Cinematography William H. Daniels
Edited by Hugh Wynn
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates
  • August 22, 1930[1]
Running time
 76 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Romance is a 1930 film directed by Clarence Brown starring Greta Garbo, Lewis Stone, and Gavin Gordon.

The movie was adapted by Edwin Justus Mayer and Bess Meredyth from the 1913 play by Edward Sheldon. It was . An earlier silent film also called Romance was one of the first releases by then new United Artists and starred Doris Keane, the actress in Sheldon's 1913 play.

Plot

On New Year's Eve, Harry (Elliott Nugent) tells his grandfather (Gavin Gordon), a bishop, the he intends to marry an actress, even though that is frowned upon by his social class. However, his grandfather recounts via flashback a cautionary tale of a great love affair with a "fallen women" during his own youth.

When he was 28 years old, Tom Armstrong, the son of an aristocratic family and the rector of St. Giles, meets the famous Italian opera star Rita Cavallini (Greta Garbo) at an evening party given by Cornelius Van Tuyl (Lewis Stone). Tom falls in love with Rita even though there are rumors that she is Van Tuyl's mistress. Tom's family disapproves of Rita but he continues to pursue her until he discovers that she had been lying to him about the true nature of her relationship with Van Tuyl. Though he forgives and loves her, their different lives and different social class make an engagement untenable.

Ultimately, the old bishop later married Harry's grandmother and counsels Harry to marry the woman he loves regardless of the consequences.

Cast

Reception

In addition, Romance was considered a box office success and sold $1,256,000 in tickets.[2]

Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times wrote that "Greta Garbo's performance in Romance is perhaps as good as anything she has done on the screen."[3] And Norbert Lusk of the movie magazine Picture Play said Garbo's performance "is a thing of pure beauty, an inspiring blend of intellect and emotion, a tender, poignant, poetic portrait of a woman who thrusts love from her because she considers herself unworthy of the man who offers it."[3]

Academy Awards

Nominations[4]

References

  1. ↑ Alexander Walker; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (October 1980). Garbo: a portrait. Macmillan. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-02-622950-0. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  2. ↑ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Romance
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Romance". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Romance". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2014-02-09.

External links