Romanze

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" 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.

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.

The great Greta Garbo in live with THIS guy??? Not a chance. Completely mismatched lovers in a sanctimonious love story. No disrespect but Gordon is totally wrong in this part. The story is just so-so. Lewis Stone is wonderful, as usual and Garbo is a delight. She plays a charming woman and displays quite a bit of humour in her second talkie.

Although Greta Garbo in her 17 year-long Hollywood career (1925-1941) made 7 movies with the director Clarence Brown, the ones that have remained popular till our modern era of technical effects and shallow actions are only three: FLESH AND THE DEVIL (1926), ANNA Christie (1930) and ANNA KARENINA (1935). Indeed, those movies deserve appreciation since each of them carries something special deeply associated with certain moments in both MGM's history and Garbo's career. Yet, the early talkie that Garbo made soon after her introduction to sound is almost a forgotten, yet a very beautiful movie, ROMANCE (1930).

It is a film loosely based on the life of the opera singer Lina Cavalieri (1874-1944), a film in which, perhaps, not much happens, yet the one that warmed my heart on a frosty winter day. It offers everything that may be considered subtle, genuine, touching and beautiful, everything that may supply us with an affectionate journey into the old days of cinema when the cast were a true elite of artists.

Garbo was Oscar nominated for this role in 1930 along with her role of Anna Christie, but, unfortunately lost to Norma Shearer, another female star of the time whose role in "The Divorcée" occurred to be a smashing success. As an opera diva, Signora Cavallini, you may find Garbo a bit unconvincing due to her looks that purely stress a beautiful gentle woman than a "well built" opera singer. Although Signora Cavalieri might have been an exception from the stereotype, Garbo is the least convincing as opera diva. Besides, for some people, she may occur a bit overemotional due to her lines being said with the utmost dramatization. Therefore, when you look at those certain flaws and inaccuracies, one would expect a failure rather than a success. However, that was never the case with great Greta!

When you watch Garbo carefully and trust her as a viewer, you will experience something wonderful that only Garbo had. She knew the very moment when to call viewers' attention, when to change the mood and highlight desirable emotions and you get rid of all possible doubts. What is left is a pure admiration. This skill that Garbo had is something that still touches us and proves the fact that her acting was something of a genius, something you never get bored with. She had that combination of dignity and a very humane, affectionate attitude. If you decide to see ROMANCE, pay attention to the growing feelings and changing emotions that Garbo beautifully depicts. Also, her witty moments with a pet monkey and the final moment when she stands upright at the fireplace are an absolute must see. It is possible to express with words only to a certain degree but you will never describe her unless you see her. The Garbo we find here is also a great job by cinematographer William Daniels who photographed the Swedish beauty as no one else could have ever done and the subtle direction by Clarence Brown, Garbo's favorite director. It is important to state here that these were the people, except for Salka Viertel of course, whom Garbo really trusted.

Garbo's leading man is, for the only time, Gordon Gavin. He is not bad as bishop Tom Armstrong who opens a little box with a perfume of romance before a young inexperienced man, Harry, who seeks advice in a desperate situation. The scenes of Gavin and Garbo are quite stagy, there is hardly any chemistry between them; yet some moments are worth attention. For instance, don't skip the sentimental moment when Tom shows Rita the souvenirs from his childhood days that his mother kept and cherished so much. This affectionate kiss...it was for the sweet boy in the picture, not for Tom... Sweet as it may seem, the both characters have something timeless in common: both of them find the first and true love and are so grateful to each other.

I think that a mention should be made of an exceptional actor, such a characteristic mainstay in Garbo's films, Lewis Stone. Again, he does a splendid job here as Cornelius, an elegant 51 year-old man who appears to be so experienced, who seems to have lived his life and thinks that life is so simple when one is 28... How practical he appears to be when he leaves Rita with no other choice: either Tom's happiness or heartbreak. Terrific portrayal!

ROMANCE is an underrated must see as yet another example of how charming the cinema was in the good old days. Don't lose it, dear viewer, whoever you are and whatever your movie preferences are. ROMANCE is something that can warm your heart, make your day as a story of the greatest thing in the world with the greatest queen of MGM. Don't lose it for you'll not regret.