This version of Anna Christie is better than the earlier silent version starring Blanche Sweet, though it is not a huge improvement. Unlike the earlier film, this one has expanded the father's mistress' role into a larger and comedic one starring Marie Dressler and the production values are a bit better overall. This isn't to say that I loved this movie--mostly because the story just seems very old-fashioned and corny but also because Dressler's comedic performance in some ways detracts from the focus of the film. However, in 1930, this sort of melodrama starring Greta Garbo (in her first sound film) played very well, but by today's standards, the acting at times just seemed "over-the-top" from time to time. Despite this, the story still is pretty compelling and the film is quite watchable.
This film, by the way, was a "pre-Code" film. This means that the film was very racy by standards imposed just a few years later--with plot elements such as prostitution and some minor cursing. Those not used to the pre-Code films might be surprised by all this, but films made up until about 1935 or so often had nudity, violence and plot elements that NEVER would have been allowed in later years.
Oddly, the DVD version of this film offers BOTH the original American version and the German version that was made concurrently starring a German-speaking cast. In the early days of "talkies", some studios (such as MGM and Universal) often made duplicate movies by using the same sets at night after filming wrapped for the day! In some cases, they had Hollywood actors phonetically speak the lines in different languages (Laurel and Hardy made some of these--in which they spoke in Spanish along with Spanish co-stars). And, in others, an entirely new cast was used (such as with the Spanish language version of Dracula). In the case of Anna Christie, Greta Garbo made a German language version with all new co-stars that is supposedly better than the American version. HOWEVER, the DVD did include this German version but with absolutely no subtitles or dubbing! So, as long as you are willing to watch an entire movie in a language you don't understand or know German, it's a waste having it on the DVD. Why didn't they include English language captions?!? I would have loved to have seen it in this case, but am not willing to try to guess at what they are saying--my knowledge of the language just isn't good enough to understand everything that's being said!
This film, by the way, was a "pre-Code" film. This means that the film was very racy by standards imposed just a few years later--with plot elements such as prostitution and some minor cursing. Those not used to the pre-Code films might be surprised by all this, but films made up until about 1935 or so often had nudity, violence and plot elements that NEVER would have been allowed in later years.
Oddly, the DVD version of this film offers BOTH the original American version and the German version that was made concurrently starring a German-speaking cast. In the early days of "talkies", some studios (such as MGM and Universal) often made duplicate movies by using the same sets at night after filming wrapped for the day! In some cases, they had Hollywood actors phonetically speak the lines in different languages (Laurel and Hardy made some of these--in which they spoke in Spanish along with Spanish co-stars). And, in others, an entirely new cast was used (such as with the Spanish language version of Dracula). In the case of Anna Christie, Greta Garbo made a German language version with all new co-stars that is supposedly better than the American version. HOWEVER, the DVD did include this German version but with absolutely no subtitles or dubbing! So, as long as you are willing to watch an entire movie in a language you don't understand or know German, it's a waste having it on the DVD. Why didn't they include English language captions?!? I would have loved to have seen it in this case, but am not willing to try to guess at what they are saying--my knowledge of the language just isn't good enough to understand everything that's being said!