Drunken barge skipper Chris Christofferson (George F. Marion) receives a letter from his estranged daughter Anna "Christie" Christofferson (Greta Garbo). She was left with relatives in Minnesota and hasn't seen him for fifteen years. She is heading out to New York City for a rest. Unbeknownst to him, she's a fallen woman after working in a brothel. He and Anna rescue Matt (Charles Bickford) and two other sailors. Matt falls for Anna but she is still struggling with her past.
This is Greta Garbo's first talkie. As sometimes happens back in the day, this English version was filmed at the same time as a German version. The actors would do the dialogue in both languages. Greta was quite fluent in English by this point and she sounds great. She injected a bit of European flavor to her speech and she's ready to conquer the talkies. That's really most of what is notable here. It's over two years since The Jazz Singer. It's already a bit late for Greta's first. The guy isn't much. He doesn't show up until the midway point and he's a growling Irishman. I don't care that much about him.
This is Greta Garbo's first talkie. As sometimes happens back in the day, this English version was filmed at the same time as a German version. The actors would do the dialogue in both languages. Greta was quite fluent in English by this point and she sounds great. She injected a bit of European flavor to her speech and she's ready to conquer the talkies. That's really most of what is notable here. It's over two years since The Jazz Singer. It's already a bit late for Greta's first. The guy isn't much. He doesn't show up until the midway point and he's a growling Irishman. I don't care that much about him.