''Garbo Talks'' is a 1984 American

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

directed by

Sidney Lumet Sidney Arthur Lumet ( ; June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American film director. He was nominated five times for the Academy Award: four for Best Director for ''12 Angry Men'' (1957), '' Dog Day Afternoon'' (1975), ''Network'' (1976 ...

and starring Anne Bancroft,

Ron Silver Ronald Arthur Silver (July 2, 1946 – March 15, 2009) was an American actor/activist, director, producer, and radio host. As an actor, he portrayed Henry Kissinger, Alan Dershowitz and Angelo Dundee. He was awarded a Tony in 1988 for Best Acto ...

, and Carrie Fisher, with a cameo appearance by Betty Comden as

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic ch ...

. The film was written by Larry Grusin, and also stars Catherine Hicks, Steven Hill, and the first screen appearance of Mary McDonnell. It also featured the final screen appearances of veteran actors

Howard Da Silva Howard Da Silva (born Howard Silverblatt, May 4, 1909 – February 16, 1986) was an American actor, director and musical performer on stage, film, television and radio. He was cast in dozens of productions on the New York stage, appeared in mo ...

and Hermione Gingold. Bancroft was nominated for a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

. The title is a reference to the first film in which Greta Garbo's speaking voice is heard. Her husky voice and purposefully exaggerated Swedish accent debuted in

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earli ...

's ''

Anna Christie ''Anna Christie'' is a play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill. It made its Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921. O'Neill received the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for this work. According to historian Paul Avrich, the ...

'' (1930), which was publicized with the slogan "Garbo Talks". The film received mixed reviews from critics and failed at the box office.

Plot

Estelle Rolfe ( Anne Bancroft) is a middle-aged, divorced and outspoken social activist whose behavior causes her devoted grown son Gilbert (

) some consternation. After being diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, Estelle's last wish is to meet the movie star she has admired and idolized all of her life, the reclusive

. Initially, Gilbert's wife Lisa ( Carrie Fisher) sympathizes with his mission to fulfill his mother's wish to meet Garbo. However, after Gilbert begins missing work to devote more time to search for the elusive actress and spends their entire savings in the process, Lisa has had enough and she leaves him. Gilbert's co-worker Jane Mortimer ( Catherine Hicks), a winsome, aspiring actress takes a liking to Gilbert and a romance gradually develops, but first comes Gilbert's increasingly frantic search for a famous woman who does not care to be found. A lead takes Gilbert to aging paparazzo Angelo Dokakis (

), who had previously photographed the elusive Garbo and is acquainted with her habits and possible whereabouts; but after several days of staking out her apartment building they are unable to find her. After several other unsuccessful attempts, another lead takes Gilbert to an elderly actress named Elizabeth Rennick ( Hermione Gingold) who once knew Garbo. She advises Gilbert to look for her at a local flea market. With very little time to spare, Gilbert finally comes face-to-face with Garbo at the flea market and he tells her of his mother's condition. Without a word, Garbo goes directly to the hospital and sits at Estelle's bedside. Gilbert is content that Estelle's wish to meet Garbo had been fulfilled, and Estelle passes away soon after. The following day, Gilbert quits his job, but not before telling off his boss. As he and Jane are strolling in the park, she is suddenly startled by the sight of Garbo approaching them. Jane is amazed when Garbo pauses to say hello to Gilbert.

Cast

* Anne Bancroft as Estelle Rolfe *

as Gilbert Rolfe * Carrie Fisher as Lisa Rolfe * Betty Comden as

(uncredited) * Catherine Hicks as Jane Mortimer * Steven Hill as Walter Rolfe *

as Angelo Dokakis * Dorothy Loudon as Sonya Apollinar *

Harvey Fierstein Harvey Forbes Fierstein ( ; born June 6, 1952) is an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for his theater work in '' Torch Song Trilogy'' and '' Hairspray'' and movie roles in '' Mrs. Doubtfire'', ''Independence Day'', an ...

as Bernie Whitlock * Hermione Gingold as Elizabeth Rennick *

Richard B. Shull Richard Bruce Shull (February 24, 1929 – October 14, 1999) was an American character actor. Biography Early life Shull was born in Evanston, Illinois, the son of Zana Marie (née Brown), a court stenographer, and Ulysses Homer Shull, a manufa ...

as Shepard Plotkin * Adolph Green as Himself *

Michael Lombard Michael Lombard born Michael LaBombarda (August 8, 1934 - August 13, 2020) was an American actor. His parents, both from Giovinazzo, Bari, Italy, emigrated to America and settled in Gravesend, Brooklyn. In 1977, he was nominated for a Drama Desk ...

as Mr. Morganelli * Ed Crowley as Mr. Goldhammer * Alice Spivak as Claire Rolfe * Mary McDonnell as Lady Capulet * Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. as Himself (uncredited) *

Cy Coleman Cy Coleman (born Seymour Kaufman; June 14, 1929 – November 18, 2004) was an American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist. Life and career Coleman was born Seymour Kaufman in New York City, United States, to Eastern European Jewish parents ...

as Himself (uncredited) * George Plimpton as Himself (uncredited)

Reception

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' in his October 12, 1984 review wrote of the film having "a number of comic scenes and lines that are played with great verve by Miss Bancroft and Mr. Silver."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...

'' on the same day panned the film, awarding it one star of a possible four. Ebert wrote: "''Garbo Talks'' starts out as a great idea for a movie, and when it's over, it's still a great idea for a movie, but the problem is, there are no great ideas in between." ''Garbo Talks'' holds a 57% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

based on 21 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Garbo Talks finds Lumet shifting into comedic gear while commanding a cast that's often talented enough to distract from the story's flaws."

References

External links

* * * * {{Sidney Lumet 1984 films 1984 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films Films directed by Sidney Lumet Films set in Manhattan Films shot in New York (state) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films United Artists films Cultural depictions of Greta Garbo Films scored by Cy Coleman Films produced by Elliott Kastner 1980s English-language films 1980s American films