Camille / Anna Christie
- This is a past program
Presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Part of the UCLA Film & Television Archive screening series Then Came Garbo... Learn more at cinema.ucla.edu.
Camille (1937)
MGM’s studio machinery was firing on all cylinders for this opulent adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ play about the eponymous 19th-century Parisian courtesan. Greta Garbo exudes an enthralling sensuality as the farm girl-turned-toast of aristocratic nightlife whose lavish embrace of the finer things barely conceals her sense of melancholic doom. Robert Taylor plays the young country squire whose unquestioning devotion offers her a brief, idyllic respite before fate and her own sense of honor intervene. Director George Cukor drew a complex, career-high performance from Garbo, later remarking that he was “staggered by her lightness of touch, the wantonness, the perversity of the way she played it.”
35mm, b&w, 108 min. Director: George Cukor. Screenwriters: Frances Marion, James Hilton, Zoë Akins. With: Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor, Henry Daniell.
Anna Christie (1930)
Garbo’s first sound film was famously accompanied by the advertising slogan “Garbo Talks!” Anna Christie indeed introduced the low, throaty contralto that would become an intrinsic part of Garbo’s enduring mystique. Clarence Brown directed the adaptation of this early Eugene O’Neill stage play about a young woman (Garbo) who reunites with her long-lost father (George F. Marion) but conceals from him — and new beau Charles Bickford — her unsavory past. Praise for Garbo’s deep voice was virtually unanimous, exemplified by the New York Times’ rave: “The immensely popular Greta Garbo is even more interesting through being heard than she was in her mute portrayals.”
35mm, b&w, 86 min. Director: Clarence Brown. Screenwriter: Frances Marion. With: Greta Garbo, Charles Bickford, George F. Marion. From the collection of the George Eastman Museum.
ATTENDING THIS PROGRAM?
Ticketing: Admission to Archive screenings at the Hammer is free. Your seat will be assigned to you when you pick up your ticket at the box office. Seats are assigned on a first come, first served basis. Box office opens one hour before the event. Questions should be directed to the Archive at programming@cinema.ucla.edu or 310-206-8013.
Member Benefit: Subject to availability, Hammer Members can choose their preferred seats. Members receive priority ticketing until 15 minutes before the program. Learn more about membership.
Parking: Valet parking is available on Lindbrook Drive for $15 cash only. Self-parking is available under the museum. Rates are $8 for the first three hours with museum validation, and $3 for each additional 20 minutes, with a $22 daily maximum. There is an $8 flat rate after 5 p.m. on weekdays, and all day on weekends.
Read our food, bag check, and photo policies.
Read our COVID-19 safety guidelines.
