Anna Christie (1930 English-language film)

Anna Christie is a 1930 American pre-Code romantic drama directed by Clarence Brown for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and adapted by Frances Marion from Eugene O'Neill's 1921 play of the same name. Greta Garbo plays Anna, a young woman with a concealed past who comes to New York to live with her estranged father Chris, the alcoholic skipper of a coal barge, and who falls in love with Matt Burke, a sailor rescued from the sea, played by Charles Bickford. George F. Marion, who had played the father on Broadway, and Marie Dressler complete the main cast. The picture was sold with the slogan Garbo Talks because it was her first sound film, and her opening request for a whisky with ginger ale on the side was later nominated for an American Film Institute list of movie quotes. MGM also made a German-language version directed by Jacques Feyder with Garbo again in the lead. The film earned Academy Award nominations for Best Director, Best Actress and Best Cinematography.