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Garbo Talks
When New York accountant Gilbert Rolfe finds out his mother has a brain tumor, he is devastated. His incorrigible mother, Estelle, has one last wish: to meet the great Greta Garbo. Gilbert, wanting to do this last thing for her, sets out on a wild goose chase through the streets of New York City to track down the iconic star, at the expense of his personal life and much to the chagrin of his wife, Lisa. Can he find Garbo before it's too late?
| Release : | 1984 |
| Rating : | 6.4 |
| Studio : | United Artists, |
| Crew : | Production Design, Set Decoration, |
| Cast : | Anne Bancroft Ron Silver Carrie Fisher Catherine Hicks Steven Hill |
| Genre : | Drama Comedy |
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Cast List
Reviews
Very disappointing...
Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .
Better than most people think
Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,
No, GARBO TALKS is not a "big" movie. It's small, quiet, and friendly. GARBO TALKS is warm and funny, too. All the supporting characters are well drawn and even the walk ons bring something to the party.Also, keep in mind this is a "box of tissue" movie. You'll need at least one.The main reason you'll want to see this movie is Anne Bancroft plays Anne Bancroft, the same reason you'll want to see John Wayne playing John Wayne in THE SHOOTIST. Anne Bancroft's performance is quintessential and her "talk" with Garbo at the end of the movie is priceless. Every once in a great while we get to see a character rendering which says, "This is who this person really is." Anne Bancroft does that in this movie and GARBO TALKS celebrates her amazing career and her amazing talent. I miss her terribly!
This is not a film about Greta Garbo, and La Garbo isn't in the movie, not really. Moreover, from a writer's perspective, Greta Garbo could have been any quest that we seek with sincerity and purity of intention. But in this case it is Garbo, and her mystique permeates this film through her haunting absence, which lends Garbo Talks its beautiful sense of longing.Anne Bancroft gives a tour de force performance as the dying mother who never stops championing her causes, and wishes only one thing; to meet Garbo before she dies. Ron Silver is her put upon son who sacrifices everything, including his marriage to a hilariously unsympathetic Carrie Fisher to give his mother her dying wish.Hermione Gingold is utterly side splitting as one of the improbable steps in young Gilbert's search for the elusive Garbo. Harvey Fierstein is brilliant in his understated portrayal of a gay man Gilbert meets on the ferry to Fire Island, where he hopes to find Garbo at her retreat.Garbo is played by the incomparable Betty Comden, seven time Tony Award winning composer who co-wrote such classics as Singin' in the Rain, Auntie Mame, Bells are Ringing, and the Barkley's of Broadway.There is a scene, late in the movie, where Bancroft is delivering a soliloquy, which stands as one of my favorite moments in film. Sally Field should have given her Oscar that year to Bancroft. It is only then, in her emotional epiphany, that Ms. Bancroft reveals the delicate yet powerful theme of the film. It was never about Garbo. She was merely a symbol of the quest to find a unifying thread that gives meaning to a life remembered. The buildup may be tauntingly slow, but the payoff is astounding.Why do I love this movie? It's about a feeling, a mood, a tone, owing in large part to Sidney Lumet's light yet masterful touch. The lyrical pace and the glorious ending are movie art, floating as gentle as a cloud above the din of its heavy handed contemporaries.
A beautiful, simple little movie about the love between a mother and her son.I saw this many years ago, and when I finally found a copy on VCR, snapped it up for my mom... It's now her very favorite movie and gets watched (and recited-along-with!) on a regular basis. It's made her quite the belle of the ball, with all of her friends dying to borrow it!If your mom likes movies from the 40s, and loved Steel Magnolias, get her this and watch it together.And if either of you can sit through the scene where Gilbert confronts his mother's idol without crying at the sweetness of the exchange, the panic and vulnerability in his whole being, you're tougher than we are!Lovely!
Ron Silver's decision to try and grant his dying mother's wish to meet Greta Garbo becomes an all-consuming obsession in "Garbo Talks" (***1/2). This unusual story touches upon a theme that is seldom explored with much depth in films: the effect the movies or a particular star may have on our entire lives. How many of us have had the experience of watching a golden oldie that evokes a vivid memory of where we were and what our lives were like the very first time we saw it? Most of us, I'll bet. This thought is crystallized in the funny and touching monologue Anne Bancroft delivers in her hospital bed to her idol as she tells Garbo what her films have meant to her during key moments of her life. Ron Silver is effectively low-key as Bancroft's devoted son, and the telling cameos contributed by a great supporting cast playing assorted New York oddballs he meets during his odyssey are a special bonus (Hermione Gingold is a rare hoot). There are a few gaps that could probably have been filled in better between the vignettes (I would have been curious to know how Silver spent his night on Fire Island after missing the last ferry boat), but all-in-all this is a wonderful little sleeper. Those who are tuned into it will know what I mean.
