Anna Christie

Sixteen minutes or so into this adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize play, 1930 audiences got what they were waiting for when Greta Garbo made her entrance and spoke on camera for the first time in her career: "Gimme a whiskey." Like Lon Chaney and Charlie Chaplin, the Swedish Sphinx had continued in Silents even though Talkies were the rage. Here she made her landmark transition to the new era, playing a former prostitute whose past may ruin her chance for happiness. A different director and cast join Garbo in a German-language version (Side B) filmed on the same soundstages immediately after the English version. She called it the better film, and many fans today agree. You decide!