Review of Garbo Talks (1984) by Stephen M — 16 Mar 2008

This little sleeper has been all but forgotten, except for those fans (like myself) who happened upon it and whose lives have been, forever, changed by it.

As a film buff, I have appreciated Garbo Talks for all of its merits, from the basic storyline to the Mr Lumet's direction; from Cy Coleman's score to the nuanced performances of every single actor to grace this gem of a picture.

As a New Yorker, I have ESPECIALLY loved this movie because I understand all the quirky weirdnesses and bizarreO characters. One living outside of Manhattan might think of this as a sketch or a farce, as a charicature or a joke; but the truth is that these are the people I see around New York every single day. I also love the location shots that show my city off and tell the world why it is such a marvelous city. Then there is the little matter of all of the great New York actors and personalities that appear in the film: a young Harvey Fierstein, an old Hermione Gingold, stage actor Howard da Silva and stage legend Dorothy Loudon, character actosr Roderick Cook and Steven Hill... And cameos by Adolph Green, Liz Smith, George Plimpton, Cy Coleman and a very special cameo by Betty Comden. This is a NEW YORK movie!

Then there is this cast, this wonderful cast, of main characters played by Anne Bancroft, Ron Silver, Carrie Fisher and Catharine Hicks. It is impossible NOT to fall in love with them, even the icky character played by Carrie Fisher. Impossible not to fall in love with them.

This is one of the most original storylines ever created and it is executed to perfection by the artists who worked on it.

I urge anyone reading this to seek out a copy of the movie on cable or on vhs. It is sadly not available on dvd; and it should be, if only for the scene when Anne Bancroft rides the construction site elevator up to the workers, yelling:

"WHO WANTED A GIRL TO SIT ON THEIR FACE??!".