Main Cast: Anne Bancroft, Ron Silver, Carrie Fisher, Catherine Hicks, Steven Hill, Howard Da Silva
Release Year: 1984
Country: US
Run Time: 104 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
This bittersweet comedy is, among many other things, a tour de force for the marvelous Anne Bancroft. The star is cast as Estelle Rolfe, an unconventional divorcee who resides in New York, in close proximity to her grown son Gilbert (Ron Silver) and his wife Lisa (Carrie Fisher). Though his wife yearns to move back to her home state of California, Gilbert cannot quite cut the silver cord that binds him to his mother. Upon learning that Estelle is dying, her dutiful son offers to honor her last request to meet the reclusive actress Greta Garbo. The rest of the film plays wonderful variations on this theme, involving such peripheral characters as a gay Garbo fan (Harvey Fierstein), an elderly Shakespearean actress (Hermione Gingold), a "female Joe Papp" director (Denny Dillon), and an ageing papparazzi (Howard Da Silva). Without giving away the ending, it is worth noting that the divine Garbo shows up in the person of playwright/lyricist/ performer Betty Comden. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Dorothy Loudon - Sonya Apollinar; Harvey Fierstein - Bernie Whitlock; Hermione Gingold - Elizabeth Rennick; Richard B. Shull - Shepard Plotkin; Michael Lombard - Mr. Morganelli; Ed Crowley - Mr. Goldhammer; Alice Spivak - Claire Rolfe; Maurice Sterman - Dr. Cohen; Antonia Rey - Puerto Rican Nurse; Court Miller - "Romeo and Juliet" Director; Denny Dillon - Elaine; Karen Shallo - Harriet; Adolph Green - Himself; Betty Comden - Garbo; Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. - Himself; Stephen Burks - Black Officer; Roderick Cook - Von Klammer; Tony di Benedetto - Construction Worker; Burtt Harris - Construction Worker; Mary McDonnell - Lady Capulet; John Ring - Garbo Doorman; Jose Santana - Sanchez/Orderly; Nina Zoe - Garbo; Andrzej Bartkowiak; Harry Madsen - Delivery Man; Leila Danette - Augusta; Mervyn Nelson - Movie Shop Owner; Nadine Darling - Flea Market Saleslady; Anne Gartlan - Garbo Maid; Peter Gumeny - Arresting Officer; Max Alexander - Roger Kellerman
Credit
Jennifer Ogden - Associate Producer, Anna Hill Johnstone - Costume Designer, Alan Hopkins - First Assistant Director, Sidney Lumet - Director, Andrew Mondshein - Editor, Cy Coleman - Composer (Music Score), Philip Rosenberg - Production Designer, Andrzej Bartkowiak - Cinematographer, Jennifer Ogden - Production Manager, Burtt Harris - Producer, Elliott Kastner - Producer, Jennifer Ogden - Producer, Phil Smith - Set Designer, John Godfrey - Set Designer, James J. Sabat - Sound/Sound Designer, Larry Grusin - Screenwriter
It stars Anne Bancroft as a terminally ill woman who asks her son, Gilbert, to help her fulfill her last wish: to meet Greta Garbo. As her son, played by Ron Silver, carries out his search for Garbo, he confronts his deteriorating relationship with his wife and develops an interest in a struggling actress.
Greta Garbo's low, husky voice and Swedish accent was first heard on screen in Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie (1930), which was publicized with the slogan "Garbo Talks."
