Greta Garbo than $1 million at the box office, becoming one of the studio's biggest failures of the decade. Garbo's popularity had considerably dropped, and when her contract expired soon thereafter, she returned briefly to Sweden. On 3 May 1938, Garbo was among the many stars—including Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Luise Rainer, Katharine Hepburn, Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, Fred Astaire, Dolores del Río and others—dubbed to be "Box Office Poison" in an article published by Harry Brandt on behalf of the Independent Theatre Owners of America. After the box office failure of "Conquest", MGM decided a change of pace was needed to
Garbo Talks Garbo Talks Garbo Talks is a 1984 American comedy-drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Anne Bancroft, Ron Silver, and Carrie Fisher, with a cameo appearance by Betty Comden as Greta Garbo. The movie was written by Larry Grusin, and also stars Catherine Hicks and Steven Hill. It also featured the final screen appearances of veteran actors Howard Da Silva and Hermione Gingold. Bancroft was nominated for a Golden Globe. The title is a reference of the first film in which Garbo is heard on screen. Her husky voice and purposefully exaggerated Swedish accent debuted in Eugene O'Neill's "Anna