Greta Garbo stars in a film named for the genre she defined--Romance. In an attempt to dissuade young Harry (Elliot Nugent) from marrying an actress, Tom Armstrong (Gavin Gordon) confesses a story of the woman who stole his heart when he was a young priest, opera diva Rita Cavallini (Garbo). Desperately in love, the young Armstrong learns that Cavallini had lived as the mistress of an older man--and that the woman for whom he is ready to sacrifice his future and possibly his soul will never be able to change her ways.
