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The Definitive Screen Goddess
Before Garbo Could Talk

Born September 18, 1905, in Stockholm, Sweden
Died April 15, 1990, in New York, NY

Her face continues to illuminate our imagination. And what her eyes could convey made words obsolete. In reviewing Garbo's silent filmography, a pattern emerges in the roles she played. As deeply intuitive an actress as she was, she was often cast in one dimensional "vamp" roles. Her acting skill was such that she could give life to any role, no matter how woodenly written. Boredom sets in for the viewer when she isn't in the scene. One impatiently waits for her luminous presence to return to the center screen. Garbo was the most intimate of artists in front of the camera. Her performances were so revealing, it was like looking through a keyhole through which a bewitching light beckoned.

Fascinating and unattainable, Garbo's remote beauty has been more popular with women audiences than with men. Perhaps men found her too icy and elusive. Certainly, many of her roles were threatening to the male ego - as vamp roles are designed to be. What women see in her is an elegant grace and magnetism beyond the veneer of the role. She expresses the way a woman feels and courageously conveys the intimacy of those feelings. There were times when her reactions were so tortured it was like opening a Pandora's box - one must be prepared for anything. At her best, Garbo's acting style was pure, naked emotion of the heart that makes many men need to look away. Suffering was Garbo's forte, like the screen masters John Barrymore and Lon Chaney. She had the ability to express emotional suffering to an audience and evoke an empathy that was more intense than mere sympathy. She had a rare and powerful gift that only a fraction of talented performers possess.

M-G-M remained Garbo's only studio for her entire career in the U.S. Her nearest rival at the great studio was Queen of the Lot Norma Shearer, wife of executive Irving Thalberg. Shearer fought a private rivalry for supremacy and remained queen, but Garbo would always be in a class by herself. She never won an Oscar, although she was nominated 4 times. Four of her sound films were given the honor of being on the N.Y. Times "Top 10 Film List." However, it was her American and European audience that always supported her unique artistry. She was presented as a woman of mystery, and came to play that part in real life. However, Garbo's deepest secret self was saved for the camera. The public who came to worship this definitive screen goddess came to her films to dream her dreams.

The Silent Films of Greta Garbo

• Luffar-Petter (Peter the Tramp) (Erik A. Petschler, 1922) (48k jpg) - Cast: Erik A. Petschler, Greta Gustafsson, Helmer Larsson, Fredrikolsson, Tyra Ryman and Guchen Cederborg. Directed and written by Erik A. Petschler. Garbo was billed at Greta Gustafsson, her given name. She played a small role as one of the daughters of a prominent citizen in the town where the story takes place. It is interesting to note that this film was a comedy. Garbo would rarely have the chance to display her humorous side until Ninotchka (M-G-M, 1939).

• The Legend of Gosta Berling (Svensk Filmindustri, 1924) (49k jpg) - Cast: Lars Hanson, Greta Garbo, Ellen Cederstrom, Mona Martenson, Jenny Hasselquist, Karin Swanstrom, Gerda Lundequist, Torsten Kammeren, Svend Tornbech, Otto Elg Lundberg and Sixten Malmerfelt. Directed by Mauritz Stiller. This film was eventually released in the U.S. in 1928, titled Legend of Gosta Berling. Garbo played a countess who helps to redeem the fallen alcoholic minister, Gosta Berling (played by Lars Hanson). This is the film that impressed mogul Louis B. Mayer, and spurred him to send for director Stiller and his protege, Garbo. This film can be purchased on-line through Amazon.com.

• Die Freudlose Gasse (The Joyless Street a.k.a. The Street of Sorrow) (Sofar-Film, 1925) (54k jpg) - Cast: Werner Krauss, Asta Nielsen, Jaro Furth, Greta Garbo, Agnes Esterhazy, Gregor Chmara, Valeska Gert, Einar Hanson, Loni Nest and Marlene Dietrich (as an unbilled extra). Directed by George Wilhelm (G.W.) Pabst. Garbo played a supporting role in this film as a struggling young woman in post-WWI Vienna who is teetering on the edge of prostitution. She is rescued from the precipice of ruin by Einar Hanson, who plays a Red Cross lieutenant. This was Garbo's only German production (if you don't count her American produced, German-language version of Anna Christie {M-G-M, 1930}) and her last European film. No complete print of this film is known to exist. This film can be purchased on-line through Amazon.com.

• The Torrent (Cosmopolitan Pictures, for M-G-M, 1926) (4 photos) - Cast: Ricardo Cortez, Greta Garbo, Gertrude Olmstead, Edward Connelly, Lucien Littlefield, Martha Mattox, Lucy Beaumont, Tully Marshall, Mack Swain, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Lillian Leighton and Mario Carillo. Directed by Monta Bell. A provincial Spanish senorita becomes a star of the Paris Opera. This film was the beginning of Garbo's exclusive contract with M-G-M. Her leading man, Ricardo Cortez (born Jacob Krantz, 1899-1977) - M-G-M's answer to Valentino, was not pleased to be starring opposite an "unknown." Originally, his wife, actress Alma Rubens, was slated to star. Her "reoccuring illnesses" caused her to be replaced. Queen of the M-G-M lot, Norma Shearer, worked closely with director Monta Bell (who replaced Maurice Stiller, Garbo's mentor) and felt that Bell might want to work with her on this film. As much as Bell admired Shearer's talent, his fascination with Garbo compelled him to insist he direct Garbo in this picture. Her screen presence instantly won over American audiences. Photographer William Daniels, whom she met while filming The Torrent, became her most important ally in presenting her luminous appearance. She had him by her "good side" in almost all of her films. Alarmingly, by the time The Torrent was preserved, nitrate decomposition was beginning to settle in. Fortunately for us, the film was saved in the nick of time and debuted on television, courtesy of TCM (June 1997).

• The Temptress (Cosmopolitan Pictures, for M-G-M, 1926) (5 photos) - Cast: Greta Garbo, Antonio Moreno, Marc MacDermott, Lionel Barrymore, Armand Kaliz, Roy D'Arcy, Alsy Murrell, Steve Clemento, Roy Coulson, Robert Anderson, Francis McDonald, Hector A. Sarno, Virginia Brown Faire, H.B. Warner and Inez Gomez. Directed by Fred Niblo (who replaced Mauritz Stiller). Garbo played an amoral woman who drove her mesmerized male victims to personal ruin, murder and suicide. Her character is properly punished when she ends up in the gutter. Greta Garbo achieved star billing for the first time. The direction of this film was begun by her mentor, Mauritz Stiller. His careful artistic pacing did not please M-G-M, and he was replaced by Niblo - much to Garbo's dismay.

• Flesh and the Devil (M-G-M, 1927) (3 photos) - Cast: John Gilbert, Greta Garbo, Lars Hanson, Barbara Kent, William Orlamund, George Fawcett, Eugenie Besserer, Marc MacDermott, Marcelle Corday and Polly Moran (in an unbilled cameo). Directed by Clarence Brown. The sizzling love scenes were real and so was the explosion at the box office. Clarence Brown became Garbo's favorite American director. John Gilbert, being the reigning male star at M-G-M, was given top billing over Garbo, but, after this sizzling success, she would never be second-billed again. Her popularity was in a category all its own. This film can be purchased on-line through Amazon.com.

• Love (M-G-M, 1927) (4 photos) - Cast: Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, George Fawcett, Emily Fitzroy, Brandon Hurst and Philippe de Lacy. Directed by Edmund Goulding. This film is an adaptation of Tolstoy's 19th-century tragedy, Anna Karenina, in modern dress. As Anna, Garbo radiates a beauty that is incandescent. She plays the tragic mistress of the dashing Vronsky, played by Gilbert. Poetic morality dictates that, for her adultery, she must pay with her life. M-G-M filmed two versions of the ending, one where she lives happily ever after and the other, Tolstoy's intended fatal meeting with a train. Love almost did not get made with Garbo. She was waging a one-woman strike for a bigger salary, having re-evaluated her soaring popularity. Garbo won. She was worth it and was teamed a second time with the magnetic Gilbert.

• The Divine Woman (M-G-M, 1928) (7 photos) - Cast: Greta Garbo, Lars Hanson, Lowell Sherman, Polly Moran, Dorothy Cumming, John Mack Brown, Cesare Gravina, Paulette Duval and Jean de Briac. Directed by Victor Seastrom. Garbo played the role of Marianne in yet another turn as a mistress spiraling into ruin. This movie was loosely patterned on the life of Sarah Bernhardt ("The Divine Sarah"). However, as Hollywood often does, they needlessly substituted melodramatic fictions for the much more interesting true facts about the great French actress. Director Maurice Stiller had a three-year contract with M-G-M, which they intended to honor financially. He desparately wanted to direct her in this film, but it was obvious by now that he would never be allowed to work for the studio. His friend Victor Seastrom was given the assignment. Stiller departed for Sweden and died later that year. Garbo was devastated, but delivered a performance that did not reveal her grief. Contemporary reviews were mixed, but noted a playful Garbo and not the quiet charisma for which she was critically admired:

  Here is a new Garbo, who flutters, who mugs. This interestingly reserved lady goes completely Hollywood, all at once. It may have been the part. It may have been the direction, but I don't think so. Miss Garbo seems to have only one scene in her usual marvelous quiet manner...but for the rest - excuse me! I go now.
  - Delight Evans, for Screenland, 1928

  It is a shame that The Divine Woman is a lost film. The one reel that survives (premiered on TCM) shows the chemistry of Hanson and Garbo, guided by Seastrom's capable direction, and gives us a tantalizing glimpse of an entire film we long to see. The reel was found in the Gosfilmofond film archive, outside of Moscow. A deal was made to rescue this precious fragment for the Turner archives. One surviving reel of a coveted Garbo film for a complete 70mm print of Ben-Hur (M-G-M, 1959) - a shrewd trade and well worth it!

• The Mysterious Lady (M-G-M, 1928) (4 photos) - Cast: Greta Garbo, Conrad Nagel, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Edward Connelly, Albert Pollet and Richard Alexander. Directed by Fred Niblo. Garbo plays a Russian spy who has stolen secret papers from a man whom she falls in love with. In order to save her lover, Garbo must shoot him. On many occasions, Garbo was given material that did not realize her utmost potential. However, even in soapers like this, she was able to transcend her material. Garbo had amazing depth, but M-G-M kept cooking her in melodramatic potboilers. This film can be purchased on-line through Amazon.com.

• A Woman of Affairs (M-G-M, 1928) (3 photos) - Cast: Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lewis Stone, John Mack Brown, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Hobart Bosworth and Dorothy Sebastian. Directed by Clarence Brown. Garbo plays a passionate, aristocratic Englishwoman in love with a morally upright young man. Her lover's father disapproves of her because of her scandalous reputation. Separated from the man she loves, she ultimately throws caution to the wind, dying as fast as she lived. John Gilbert, as her lost lover Neville, appears in a much-reduced role to Garbo's - a huge disappointment for those who expected a much more passionate teaming. This film was loosely adapted from the controversial novel The Green Hat, by Michael Arlen. Much of the daring plot had to be thoroughly sanitized. It is a wonder M-G-M attempted to produce this film at all - Garbo was the only reason.

• Wild Orchids (M-G-M, 1928) (5 photos) - Cast: Greta Garbo, Lewis Stone and Nils Asther. Directed by Sidney Franklin. Garbo plays the young wife of an aging plantation owner played by Stone. They are sailing to Java when she encounters a virile and handsome prince, played by Asther. The inevitable happens. However, the twist in this one is she eventually goes back to her husband. The plot for Wild Orchids was based on a story by John Colton, entitled Heat. Wisely, the title was changed before the picture was released. Imagine how embarrassing it would have been to have this movie heralded as "Greta Garbo in Heat!" This film can be purchased on-line through Amazon.com.

• The Single Standard (M-G-M, 1929) (3 photos) - Cast: Greta Garbo, Nils Asther, John Mack Brown, Dorothy Sebastian, Lane Chandler, Robert Castle, Mahlon Hamilton, Kathlyn Williams and Zeffie Tilbury. Directed by John S. Robertson. Garbo plays a San Francisco debutante who seduces her chauffeur and then scandalously runs off with a boxer turned artist, played by Nils Asther. The affair cools, and she returns as a pariah in her own snobbish community. Boy next door, John Mack Brown, gives her back her reputation by marrying her - then her estranged lover returns. Garbo is the bad girl again, but who can resist? This film can be purchased on-line through Amazon.com.

• The Kiss (M-G-M, 1929) (5 photos) - Cast: Greta Garbo, Conrad Nagel, Lew Ayres, Anders Randolph, Holmes Herbert and George Davis. Directed by Jacques Feyder. Garbo plays the beautiful wife of a silk merchant. Her husband's partner has a son on the verge of manhood, played by Lew Ayres, who is deeply smitten with the glamorous Garbo. The young man's kiss, which he is allowed to innocently impart on her lips, is misconstrued and causes her to be tried for the murder of her jealous husband. Conrad Nagel is the lawyer who defends her. The Kiss was Garbo's last silent film. M-G-M had put off her talkie debut as long as they possibly could. The studio had nothing to fear. Her smoky, Swedish accent matched the alluring face that drew her audiences into the Garbo vortex. This film can be purchased on-line through Amazon.com.

Of Greta Garbo's 13 silent films, nine of them (The Joyless Street, The Torrent, Flesh and the Devil, Love, the surviving ten minutes of The Divine Woman, A Woman of Affairs, Wild Orchids, The Single Standard and The Kiss) have been aired on TCM. Eight are available on video (The Saga of Gosta Berling, The Joyless Street, Flesh and the Devil, The Mysterious Lady, A Woman of Affairs, Wild Orchids, The Single Standard and The Kiss). The art of Greta Garbo can best be appreciated by having access to all her films.

Garbo. The camera loved her, and the true fans of silent film revere her.

Recommended books and research sources on Greta Garbo

• The Films of Greta Garbo by M. Conway, D. McGregor & M. Ricci (Citadel, 1980) - This is an excellent, detailed compilation of the feature films of Garbo's career. It includes a biography, terrific photos that illustrate every film plus contemporary reviews. Paperback. Highly recommended. This book can be purchased on-line through Amazon.com.
• Garbo by Barry Paris (Alfred A. Knopf, 1995) - This book is an epic work of research and the most complete biography on Garbo to date. It includes lots of wonderful photos scattered throughout the book. It features a complete filmography, extensive footnotes and a helpful index. Hardbound. Highly recommended. This book can be purchased on-line through Amazon.com.
• Greta Garbo: A Life Apart, by Karen Swenson (Lisa Drew Books/Scribner, 1997) - Ms. Swenson's book is nothing less than a necessary companion volume to Paris' 1995 expose, complementing his book with the insights and amendments of her extraordinary research and narrative. Hardbound. Highly recommended.

Greta Garbo
The Silent Films of Greta Garbo
Excerpt from Greta Garbo: A Life Apart
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