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Author Topic: Greta Garbo Tour  (Read 10541 times)

colonel_mexico

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Re: Greta Garbo Tour
« Reply #20 on: August 31, 2015, 10:19:12 PM »
I have not seen the newer version, but sounds interesting, maybe I will seek out that closure some time.  Thanks for the recommend and for reading :)
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Sandy

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Re: Greta Garbo Tour
« Reply #21 on: August 31, 2015, 10:24:02 PM »
Thanks for doing the legwork on these Garbo films! I'm a beneficiary of you sifting through them. :)

colonel_mexico

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Re: Greta Garbo Tour
« Reply #22 on: September 01, 2015, 06:49:58 PM »
CONQUEST (1937)-  They just keep getting better.  Greta has never been more stunning, more beautiful and innocent while being swept up in a torrid and scandalous romance with France's infamous Napoleon.  Played by an outstanding Charles Boyer, this film, despite lacking any major action or even any other serious characters plays beautifully onscreen by the sheer chemistry of our 2 leads. Our movie portrays a young countess (married to a very old count) Waleska of Poland who catches the eye of Napoleon and he becomes smitten.  She initially rebuffs him, but a group of her countrymen plead with her to use his affection for her to get Napoleon to free Poland. She accepts reluctantly at first, but gradually falls for his charm that had enamored France during her post-revolution swoon.  Her husband the old Count Waleska leaves to Rome to seek an annulment.  She tells her brother and he is unaccepting, and ignores the countess plea that she only wishes to be happy.  Greta here is so beautiful, almost innocent and completely female.  Her beauty here is one of love, yearning for happiness, and gracefully accepting of the most realistic of outcomes.  She is outcast, but shouldn't she be a hero for helping her country, for searching out and finding happiness?  One of those food for thought questions, when there is that unhappiness in a marriage, when there is no longer any love isn't that the time to move on?  To seek out happiness should be the struggle, but not the knot that drags you to the bottom of the ocean from which there is no escape.  Boyer is brilliant, arrogant, and as all great leaders are selfishly driven to the future.  He never hesitates when after his divorce he chooses from the 'royal stock' his next bride who "will give him future Napoleons to rule"  Of course the Countess Waleska is heartbroken and also pregnant.  Leaving without telling him off his son history plays itself out and while he eventually learns of his son and enjoys a little time together with his great love, he is caught up in his own tragic legend which does not include them. 

This film is just glorious in so many ways, being the son of a military officer I know the hardships and struggles of being a family apart, of being a son from a distance and only wanting to make your father proud.  The son here is just a boy, but his small scenes are very touching.  The chemistry is the best of any I've seen yet with Greta, and Charles is just magnificent as Napoleon.  There are not enough superlatives for how great of a performance this of the little emperor from France.  Easily finding it's way into my personal top 100. 
"What do you want me to do draw you a picture?! Spell it out?! Don't ever ask me, as long as you live don't ever ask me more!"

colonel_mexico

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Re: Greta Garbo Tour
« Reply #23 on: September 01, 2015, 11:14:12 PM »
A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS (1928) silent-  Dark, brooding, magnificent.  Greta stars in another truly great story, from which I've read, was greatly watered down.  A story of a love stifled not even by class or war, but by just plain old hatred by a father who knows best.  Greta plays Diana Merrick a member of the aristocracy who has known from childhood who her true and only love is, Neville Holderness played by John Gilbert.  Greta and Glibert are favorites of mine from QUEEN CHRISTINA and here the chemistry is still alive. Neville is sent away by his father to restore the family's fortunes, but also to keep him far away from Diana. We also have 2 other characters of note, Jeffrey Merrick, brother to Diana played by Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and David Furness played by Johnny Mack Brown.  David longs to be with Diana and Jeffrey longs to be with David.  The latter goes unrequited and Jeffrey hates that David loves his sister. After years of separation from Neville, Diana weds David, but why is never fully realized.  On the wedding night David is approached by 2 men who appear ready to arrest him, instead David jumps out the window to his death.   Jeffrey blames Diana, everyone seems to think it accident and nothing is every explained.  Diana throws herself into various affairs with men, never saying I love you to any of them.  Just as quickly as the story builds it gets lost rather quickly, dramatically, and then dissolves into something of a Spanish novella.  A man torn between his desire for his great love and his now wife Constance played by Dorothy Sebastian.  The watered down feel is in full effect by the end as we see Gilbert visiting a dying Diana, whose reasons for dying are about the same as Padme's in another film.  But if Neville just shows up and declares he still cares for her then she will live.  The weird thing is that is has been 9 months since Neville and Diana finally met each other again, just before Neville's wedding night!  Hmmmm.  I'm making light of the subject matter because it is enjoyable in it's darkness and soap opera-ish charm.  Greta is gorgeous as usual and her Diana is one of those characters that is part charming, insane, strong, and lost without her heart.  She plays this role in many other films, but this one really sticks out because of the material and because of her amazing screen presence.  We also get Lewis Stone in this, a common player like Ward Bond to John Wayne, Lewis is a family friend to Diana and is always faithful.  Fairbanks is worthy of note as well as the makeup department, his drunken despair is very vivid here especially near the conclusion of his story.  The movie speaks of honor several times and like Pride and Prejudice, this could easily be of Honor and Insensibility, or Woman's Pride, Gentleman's Honor and their Accompanying Devastation.  An ending that twists as good as any novella, but is made so much better by the aching and pain of several final scenes of Diana. Garbo outdoes herself again, truly another great Greta film.
"What do you want me to do draw you a picture?! Spell it out?! Don't ever ask me, as long as you live don't ever ask me more!"

Sandy

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Re: Greta Garbo Tour
« Reply #24 on: September 01, 2015, 11:32:50 PM »
CONQUEST (1937)-  They just keep getting better.  Greta has never been more stunning, more beautiful and innocent while being swept up in a torrid and scandalous romance with France's infamous Napoleon.  Played by an outstanding Charles Boyer, this film, despite lacking any major action or even any other serious characters plays beautifully onscreen by the sheer chemistry of our 2 leads. Our movie portrays a young countess (married to a very old count) Waleska of Poland who catches the eye of Napoleon and he becomes smitten.  She initially rebuffs him, but a group of her countrymen plead with her to use his affection for her to get Napoleon to free Poland. She accepts reluctantly at first, but gradually falls for his charm that had enamored France during her post-revolution swoon.  Her husband the old Count Waleska leaves to Rome to seek an annulment.  She tells her brother and he is unaccepting, and ignores the countess plea that she only wishes to be happy.  Greta here is so beautiful, almost innocent and completely female.  Her beauty here is one of love, yearning for happiness, and gracefully accepting of the most realistic of outcomes.  She is outcast, but shouldn't she be a hero for helping her country, for searching out and finding happiness?  One of those food for thought questions, when there is that unhappiness in a marriage, when there is no longer any love isn't that the time to move on?  To seek out happiness should be the struggle, but not the knot that drags you to the bottom of the ocean from which there is no escape.  Boyer is brilliant, arrogant, and as all great leaders are selfishly driven to the future.  He never hesitates when after his divorce he chooses from the 'royal stock' his next bride who "will give him future Napoleons to rule"  Of course the Countess Waleska is heartbroken and also pregnant.  Leaving without telling him off his son history plays itself out and while he eventually learns of his son and enjoys a little time together with his great love, he is caught up in his own tragic legend which does not include them. 

This film is just glorious in so many ways, being the son of a military officer I know the hardships and struggles of being a family apart, of being a son from a distance and only wanting to make your father proud.  The son here is just a boy, but his small scenes are very touching.  The chemistry is the best of any I've seen yet with Greta, and Charles is just magnificent as Napoleon.  There are not enough superlatives for how great of a performance this of the little emperor from France.  Easily finding it's way into my personal top 100.

Oh my! This must really be something very special, to make your top 100. I'll see what I can do to find a copy! This sentence is wonderful writing:

Quote
To seek out happiness should be the struggle, but not the knot that drags you to the bottom of the ocean from which there is no escape.

very apt. So happy you're having great success with your marathon!


Sandy

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Re: Greta Garbo Tour
« Reply #25 on: September 01, 2015, 11:36:22 PM »
A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS

Haha! This storyline is something else! Good thing you're good at walking us through the plot.

Quote
The movie speaks of honor several times and like Pride and Prejudice, this could easily be of Honor and Insensibility, or Woman's Pride, Gentleman's Honor and their Accompanying Devastation.  An ending that twists as good as any novella, but is made so much better by the aching and pain of several final scenes of Diana. Garbo outdoes herself again, truly another great Greta film.

Great titles :) and another movie I need to seek out...   It's on VHS at my library! Now I need to find a VHS player. :)

colonel_mexico

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Re: Greta Garbo Tour
« Reply #26 on: September 02, 2015, 09:47:43 PM »
WILD ORCHIDS (1929) silent  Well, they can't all be great.  Slogging through this one and the only good things about it are that it has Greta in it and it ends at some point.  This one takes on our familiar theme of Greta being married to a much older man (played by Lewis Stone, and easily his worse performance I've seen thus far), and they are headed to Java on a ship to find a tea plantation to invest in.  During the voyage Greta runs into a prince beating a servant, she is disturbed by this and he is intrigued by her.  Nils Asther plays our Javan prince who is half despicable and half would-be rapist.  Throughout the film he attempts to woo Greta by forcing himself on her and stealing kisses every time her husband falls asleep, which because he's an old man that's what they do and he's asleep half the movie.  There is zero chemistry between anybody in this and Greta mails this one in, even her silent lines are terrible, "I hope you'll forgive but you see I loved you too".   Not sure how love came to play at all considering the entire film Greta was fighting the rapist off and trying to tell her sleeping husband what was going on.  Pass big time, even the music and sound was terrible.  There's a tiger scene and it sounds like a guy playing with his cat mimicking the noises.  Ugh. 
"What do you want me to do draw you a picture?! Spell it out?! Don't ever ask me, as long as you live don't ever ask me more!"

Sandy

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Re: Greta Garbo Tour
« Reply #27 on: September 02, 2015, 10:53:31 PM »
Ha! There is a third good thing! Me getting to read your review! :) Thanks for taking the bullet on this one, cause ugh is right.

colonel_mexico

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Re: Greta Garbo Tour
« Reply #28 on: September 02, 2015, 11:01:42 PM »
Thanks for following along Sandy!  Yes, this one was total ugh, I almost couldn't finish it and had to stop and start several times throughout the day.  GRAND HOTEL is up next tomorrow, so hopefully that will be a bit better.  I'm hoping anyway.  Thanks for reading and the comments I do appreciate them :)
"What do you want me to do draw you a picture?! Spell it out?! Don't ever ask me, as long as you live don't ever ask me more!"

Sandy

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Re: Greta Garbo Tour
« Reply #29 on: September 03, 2015, 12:15:13 PM »
Muscling through movies like that is the worst! Isn't it? Pure torture. Way to make it through to the bitter end! :D

I think you will really like the fun chemistry between Grusinskaya (what a name!) and the Baron in Grand Hotel. Lionel's Otto is adorable :) so I hope you like him too.

Keeping my fingers crossed that you have a better experience with this one!

 

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