Except for ANNA CHRISTIE & GRAND HOTEL, Greta Garbo’s early talkies are a sorry bunch. Sternberg’s DISHONORED w/ Dietrich weighs heavily on this stupefying nonsense about the WWI spy, but fading helmer George Fitzmaurice kicks off nicely w/ a military execution where unbilled Mischa Auer (looking startlingly like Johnny Depp) prefers death to denouncing Mata. After that, there’s only a smattering of camp appeal. (Mata Hari’s exotic dance & this deathless exchange for Garbo & Ramon Navarro; RN: I love you as one adores sacred things. GG: What sacred things? RN: God, country, honor, you. GG: I come last?) Ramon hit his stride two years on in THE CAT & THE FIDDLE, but by then it was too late. Garbo got on her feet with QUEEN CHRISTINA in 1933 and rode out the decade in style.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: Note the copy line ‘Film Parlant Français’ on our poster; in Early Talkie/Pre-Subtitle days, it wasn’t uncommon for stars to film their roles in multiple languages to hit as many foreign markets as possible. Here, it looks as if Garbo & Navarro made a French-language version. More often, roles would be recast with actors comfortable in the language the studio wanted to cover. (Also note our artist has not done himself proud on Garbo!)
No comments:
Post a Comment