Greta Garbo - The Signature Collection (2009)

Collection of films released to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Swedish film star Greta Garbo.

In 'Anna Christie' (1930), the eponymous former prostitute (Garbo) lives with her father (George F. Marion Sr) on a broken-down barge. When they rescue Irish sailor Matt Burke (Charles Bickford) from drowning, he falls in love with Anna. She is, however, reluctant to reveal details of her past. In 'Mata Hari' (1931), Garbo stars in the title role as a German spy working in Paris. She has already seduced the Russian general Shubin (Lionel Barrymore), and has now set her eyes on Lieutenant Rosanov (Ramon Novarro), a young up-and-coming officer. In order to get her hands on secret documents in his possession, she spends the night with him. But the secret police are on to her, only waiting to get enough evidence to arrest her. In 'Queen Christina' (1933) Garbo plays the 17th Century Swedish Queen who escapes an undesirable political marriage by running away and disguising herself as a man. When she falls in love with a Spanish ambassador, they have to liaise secretly, realising their destiny is doomed. 'Anna Karenina' (1935) is the Hollywood film version of Tolstoy's classic novel and stars Garbo as the wife of a villainous Russian aristocrat (Basil Rathbone) who falls for a cavalry officer (Fredric March). In 'Camille' (1936) Marguerite (Greta Garbo) is an ailing prostitute who finds love with younger man Armand (Robert Taylor). At first he is unaware of the nature of her profession, but it soon proves to be a barrier to their happiness. Finally, in 'Ninotchka' (1939), Garbo plays a Russian emissary who is sent to Paris on a special mission. Once there, she falls in love with the acceptable face of Capitalism, attached to the body of Melvyn Douglas.

Having recently retired I am catching up on my favourites. Greta Garbo is one. This boxed set of 6 DVDs includes her most famous films (Grand Hotel is not here but available). Detailed and technical aspects of this collection have been extensively provided by other reviewers and I therefore will write as a fan of this screen goddess who perplexed her audiences and co stars,directors etc, but was adoringly loved by her public. Beautiful, beguiling, in command, a powerful personality, difficult I would imagine. I could go on.
After her silent era films, her first 'talkie' was ANNA CHRISTIE received as magical after her mute past. A waterfront drama playing an ex-prostitute the film continues to captivate.
MATA HARI sees Greta as a first world war spy with romantic undertones. She looks glamourous and sensual. Great alluring atmosphere. An interview subsequently quotes Greta as saying "Screen vamps make me laugh tremendously.The fact that I am considered one makes me laugh even more". Thoroughly entertaining.
QUEEN CHRISTINA brought Greta rave reviews. She stars as a Queen Christina of Sweden who falls in love with a Spanish ambassador (John Gilbert, after apparent problems accomodating Laurence Olivier). Much to be admired. Great action and very popular in Britain. Remains in command throughout. Marvellous.
ANNA KARENINA had been filmed in a silent version in 1927. This version obviously had to be a review-type precis of the Tolstoy novel and lasts 89 minutes. The cast is diverse but splendid. I have read the book (but only once as it took weeks) and I now have the film. Readily watchable repeatedly. It won the New York Critics Best Actress award.
CAMILLE was directed by George Cukor and again won the N.Y Best Actress Award and provided Greta with her first Oscar nomination. I think this is her best film and performance. Again she is in masterful charge of all her scenes, many dramatic, showing her flair and beauty with utter consistency. Watchable and unmissable.
Finally ,NINOTCHKA ,directed by Ernst Lubitsch. "Garbo laughs" was the message. A Russian communist sent to Paris who converts to Western lifestyle and falls in love with count Leon d'Algout (Melvyn Douglas). Kenneth Tynan pointed out that she pleaded the world's cause "Bomps will fall, civilizations will crumble-but not yet - give us our moment". Witty, funny, gay with a superb cast. A great film with a change of emphasis from Greta's previous performances (Oscar nominated).
I have seen these films sporadically on television mainly in the fifties and sixties. They do not appear to appeal to the computer-generated era and hence no exposure. This boxed set is affordable, available and a wonderful representation of a remarkable actress and woman. I am still foxed as to whether anyone truly understood her. A legend. Highly recommended. Even my children are fascinated. I hope their offspring will follow suit. Quality of the DVDs is very good.

Note: Audio and Subtitles see for each film separately !






A stern Russian woman sent to Paris on official business finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.

Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire, Bela Lugosi, Sig Ruman, Felix Bressart, Alexander Granach, Gregory Gaye, Rolfe Sedan, Edwin Maxwell, Richard Carle, Dorothy Adams, Monya Andre, Nino Bellini, Wilda Bennett, Symona Boniface, Frederika Brown, Emilie Cabanne, George Davis, Paul Ellis, Fred Farrell, Frank Fletcher, Bess Flowers, Mary Forbes, Jody Gilbert, Lawrence Grant, Jennifer Gray, Winifred Harris, Ray Hendricks, William Irving





Garbo essayed the first of her two comedy roles here and proved herself as adept at comic timing as she was in drama. Her performance earned her fourth and final Oscar nomination (the film received additional nominations for Best Picture, Story and Screenplay). Here she plays a dour and serious Russian Soviet sent to Paris to bring back three comrades who seem to be succumbing to the Western World's delights. She is pursued by leading man, Melvyn Douglas, who appeared opposite her in three talkies, making him her only repeated co-star in talkies (John Gilbert was to achieve the same distinction in silents and with his one talkie excursion with the Divine One, brought their co-starring occasions up to four). His attempts at love making eventually wear her down, but the efforts are hilarious. Her monotone voice and completely expression-less affect in the first half are marvellous as she reduces every piece of sensuality to uselessness in its impracticality. Finally a pratfall reduces Garbo to helpless laughter and the ice is broken. The Lubitsch touch is marvellous here - surprising he did not receive an Oscar nomination for that. This is one of Garbo's best performances and one of her best films - one to see at all costs. Recently selected by AFI as one of their top 100 comedies of all time.

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Queen Christina of Sweden is a popular monarch who is loyal to her country. However, when she falls in love with a Spanish envoy, she must choose between the throne and the man she loves.

Director: Rouben Mamoulian
Cast: Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Ian Keith, Lewis Stone, Elizabeth Young, C. Aubrey Smith, Reginald Owen, Georges Renavent, David Torrence, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Ferdinand Munier, Richard Alexander, Hooper Atchley, Barbara Barondess, Wade Boteler, James Burke, Cora Sue Collins, Carrie Daumery, Muriel Evans, Edward Gargan, Lawrence Grant, Sam Harris, Paul Hurst, Gladden James, Fred Kohler, Frank McGlynn Jr., Edward Norris, Bodil Rosing, Tiny Sandford, C. Montague Shaw





Garbo is nothing less than magnificent as Queen Christina, speaking her lines with the power of a Luther or Mark Antony. This film is stunning and a revelation. Lewis Stone and C.Aubrey Smith play her stalwart supporters with their usual competence. The beautiful direction of Mamoulian gives us the memory of the unforgettable visage of Garbo, transcending by far the saccharine looks of most of the modern imposters called stars. Feeling? This movie has it in spades. A crowning achievement in cinema, an unforgettable film.

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A Parisian courtesan must choose between the young man who loves her and the callous baron who wants her, even as her own health begins to fail.

Director: George Cukor
Cast: Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allan, Jessie Ralph, Henry Daniell, Lenore Ulric, Laura Hope Crews, Rex O'Malley, Mariska Aldrich, Marion Ballou, Phyllis Barry, May Beatty, Daisy Belmore, Wilson Benge, John Bryan, Georgia Caine, Lita Chevret, E.E. Clive, Mabel Colcord, Chappell Dossett, Elspeth Dudgeon, Effie Ellsler, Elsie Esmond, Rex Evans, Dorothy Granger, Russell Hardie, Sam Harris, Sibyl Harris, Maude Hume





This is arguably the finest romantic film ever made and it contains Garbo's finest performance (resulting in her third Oscar nomination - she should have won - and a NY Film Critics Best Actress Award). She is luminous, able to suggest great inner strength while projecting a fragility that is touching. Her death scene alone is the finest in the history of the cinema - one can feel the weakness, the tentative holding on to life only to see her beloved once again. The film is full of small moments of flawless acting, in her glances, in the tone and inflection of her voice, and in her delicate movements. Great Greta!!!

MGM has lavishly produced the film. The cinematography, art direction and costume design are lavish and exceptionally beautiful. The supporting performances from Lionel Barrymore (touchingly noble) and Laura Hope Crewes (lewd and coarse - a revelation to those who only know her Aunt Pittypat in GWTW) to Maureen O'Sullivan (sweet and virginal) are exemplary. Only Robert Taylor is not up to the job - he is a poor actor here - but he IS gorgeous and we can forgive Garbo her mad infatuation with his Armand.

A classic film if there ever was one. Don't miss it.

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A young woman reunites with her estranged father and falls in love with a sailor, but struggles to tell them about her dark past.

Director: Clarence Brown
Cast: Greta Garbo, Charles Bickford, George F. Marion, Marie Dressler, James T. Mack, Lee Phelps, Jack Baxley, William H. O'Brien





Gimme A Viskey, With Some Ginger Ale, Don't Be Stingy Baby. And with those words one of the great movie publicity campaigns came to a conclusion. 'Garbo Talks' and she spoke those words in her first sound film, an adaption of the Eugene O'Neil play Anna Christie.

Unlike with some other players and some other studios, MGM took great care in finding the proper vehicle for Greta Garbo. Many players who were fine in the universal medium of silent film would lose their careers because of talkies. Their heavy native accents would get in the way, some didn't know any English.

It was no accident that Anna Christie was chosen for Garbo. First of all it being authored by one of America's leading playwrights, it was the kind of literary property that would have appealed to her. Secondly since the title role was someone who was Swedish, the accent could be explained. Finally a lot of the kinks from early talkies had been worked out, even though Anna Christie still made use of title cards.

Like most of O'Neil's work it's short on action, but long and deep on characterization. The story takes place on the New York waterfront where Garbo as Anna has come to live with her father George Marion. Marion ran away to sea years ago when Anna was a baby and Marion abandoned his wife. Anna has had to do what she could to survive in the adult world and that includes prostitution.

Marion of course is glad to see her, he even kicks out Marie Dressler, the old waterfront crone he's been living with for years to make room for his flesh and blood. Of course both Marion and Garbo have their problems adjusting to each other, not made easy when they give shelter to a sailor played by Charles Bickford who takes a fancy to Garbo.

Marion is repeating his role from the original Broadway production. The role of Anna on stage was done by Pauline Lord. Anna Christie ran for 177 performances in the 1921-22 season on Broadway. It's one of O'Neil's best known works and one that's revived frequently.

Of course Garbo's performance with perfect diction even with a Swedish accent was acclaimed and her future in sound films was assured. Greta Garbo received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress and the film also got nominations for Clarence Brown as Best Director and William Daniels for Cinematography. Daniels should especially get a lot of kudos for the way he photographed the waterfront scenes. And Brown created the mood around the waterfront where the film is set.

Eugene O'Neil's work is timeless so Anna Christie even with a lot of the trappings of early sound films does not date the way many films of that era do. Garbo also shows she mastered the subtlety needed to work in the sound medium. Anna Christie is a classic, all the way around.

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The married Anna Karenina falls in love with Count Vronsky despite her husband's refusal to grant a divorce, and both must contend with the social repercussions.

Director: Clarence Brown
Cast: Greta Garbo, Fredric March, Freddie Bartholomew, Maureen O'Sullivan, May Robson, Basil Rathbone, Reginald Owen, Phoebe Foster, Reginald Denny, Gyles Isham, Joan Marsh, Ethel Griffies, Harry Beresford, Sarah Padden, Cora Sue Collins, Mary Forbes, Joseph R. Tozer, Guy D'Ennery, Buster Phelps, Sidney Bracey, Harry Allen, Ella Ethridge, Stanley Andrews, Mischa Auer, Betty Blythe, Eugene Burr, André Cheron, Ruth Cherrington, Davison Clark, Claudia Coleman





Anna Karenina seems to have been tailor-made for Greta Garbo to play. Ms. Garbo was always cast in these types of role that demanded a great woman's presence. Leo Tolstoy's magnificent novel is adapted with the emphasis on Anna, because the massive book, it probably took a lot of skill to adapt it for the screen.

Clarence Brown, the director, was a man who was instrumental in guiding Ms. Garbo's American career in the movies. First, as a cinematographer, then as a director, Mr. Brown, obviously, got the respect and confidence of his star, as it's clearly shown in the film.

Technically, this was a film that was well crafted. In fact, after seventy years it still has a crisp look, as shown in the great DVD version of the film. The great cinematography by William Daniels shows why this genius behind the camera was one of the best in the business. The splendor of the sets and the art direction by Cedric Gibbons added a rich texture to what comes out on the screen.

As Anna, Ms. Garbo does excellent work. As a matter of fact, her style shows some restraint as she doesn't go into those large gestures to punctuate a situation on a scene. The only thing that detracts from the film is Frederic March's Vronsky. While he was one of the best actors of his time, in here he is not as effective as in the rest of his screen work. In fact, their romance could have played differently had another actor been cast as the man who conquers Anna's heart.

The other principal roles are well played by a wonderful company that MGM put together to support the star. Basil Rathbone is perfect as Karenin, the dark figure in the novel. Freddie Bartholomew, the child actor, has some lovely moments when he is seen playing opposite Ms. Garbo. In fact, those scenes show well Anna's tender side, something that is in sharp contrast with what she ends up doing, abandoning this lovely child. Reginald Owen, one of the best character actors of the era is seen as Stiva with great charm. Maureen O'Sullivan is Kitty.

"Anna Karenina" is a film that will live forever because the combination of Greta Garbo's appeal and the great director Clarence Brown that understood her so well.

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A semi-fictionalized account of the life of Mata Hari, an exotic dancer who was accused of spying for Germany during World War I.





Director: George Fitzmaurice
Cast: Greta Garbo, Ramon Novarro, Lionel Barrymore, Lewis Stone, C. Henry Gordon, Karen Morley, Alec B. Francis, Blanche Friderici, Edmund Breese, Helen Jerome Eddy, Frank Reicher, Mischa Auer, William Bailey, Roy Barcroft, Reginald Barlow, Frederick Burton, Harry Cording, Cecil Cunningham, Gordon De Main, Maude Turner Gordon, Anthony Jowitt, Isabelle Keith, Sarah Padden, Lennox Pawle, Michael Visaroff

Garbo in love. There is nothing to compare with it. And MGM knew it. Again and again they fashioned vehicles for her to be in love, and "Mata Hari" is one of the best. Who cares that it has nothing to do with the real Mata Hari? This is a beautiful film - it looks gorgeous and is brilliantly acted. It was always difficult for male actors to hold their own with Garbo - Robert Taylor failed, Olivier by his own confession couldn't "hold a candle to her" - but there are three who certainly could John Gilbert (of course!), Melvyn Douglas (in comedy) and here the sublime Ramon Novarro. He was perhaps the only one of Garbo's leading men who could compare with her in beauty (though Lew Ayres is pretty cute in "The Kiss") and William Daniels films him nearly as lovingly as he does Garbo. The shot of his face where he blows out the candle (at Garbo's insistence), that his mother made him swear to always burn, is most beguiling. The two display a rare chemistry, and the final scene in the prison cell is very moving. Novarro in love is as enchanting as Garbo in love.

And the film is about the experience of love, and how it over-rides all else in life. Very romantic and very touching. Unrequited love sends Lionel Barrymore mad - this is a great performance too - and Lewis Stone's incomprehension of love makes him a cold, heartless monster (another expert performance from him). The sad thing here is that Novarro and Garbo were never again paired. A great and powerful film.

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