As a long time Garbo fan, this set is worth the wait.
The documentary is excellent, and the features are everything you could want. I was particularly interested and impressed with the silents, having seen only two, and them only once.
"Camille" is my all time favorite movie. That's it. My favorite. The story is a timeless love story set against the accepted mores of society. There is the wonderful addition on the Camille DVD of the rarely seen (non-Garbo) silent version with Valentino as Gaston. This silent version is often referred to in movie retrospectives for it's unusual and artistic sets in high Deco style.
"Anna Karenina" is another classic of Garbo's and one of my favorites of her films - I've watched it at least 20 times. It remains one of the best adaptations of this story to film. The 2000 version with Sophie Morceau is a really wonderful pairing/contrast with this version.... shifting focus and social concerns, and adding color, but this black and white Garbo version remains equal to it. Tarzan's Jane shows her real talent playing "Kitty" with lightness and vulnerability.
"Anna Christie" is a stage classic that was altered very little for the film. It was the perfect choice to introduce Garbo to the world, and is the heartwrenching story of a woman who wants to forget her past and just live a simple life. In retrospect, this is also what Garbo wanted for her own life, and that dimension only adds to the levels. This one also includes the German version made with Garbo and her good friend and mentor in the Marie Dressler role.
"Ninotchka" is Garbo's memorable comedy, later made into the musical Silk Stockings. She makes fun of the serious impervious image created by some of her other films, and it is a perfect foil for the overall serious tone of this set.
"Mata Hari" is easy to dismiss as too camp, too melodrama, but it is beautiful to look at, both in its glitz, and its more severe moments. We should all look so beautiful in prison when we are about to die. It is a quintessential blending of Garbo's silent work and her early sound work.
"Queen Christina" is probably her best work, with some interesting direction, with moments of eloquent silence that Hitchock began to move to in his later work. One classic moment is referenced in many other movies. Often said to be one of her own favorites, it has many moments of playful sexual ambiguity... and has been the springboard for the highly imaginative rumors of her "lesbianism". Her nephew puts it best in the documentary. She has a history of long and very open and public relationships with men; anything different from that is conjecture. I'll add that having read almost every Garbo bio, the only person who difinitively states he knows she had a lesbian affair is a spurned lover who has a reputation for trying to spread untrue rumors about many of the legendary people he knew. He simply is not a reliable source.
I saved "Grand Hotel" for last. Garbo herself knew she was miscast as a ballerina, and while it loks like her worst, most overwrought work, her flair as a silent actress was useful in the role of the overdramatic diva. Prima ballerina's are actually more dramatic than this, so it is only her stature that makes this really laughable. Still, it is a jewel. It was the very first film to feature stars in every major role, and Joan Crawford shines. Grand Hotel has the best work of several of it's stars, and it is eminantly watchable and enjoyable.
Just a wonderful box set. It makes one long to be alone... to watch these DVDs again and again! The quality of the prints is great. I rate this set much HIGHER than 5 stars. For one supersized, undimmable star!
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THE ONLY REVIEW YOU NEED...
A FACE FOR THE AGES
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 1, 2009
