From Amazon.com
After her debut in Europe and before she famously talked in
Anna Christie, the most enigmatic of all movie stars, Greta Garbo, made 10 silent films at MGM. This DVD collects three of the group, a representative look at Garbo as unspeaking icon. The jewel in the batch is
Flesh and the Devil, the gorgeous 1927 hit that partnered her with John Gilbert (a box-office tandem that lit up the end of the silent era). In this one, Garbo threatens the lifelong friendship of dashingly romantic Gilbert and wealthy Lars Hanson; the high melodrama culminates in a gallant duel and (literally) thin ice. Clarence Brown directed Garbo for the first of many times.
The Temptress (1926) is wilder, with Garbo as a man-killer who follows Antonio Moreno to the romantic plains of Argentina. The opening sequence, as she and Moreno fall madly in love during a Gatsby-esque party, is like a thumbnail of the exotic, heady Garbo appeal--instant, head-over-heels amour amongst the marble statues and champagne. There's also a bullwhip duel that must be seen to be believed. The Mysterious Lady (1928) is an even better vehicle for her, a tight lady-spy number that emphasizes Garbo's sultry, remote appeal. It's marred only by poor print quality. But at least The Mysterious Lady exists, unlike Victor Sjostrom's The Divine Woman, a Garbo film that survives only in an intriguing 9-minute scene, which is included on the DVD. "Divine" and "mysterious"--how better to start the conversation about Greta Garbo? --Robert Horton
On the DVD
ccSettling the Score
Comentary on Flesh and the Devil by Garbo author Barry Paris
Commentary on The Temptress by Greta Garbo: A Cinematic Legacy author Mark A. Vieira
Commentary on The Mysterious Lady by film historians Tony Maietta and Jeffrey Vance
The Divine Woman: surviving 9-minute excerpt of this lost 1928 silent
Alternate endings on Flesh and the Devil and The Temptress
Photo montages on all 3 movies
Subtitles: Franais & Espaol
