Customer Reviews
Garbo talks through decades - By: TR, 27 Apr 2008 
All Greta Garbo's key films from the talking era in one box set - only notable exception being Grand Hotel. But this is a minor complaint: it is an ensemble piece (it is included in the Joan Crawford Signature Collection where it clearly shows that young Crawford can more than hold her own in any company) & is, on balance, minor film in Garbo's career.
The films included here - just pay attention to the titles: each is named after her character. Signature collection indeed! I can't think of another star ever to have pulled off such a career proving trick, showing clearly what a huge, huge box office draw she was, & what power "The Swedish Sphinx " held over the studios as well as the public. Not bad for a shy, lanky girl who's single mother was a cleaner in Stockholm...
If you are a newcomer interested in what Garbo was alll about, this is the definitive collection - it spans nearly a decade from Anna Christie, Garbo's first talkie ("Give me a Whisky, ginger ale on the side, & don' be stingy, baby"), based on Eugene O'Neil play about a daughter who seeks refuge from her life as a prostitute at her father's on the waterfront, to her penultimate film Ninotchka, a fantastic comedy with young Billy Wilder contributing to the script that has not dated one bit & leaves you craving for more out-right Garbo comedies. But I suppose that was the key to the Garbo magic on many levels - this woman knew how to leave people wanting for more.
While Mata Hari is not quite as interesting as the other films & Ninotchka gets onto most people's list of Garbo favorites, it says something of the quality on offer here that when asked to pick between Christina, Karenina & Camille, everyone seems to prefer a different film. Her performances differ too in a way that I did not expect: three films - three different women, alll the harder to pull off as the films alll are designed to give the world the famous Garbo,"The Face". But despite this - & her distinct accent that spells out that this is not character acting as we know it - it does not mean that Garbo would simply ride on the coattails of her star persona. Compared to someone like Crawford - who's performances only change as she herself changes over the years - Garbo gave nuanced performances with ease. Cynical Anna Christie struggles with betrayal, bitterness & shame, brisk Queen Christina refuses to bow down to fate & holds on to her independence in love & abdication, serious Anna Karenina punishes herself by alllowing her life to become self-fulfilling prophesy, tolerant Camille laughs & floats over the abyss, throwing away money, health & love at slightest provocation, & judgemental Ninotchka, the incomparable realist, melts when faced with her own femininity.
If you are buying this because you already know Garbo, alll you probably want to know that the transfer quality is good (although I think I have seen a better print of Ninotchka on TV years ago) & extras - although VERY few - are interesting (Anna Christie's both versions with Garbo are included, as is a silent pre-Garbo Camille with pre-Sheik Rudolph Valentino). All in alll, the most satisfying classics collection that I have happened across.
