Königin Christine

I'm in the middle of "Wednesday Night is Greta Garbo Night" on TCM, and I am as happy as the proverbial pig. A whole month of Garbo -- 27 films! 1927-1941!!! Needless to say, I rushed right off to Target to stock up on blank videocassettes! I'm the King of the World! The dream of a lifetime fulfilled!

"Queen Christina" is merely one of Garbo's greatest performances, but it's second to none. She imbues the role of the conflicted Swedish monarch with majesty and vulnerability, and also embodies the clarity, determination, assurance, and style of a great ruler. This Christina is no silly Mary Queen of Scots, thoughtlessly throwing everything away for love, and sowing the seeds of her own destruction. Garbo's queen sacrifices power for a man, true, but only because she understands that she can't have both and must have love, that Sweden will still flourish without her, and that to fulfill her deepest needs as a human being she must accept the inevitable cost. She is a lover of the arts, a reader of great books, curious about the entire world and thirsty to drink at the well of experience. She is a bohemian, and there's little satisfaction for her in wielding great power while being denied the opportunity to live fully.

Whether this is an accurate portayal of the historical person is really beside the point. "Queen Christina" is an MGM costume spectacular with MGM's biggest star. And Lord, is she gorgeous!

Watching John Gilbert as Antonio makes me wonder why he didn't last for long in talking pictures. His hairstyle here makes him look a bit goofy, but he's a handsome guy and his speaking voice is perfectly adequate. He doesn't come close to Garbo in charisma -- who does? He handles the role quite well, and the mutual affection of the pair is palpable.

At least one poster has questioned whether the implied homoeroticism of several scenes in this film really exists -- the kiss between the queen and her lady-in-waiting, the "No Chancellor...I shall die a bachelor" line, the reaction of Antonio's servant about him staying in bed all day with "the other gentleman." S/he is wrong -- it's definitely there. But I think Ruben Mamoulian was just having a little fun with Christina's "masculine" eccentricity to add some spice to the story. She was hailed as a "king" at her coronation, and a king she endeavored to be.

Some viewers might find "Queen Christina" dated. It's terribly romantic in the style of the 1930s, and if you can't buy into that you might have problems. Also, there's the characteristic cliche of all the old MGM period films dealing with royalty -- the ceremonial entrance of nobles into the court, accompanied by fanfares and stately music. I counted four of those in this movie -- oh, well, it goes with the genre.

And that final scene? It really is unforgettable!

One of silent cinema's greatest pairings, Greta Garbo and John Gilbert starred together one last time in Queen Christina. Gilbert's career was in tatters by 1933 after a string on failures, and Laurence Olivier had already bailed from the role, but Garbo insisted on Gilbert. And he is wonderful as the Spanish envoy. He looks great and gives a sly performance with plenty of wit. This is also one of Garbo's best talkies. Together they light up the screen. This film also boasts some of the most gorgeous close ups of Garbo you've ever seen. Solid historical drama of Swedish queen who abdicates for love. Good supporting cast includes Lewis Stone, Reginald Owen, Akim Tamiroff, Ian Keith as the slimy Magnus, C. Aubrey Smith, Elizabeth Young, and David Torrence. Beautiful film with solid performances and, dare I say, very feminist in its view. Gilbert's performance in this film and Downstairs (1932) should have put him back on top. What a shame. Norma Desmond was right when she said, "They took the idols and they smashed them. The The Gilberts, the Fairbankses, the Valentinos."

Greta Garbo is the controversial "Queen Christina" in this beautiful 1933 film directed by the great Rouben Mamoulian, responsible for the resplendent 1941 "Blood and Sand" and many other films. Here, Garbo is reunited with a leading man from silent films, John Gilbert, and the two are marvelous together. It's so strange now to remember that there was supposedly something wrong with Gilbert's voice so when talkies came in, it wrecked his career. Obviously his voice was just fine, and in this film, he speaks with a classically trained voice and has great facility for the dialogue. Perhaps it's true that Mayer hated him and sped up his voice in his sound debut; but most likely, his alcoholism is what ultimately destroyed his career.

The script takes wild liberties with the real Queen's life, but it makes for excellent entertainment. Queen Christina was educated as a man at her father's directive so she could take over the throne, and she supposedly, as in the film, had some sort of relationship with her lady-in-waiting, Ebba. One site states that Christina abdicated her throne to be with Ebba; however, Ebba had already married and left the court by the time Christina abdicated. After her abdication, she traveled to Rome as a man and steeped herself in culture. Later on, she tried to become Queen of a couple of countries and became involved with a Cardinal, to whom she left her estate when she died at the age of 63.

Here, Christina travels as a man and ends up sharing a room with an envoy of the King of Spain, Don Antonio (Gilbert), who becomes her lover. The bedroom scenes are quite controversial, though no sex is shown. It was thought that Garbo fondling different things in the room as she "memorizes" it was a symbol of her fondling something else - plus there is only bed in the room and the two were obviously in it, though the bed was curtained. And that's as explicit as one got in 1933. The scenes at the inn apparently wiped out any concern for Christina's kissing of Ebba (Elizabeth Young) on the lips earlier!

The acting is superb, particularly from Garbo, Gilbert, and Ian Keith (Magnus). Keith was a little known character actor, yet he was an accomplished stage performer who was very impressive in film - he can be seen as Joan Blondell's drunken husband in "Nightmare Alley." As for Gilbert, what a shame - a wonderful, attractive actor who plays Antonio with great wit and intelligence. He and Garbo made a great team. Garbo is gloriously beautiful, and in a nice touch, walks in the same lumbering way as the actress who plays her as a little girl does. This is the film with possibly the most famous close-up in cinematic history - as Garbo supposedly thinks of "nothing" as she stands on the ship. The camera lingers on her for what seems like forever...yet it is somehow not long enough.

The exciting, final pairing of a great screen team is only enhanced by the subtle touches of Mamoulian and the beautiful cinematography. Don't miss it.

...She looks so weak and so frail That's why she tried to be so hard , But they turned her into a princess And they sat her on a throne, But she turned her back on stardom Because she wanted to be alone.

(Ray Davies,"Celluloid heroes" ,1972)

"Queen Christina" is my favorite Garbo movie and I must not be the only one to be fond of it."Queen Christina" is the story of the actress herself ;the queen abdicates as the star would do eight years later.Like the queen leaves her people weeping they cried a river over the star.

Christina is a modern character,ahead of her time,tired of war and who takes love over marriage of convenience ,who protects arts ,notably literature (funny how she loves Molière and his "Précieuses Ridicules" ).One should note that,even if it's not mentioned in the movie,she did come to France where she visited courtesan Ninon de Lenclos ,then imprisoned in a convent because of her "scandalous" life .

Like Garbo herself,she was a legend in her lifetime and

she would die an enigma to the word,like king of Bavaria ,Ludwig der Zweite ,who lived three centuries after her and who was a bit like her.

The scene at the inn has been plagiarized many times since.Garbo's androgynous beauty works wonders ."A handsome young lord such as you cannot sleep alone tonight,can he?" .Definitely not.

I sometimes think that films should be ranked rather like golfers, with a seniors' section for the over 50s. It is often difficult for the inherent quality of a film to shine through the grainy black and white, crackly sound, stagey sets and ludicrous back-projections. One test of a classic film is: if you went and saw it at your local multiplex tonight, would you enjoy it. Maybe Casablanca, Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon...and, surprisingly, Queen Christina looking as modern and sexy today as when it was made in 1933. The main thing that makes it stand out from the crowd is its literate and thoughtful screenplay. The subject matter is new to most people who, like myself, have only the sketchiest of knowledge about 17th century Swedish history. Garbo is magnificent as an intelligent, liberated queen. She spends most of the film in men's clothes and thigh-length boots. I'm always rather incredulous of the Shakespearean convention where the heroine only has to put on a pair of trousers and everyone assumes she is a boy. Queen Christina delightfully pokes fun at this convention. Garbo, dressed as a boy, finds that she has to share the last room at the inn with John Gilbert, the Spanish envoy. In a scene that radiates sexiness, Garbo only has to take off her jacket for Gilbert to realise that she is all woman.