La tentatrice

"The Temptress has now been shown here—terrible. The story, Garbo, everything is extremely bad. It is no exaggeration to say that I was dreadful. I was tired, I couldn't sleep and everything went wrong..." (Greta Garbo)

The roaring twenties...not a very enthusiastic quotation, particularly when we consider the fact its author is Garbo herself, the Garbo people flock to see as a vamp, as a femme fatale who wins and ruins men, as a beauty on the screen, an object of dreams and desires. And so has the driving force been for all these years - I doubt whether THE TEMPTRESS would be watched by anyone nowadays ... if it were not for GARBO.

However, she detested it and no wonder why...For most people who know Garbo's psyche a bit, her melancholy her moments of peace, moments of being 'let alone' and, moreover, what a period it was (the mid 1920s) in her career are close to understand how she must have felt: director Mauritz Stiller, her tutor and a person who taught her skills, who directed her in Swedish GOSTA BERLING SAGA (1923) and brought her to America, is fired just a few days after the production begins; she still does not understand/speak English so well and intuitively learns whom to consider 'familiar soul' among many 'foreigners' in the glossy and tremendous studio that MGM was at the time. What is more, her sister Alva dies in the faraway Sweden. And no wonder she writes the aforementioned bitter words to her friend in Stockholm Lars Saxon. But, the test of time shows something more optimistic and within the variety of opinions and MGM targets of the 1920s, THE TEMPTRESS is overall not that bad as a movie... The CONTENT...

Marked by spiritual/religious references at the beginning and at the end (from Rabindranath Tagore, the first non-European Nobel laureate to Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world who died for love and manifests his presence in the people in need), the content is visibly the product of MGM studio system and its methods: goodness vs evil clash that uprights the hearts: love that conquers hatred and reconciliation that overcomes vengeance. As it is quite a common theme for films of the time, I would highlight more the technical aspects of the movie some of which appear to be more convincing and more appropriate in this relation. The TECHNICAL MERITS appear, of course, thanks to the people Garbo liked and worked with.

The direction by Fred Niblo, famous for his silent BEN HUR but also for a later Garbo film, THE MYSTERIOUS LADY, is a subtle work filled with stylish moments and delicate as well as thrilling handling of scenes. Although he replaced Stiller, her "sole tutor and companion," (whose style was quite remarkable but different from what they did and understood in Hollywood), she must have felt pretty comfortable under Niblo's direction as she left him a touching note after the work had finished. The lighting by William Daniels, a crucial name of all Hollywood Garbo films, boasts of truly remarkable moments. The effect is no lesser than in greater films, in particular when filming Garbo's face. Consider the scene at the mirror, for instance...indeed, most of what we see of Garbo and her acclaimed "performance for the camera" we owe to Daniels. He captured that essence of her sensitivity to light and shadow as portrait photographer Sinclair said: "Garbo 'feels' the light." And...production by Irving Thalberg, perhaps he did not play that role as in later cooperation with Garbo, but, undeniably, prompted the energy and unbelievable possibilities from the inside of the Swedish Sphynx. As a result, Garbo's portrayal of intriguing Elena is worth appreciation.

And here arises a tricky but a logical question: So why isn't THE TEMPTRESS considered to be a significant GARBO SILENT FILM?

First, Garbo is the best vamp in FLESH AND THE DEVIL; second, her best leading man is John Gilbert (one of the most famous pairing the screen has ever seen); third, the most 'exotic' and arousing locations are in WILD ORCHIDS; fourth, Garbo's most magical moments are in A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS; fifth, the lighting pearls are in THE MYSTERIOUS LADY (particularly its 'candle sequence'; sixth, THE TEMPTRESS was not viewers' first fascination with Garbo because her Hollywood debut is not THE TEMPTRESS but THE TORRENT. So... this film has been bound for years to negligence (nothing special for many). However, it occurs to be undeserved and unfair...

Antonio Moreno is not bad as her leading man...has his moments at least; some of the supporting cast do fine jobs, including Lionel Barrymore as Canterac who appears, years later, in a specific talkie with Garbo, GRAND HOTEL; some scenes can boast of brilliant camera-work (just to mention the witty and visual banquet at Fontenoy's or the presentation of the Argentine); many moments can boast of thrill, including the Argentine fight between Robledo (Antonio Moreno) and the wicked Manos Duras. Except for many clichés noticeable in the film, which, certainly, lower its value, it is important to consider such atmospheric scenes like the masquerade.

Although detested by the main STAR of the film, by the leading lady who was unique and brilliant at multiple levels, THE TEMPTRESS is not so bad. Garbo alone helps us get rid of some sophisticated expectations from the content. As a matter of fact, more of her films do not boast of particularly clever content...yet, EVERY Garbo film is worth seeing because of her tremendous presence on the screen, the unforgettable magic and something really special which she offered the cinema of her time and the cinema of all periods.

See this silent film AFTER you have seen hyper-sensual FLESH AND THE DEVIL, subtle A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS, refreshing THE SINGLE STANDARD, innovative THE KISS, stunning THE MYSTERIOUS LADY but allow yourself at least a single viewing of its beautifully restored DVD version. You will not be disappointed.

Greta Garbo's second Hollywood feature is an irresistible meller, done to a turn by director Fred Niblo at his finest. (Dig those parallel tracking shots; first over a formal dining table laden w/ service & delicacies, and then under the same table, now heavy w/ service & delicacies of a rather different nature.) At this point in her career, Garbo was still playing femme fatale types (watch how she cups her lover's face in her hands) and in this adaptation of a rum Blasco-Ibanez novel, she drives four men to their ruin without lifting a finger. The plot takes us from Parisian highlife (a superb masked ball, a suicide at a banquet, overnight love in a park) down to the Argentine for dam building, a duel of honor played out with whips, sabotage & floods (with remarkable effects), and then back to Paris for our moral. When he's at his best, co-star Antonio Moreno is a bit like Brian Donleavy, alas he usually just looks vaguely surprised. But Roy D'Arcy & Lionel Barrymore get to whoop things up splendidly. Note that Garbo's regular lenser Wm Daniels shares credit with Tony Gaudio. But everyone deserves a prize, including one for the fine newly commissioned score.

At 117 minutes this is way too long and ought to have been cut by half an hour. It was Garbo's second MGM film, and like the first, was derived from an Ibanez novel. Ibanez, as a source, proved beneficial for Valentino (THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APPOCALYPSE), but not for Garbo. For most of the film, she just stands around and does what she is good at, enticing men to make fools of themselves over her - and wouldn't you know it, they then blame her! Her weakling husband sells her to a banker, who ruins himself for her and commits suicide. The husband is shot by a bandit. Two friends of the main character vie for her and one kills the other. Our hero keeps vascillating, he loves her but hates her for ruining men's lives.

She, like most women of her type, lived as best they could - in a man's world, a plaything, she survived as a courtesan, securing jewelry for her support. Yes, she is weak, but she is not to blame.

The second half of the film is set in the Argentine where our hero has gone to build a dam, which the villain blows up, but which our hero rebuilds.

Garbo does have one stunning outfit - a slinky black thing, edged in white ermine with an orchid pinned over her right breast.

Garbo DOES get to act but only in the last sequence. Back in Paris, a successful architect, Antonio Moreno encounters the fallen Garbo, who drunkenly does not remember him -"I meet so many men." It is of course a lie, but one to make him forget her. Mistaking a fellow drunk for Christ, she gives him a ruby and wanders off into the sunset. Garbo is quite fine in this sequence but it is the only thing of value in the film, which is turgidly and boringly directed by her mentor, Mauritz Stiller (who was fired from the project part way through) and Fred Niblo (who completed it and got sole credit).

The cinematography contains two interesting silhouette shots, an amusing "under the table" sequence at a dinner party where men and women's legs and feet engage in some risque flirting - and the ubiquitous MGM long banquet table tracking shot (we'll see it again in ANNA KARENINA, not to mention a number of other MGM films.)

This one plays on Turner Classic Movies occasionally and is worth catching for Garbo alone. It has never been released commercially on video (one of only three Garbo silents which have not - we wonder why).

This is a very good silent film, though I had just watched two other Greta Garbo films that were incredibly similar to this one--as she plays the vamp in all three! I can't blame Ms. Garbo for this, as MGM definitely type-cast her despite her objections. In fact, she was so irritated by this theme that she went on strike to try to force the studio to give her different roles. But, considering that the public loved the films and they were all very successful, MGM wasn't about to mess with a tried-and-true formula.

This film is at least a little different in that much of the time men were destroyed when they fell for Garbo in this film, but she was never directly responsible for their downfall. She was more like the old "Typhoid Mary" character--someone who just seems to have bad things follow her where ever she goes! The problem with this is that no matter how sultry and alluring Ms. Garbo might have been, no one is THAT seductive that man after man after man destroy themselves in order to try to get her! However, the story does have a few new elements and the overall production values are exceptional. So, if you view this film WITHOUT considering how derivative it is, then it's an awfully good film.

By the way, the TCM DVD includes an alternative ending that was apparently used when the film was shown in rural settings. Instead of the marvelous original but sad ending (that, in my opinion is perfect), there is an upbeat and sappy one that just doesn't ring true.

This movie played on Turner Classic Movies on (I think) Sunday night, 30 July 2000. I started viewing it near the mid-way point. I first stayed with it to see and wonder who this very attractive actress was. The movie was a find story of love lost. The overall acting was excellent - truly more than I expected from an old movie. The body language, the facial expressions and timing from the leading male are what one only hopes to see. That said, the music, which can add so much to a silent movie, was beautiful. Beautiful. To me, it was the highlight of the movie. The music was so clear (no noise) that I question if it was as old as the movie (reprocessed perhaps?). The Temptress is worth viewing and hearing.