Anna Karenine

As I have stated before and often in my reviews, I don't care whether or not a film adaptation is faithful to its source material; my only requirement is that it be good and stand on its own two feet. Love (1927) mostly does this; I haven't read Anna Karenina, though I am familiar with the basic outline of the plot. Love hits the high points of the story, though it does make the relationship between Anna and Vronsky more a case of two soul mates finding one another than what those two characters are in the novel.

Garbo is luminescent as Anna. She was not only gorgeous, but she could communicate such depth and soul despite being featured in so many standard melodramas. Gilbert does good and is ardent as the romantic lead, but Garbo steals the show. As is usual with most 1920s MGM melodramas, the production is lavish and pretty. My biggest issue is that the story is incredibly rushed; everything moves so quickly and it feels like scenes were even lost or snipped. Nothing develops gradually. Aside from that problem, Love is a nice romantic drama, though if you want your Garbo-Gilbert fix, you're better off with Flesh and the Devil or A Woman of Affairs.

LOVE is the perfect title for this hacked-down adaptation of Tolstoy's mammoth novel ANNA KARENINA. It was made to cash in on the popularity of Greta Garbo and John Gilbert, fresh from their box office triumph in FLESH AND THE DEVIL earlier the same year. Like virtually all of Garbo's silent films, much of the screen time is devoted to watching the great tormented Swede abandon herself to love, suffer for love, contemplate love, lose love, die. It is interesting to compare this version of the novel with the one made eight years later in which Garbo played opposite Fredric March who, while less dashing and handsome than Gilbert, did give a fine performance as the impetuous and essentially cruel Count Vronsky. In the latter film Garbo is less attractive due to the clash between the curly coiffure she is given and the strong planes and features of her face. She even looks like a male in drag in some scenes. But in LOVE she is beautiful and feminine throughout. The clinging 1920's-style dresses help, even if they detract from the authenticity of a story that is supposed to be set in 1870's Russia. Gilbert was one of the best actors of his era and the talent shows here. He is also a magnetic screen presence and one can understand why audiences in 1927 flocked to see these two together.

The scenes of mother-son tenderness between Garbo and Philippe deLacy do indeed seem incestuous as others have pointed out, but so do the scenes between Garbo and Freddie Bartholomew in the 1935 version. I think it was just Garbo's way of expressing love on screen; you see her perform the same kind of nuzzling in other movies, whether the attentions are being given to a man, a woman or a child. I disliked both endings, but at least Garbo was ravishing in the happy one. And remember, Garbo was just shy of 22 when she filmed this, yet she is believable as an older woman. She had a face that could express any age.

This movie cries out for a re-scoring. The print shown on TCM is marred by what sounds like muffled applause from time to time.

I've always been an ardent fan of Flesh and the Devil, but then I saw Love. This movie is absolutely beautiful, there's no other word to describe it. Whereas Flesh and the Devil seemed to be crass commercialism, Love is more subtle in many ways.

I gave this movie a 9 due to two rather melodramatic moments where Garbo wasn't exactly restraining herself. However, there are enough scenes where she conveys Anna's inner turmoil by the most fleeting and eloquent of expressions. The lighting in her scenes are breathtakingly beautiful, and I can only imagine how long it took to set it up just right! In so many of her scenes she is heartbreaking, especially when, exiled from her home, she sees a schoolboy and momentarily believes that he is her son and tries to embrace him. When he struggles and runs away, she does a wonderful job portraying Anna's rather unstable mind, which she does to great effect throughout the picture. In the beginning, however, when she first meets Vronsky, she seems to be in control of herself, and there is a wonderfully imperious stare in close-up, followed quickly by a close-up of Gilbert. As I watched her, I was astonished when I remembered that she was only 22 in this film.

Which brings us to Gilbert. For those who think of him as simply Valentino's successor as the Great Lover, being no more than a slab of meat for the delight of female audiences, need to watch this film. He is simply perfect, the model of natural acting -- there is not a hint of melodrama or the "ham" about him. He is completely in love with Anna, but there are none of the breast-heaving love scenes that are throughout Flesh and the Devil. He is jealous of anybody coming between him and Anna, but there are no widened eyes and arm waving. Simply jamming his hands in his pockets and an angry stare into the distance.

My only complaint with this film was the presentation on TCM. They used a live performance, and we get the "audience reaction" throughout the film. Which is fine at points, but for the most part, the reaction is totally wrong. Too many times there was laughter at what was, in 1927, a very dramatic moment. When Jack is too busy looking at Garbo to blow out the match and ends up burning his finger, that's funny. But when Anna says the profound line to the jealous Vronsky "There is no more or less in love -- I love you both infinitely" (referring to her son), the laughter was totally inappropriate. I hope this is not the avenue of any future TCM silent movies. Even though modern audiences are supposedly more "sophisticated," they aren't sophisticated enough to appreciate what "worked" 70-75 years ago. Even though these movies are old, there are still images and "lines" that are as ageless as Garbo's face.

Slow-moving, silent version of Tolstoy's classic Anna Karenina, stars Garbo as a married socialite who has an affair with soldier Gilbert. This followed shortly after the duo made Flesh and the Devil, but it is not a worthy follow-up. There are two endings-one happy and one sad. Remade by Garbo in 1935. Only merits 2 stars in my book.

When lots of classic buffs discuss Garbo's portrayal of Anna Karenina, they most often refer to the sound version directed by Clarence Brown in 1935. And they are right since the sound version with Greta Garbo and Fredric March is the supreme adaptation of Tolstoy's novel during the silver screen's heyday. That is the movie, which despite its 75th birthday is still highly captivating, and thanks to Greta Garbo, the story of Tolstoy's heroine touches the depths of viewers' hearts. However, whilst developing the knowledge of Garbo's unique presence on screen and her outstanding yet short career, I was deeply touched by seeing the silent production LOVE directed by Edmund Goulding, the man who later directed one of Garbo's most popular movies, GRAND HOTEL. Although the movie LOVE has been quite ignored by many viewers, even by Greta Garbo fans, it is very much worth attention as a pleasant silent film.

The reason why I liked the movie does not lie in its source novel. As a matter of fact, there are a number of serious liberties taken when applied to content, plots and historical depiction. When you are looking for the Anna Karenina story, you had better see other versions for sure. The major reason why I like it lies in the presence of Garbo and Gilbert, two main characters into whose empty lives has swept a force that illumines them and changes everything. After their ultra popular FLESH AND THE DEVIL where the chemistry between the two was an absolute revelation and Garbo's magnetism on screen was the combination of thrill and joy, carnal desire and overwhelming beauty, here, Garbo plays again opposite Gilbert and she is truly in love with him as Anna is in love with Vronsky. And the handsome Captain Vronsky though careless, reckless once changes himself from within. Gilbert is no worse in the role of Vronsky than he is in his roles as Leo Von Harden, Nevs or Antonio. Their scenes can boast unforgettable chemistry and appear to be timelessly genuine. You watch a silent film where two people are really in love with each other...that says for itself. It must have been a smashing success. Garbo and Gilbert are really in LOVE!

That aspect is strongly combined with their scenes and moments that are hard to forget. For who can skip the luminous dance on Easter Night? Who can remain indifferent to their spiritual contact at the scenes galore, for instance the one of the military race? Who is ready to ignore the tension and wit at their first meeting? This combination of magical charm, chemistry, and wit leaves a lasting impression in the viewer and you simply consider LOVE one of those silent films that are pleasantly watched over and over again. This power of the main couple makes you forget the source novel and forgive some inaccuracies and liberties. You simply watch a film.

The supporting cast contribute to three people: Brandon Hurst as Karenin, George Fawcett as Grand Duke and Phillippe De Lacy as Serezha. Mr Hurst represents memorably the person who cannot stand any sensation and is a man of old morals, as he says: 'any gossip about my wife reflects upon me.' Mr Fawcett is the actor who portrays his role as memorably as he did portray Pastor Voss in FLESH AND THE DEVIL. Yet, in LOVE he is a different person, no longer raging about the sins of his sheep but an understanding general, who has a sense of humor, who understands delays and gets the gist of sacrifice rightly. Phillippe De Lacy is memorable as Anna's child and steals some of the best scenes with Garbo. It is important to state that those supporting cast also make LOVE a memorable silent.

Therefore, LOVE is another Garbo film I consider a must in my gallery, a pearl of old days when cinema conveyed humane message, when performances were unforgettable, when there were great stars that illumined screen, Garbo and Gilbert in LOVE in a bright story of Love that may face its darkness but is finally illuminated by the dawn of a new day...