Queen Christina

It's 1632. The Protestant King of Sweden falls in battle. A six year old girl climbs onto the throne. Sixteen years later, Sweden is winning the Thirty Years' War and Queen Christina (Greta Garbo) would like it to end. On the other hand, her advisors want to continue the expensive endeavor. She overrules them and signs the peace agreement. Her advisor Magnus is her slavish admirer. Her country is eager to marry her to a Swedish prince and produce an heir. She falls for the new Spanish Ambassador Antonio (John Gilbert) but a public affair with a Catholic would be dangerous.

The inn section is fun although I kept waiting for her to do a big reveal. The film does end up doing an interesting reveal. The fun situation sets up relatively good chemistry. The movie is missing some good action. They have a 30 years war and only one small war scene. The production designs are big and impressive. It's a grand costume drama. The story is rather straight forward and the rumored real story may be more interesting. All in all, it's good.

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.

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!

I recently purchased the Greta Garbo DVD collection and the first film I watched was "Queen Christina". It's the first time I've seen it from beginning to end and it's a beautiful and haunting film. I'm surprised by how old it is. It was made in 1933! And yet the film, aside from the usual dated aspects seen in every movie made then, is remarkably ahead of its time, certainly in the way it views of a female nobility, androgyny and homosexuality. It surprising this movie was made, in the light of the nefarious Hays Code which came into existence just a couple of years before this film was made.

The cinematography is beautiful. The script, though simplistic in its portrayal of Queen Christina's life (the reason I gave this film one star short of a perfect 10), is full of interesting dialogue, which is endlessly quotable. But the one thing that makes the movie so great is Greta herself. Remove Greta from the movie and not much is left. She makes the movie and what an amazing and haunting performance she gives. Some might find her way of acting a bit much but personally, I think it's something to behold. There's no other actor in the world of cinema like Greta Garbo and this film proves it in spades. Her performance is pitch perfect: she's towering, impossibly beautiful and yet vulnerable and warm as well, which is amazing feat. There are several unforgettable and iconic scenes in "Queen Christina" but the biggest icon is Greta herself. Her overwhelming presence in the movie makes it a thoroughly haunting experience. It's amazing that the folks behind the camera knew what amazing person they were working with and "Queen Christina" is the perfect showcase for this legendary star.

As for the quality of the DVD transfer, it's a shame there isn't a better looking version than this one. The film was filled with scratches and sound problems. Like Lawrence of Arabia or Vertigo, "Queen Christina" needs to be restored to its former glory and re-released on the big screen, so a new generation can discover and appreciate this underrated movie.