As You Desire Me

Since I don't like Greta Garbo films, I had very low expectations of 'As You Desire Me'. But I was actually quite surprised at how entertained I was at this ludicrous tale of amnesia and the power of love overcoming it! Melvyn Douglas stars here as a Prince whose inheritance of a missing wife's estate will go to his sister, unless his missing wife is found, pronto. Because of this, he sends out his best friend to search for her, ending up in a sleazy bar trying to fend Garbo off from plenty of amorous suitors. Oh, and Erich Von Streinheim.. After convincing her to go off with him and re-meet her husband she honestly can't remember (she's had amnesia you see), she's off to the estate of Melvyn Douglas, who's simply thrilled with the reunion, and willing to forget little things that don't quite add up, like Garbo not remembering a thing, or how her eye color has changed. Garbo isn't convinced either, but she falls in love with him anyways.

Ahh, but Eric Von Stronheim isn't too easily fooled, she knows where the actual missing wife is! Which is somewhat hilarious, I mean, why would he know that? Pretty soon, they all gather for one hooty finale which doesn't really resolve anything, but at the end, I didn't care, because I was guffawing at just how OUT THERE this was.

Mevyn Douglas and Greta Garbo were okay I suppose, with Garbo still doing her mad theatrical hand gestures all over the place. But the performance here goes to Eric Von Stronheim, who's just great as Garbo's past companion willing to fight to bring her back.

And get a load of those costumes! Whoa! What was Adrian smoking on the set? Love the little Cap without a lid number Garbo is wearing at the outset..

AS YOU DESIRE ME (1932) directed by George Fitzmaurice (the director of another Garbo movie, MATA HARI from 1931) is the only film with Greta Garbo in which she portrays a character derived from a play by a Sicilian playwright, Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936). The story is very interesting and involving - a Budapest night club performer, Zara, who has lost her long term memory is clamored by an unknown visitor to be Maria, the wife of an Italian baron named Bruno. Although, this does not convince her particularly, she travels to Italy, to Bruno's estate where she meets the baron and finds true love in him. As a result, Zara/Maria finds a solution to her hesitations - never to leave him and to become so "as he desires her" because of his love. The film, however, is not executed very well. Except for some truly memorable moments and some of the best cast, there is nothing unforgettable here - the cinematography is not particularly outstanding, there are some direction shortcomings. Nevertheless, it is worth a look, especially for Garbo fans.

AS YOU DESIRE ME is the only film in which Greta Garbo appears in a blonde wig (fortunately not throughout the entire film but in its first 35 minutes). Although she is not the Garbo that we find in CAMILLE, GRAND HOTEL or CONQUEST, she ALSO gives a wonderful performance throughout. Therefore, it may be said that this film is also full of magic and incredible atmosphere that most Garbo's films can boast up till our times, rich in computer filming and automatic visual effects. SPOILERS: However, other performances are not great, some are even so weak that the value of the film is deduced. Melvyn Douglas, who later appeared in two other films with Garbo (in the wonderfully funny NINOTCHKA by Lubitsch and the infamous boring TWO FACED WOMAN by Cukor), is not that memorable in the role of Bruno in AS YOU DESIRE ME. Consequently, Garbo's great performance is partly lost. Others are also quite pale, including Owen Moore who plays Tony. But the ultimate failure is the choice of Erich Von Stroheim. Although he was a very good director (think about his GREED), what he does in the role of cruel Salter, is a distortion of acting. He behaves as if he did not know how to play! There is no power even in the "controversial" prolonged upside down shot of Salter desirously kissing Zara. In this case, I could not stand him in the scenes with Garbo because the contrast of their performances was so huge that it is not easy to watch the scenes without burning nerves in oneself. Hopefully, however, there are not many shots of Von Stroheim and Garbo. I have read in TCM article that this was the time when Von Stroheim had the most serious problems with MGM. Nevertheless, he should have done a better job. But let us mention some strong points instead of talking about one actor who highly spoiled the film.

AS YOU DESIRE ME is memorable thanks to a lovely scene in the Italian inn when Garbo and Douglas spend their first night of love. Delicate Italian music is played in the background while they talk. Consider the cigarettes... doesn't it remind you of the silent masterpiece FLESH AND THE DEVIL (1926)? Of course, Douglas is not Gilbert and there is not such a chemistry between the stars here as it was in Clarence Brown's silent masterpiece. Nevertheless, the scene is very beautiful with delicate lighting and really nice performances. And the final moment - stereotypical sentence "I love you" is in no way kitschy but rather sounds good and does serve its purpose even nowadays (to move the audiences).

Although AS YOU DESIRE ME was clamored to be Garbo's last film (she left for Sweden in summer 1932), it is a nice movie. But, it is important to state that it is accurate only as a film, not as an adaptation of Pirandello's play. Pity that the play has not been adapted onto screen once again in the 1950s, 1960s or later. Why is Fitzmaurice's movie worth a look? MOSTLY thanks to GRETA GARBO. What an unforgettable actress she was!

A pretty good story, but poorly executed. Greta Garbo plays Zara, the loose living mistress of a famous novelist, who may also be the long lost wife of a wealthy Italian officer. The question of who she is for real is complicated by the fact that Zara cannot remember anything beyond the last ten years of her life. The story is interesting, but it wasn't handled well enough to also be engaging. Nothing is ever done to create any real suspense. Garbo gives a better performance here than she did in Anna Christie, but she still falls back on her silent screen style overacting whenever the script calls for any real drama. The best thing about the movie is probably Erich Von Stroheim, who gives an excellent supporting performance as Salter, the novelist who is determined not to give up his mistress. It would have made a terrific Hitchcock film.

This film is almost forgotten but remains one of the most unusual in Garbo's career. It was daring to use a Pirandello play (what remains of it) and the stylistic inconsistencies are actually absolutely right for the theme that nothing is what it seems (but could be, if we so desired it). Compare it to "Two faced Woman" ten years later, also with Douglas and also about confusions of identity. You will see how much better is the earlier film and how much more beautiful Garbo was, even in a fright wig. George Fitzmaurice was a talented director with a great sense of style. Like most early sound films you have to see a good copy. Much of what we see now is just a travesty of the original and makes it very hard to appreciate its real quality.

As You Desire Me (1932)

*** (out of 4)

A woman (Greta Garbo) suffering from amnesia isn't in love with her husband (Erich von Stroheim) and wants to escape and finds a way when someone shows up claiming that she was married to another man (Melvyn Douglas) ten years earlier. As Garbo and Douglas try to reconnect their love another woman shows up who could be the real wife. The actual mystery behind the story is actually pretty good, although the short 70-minute runtime doesn't give the film enough time to fully play it out and it comes off somewhat watered down. The stupid happy ending hurts the film somewhat but the performances from Garbo, Douglas and especially von Stroheim makes this a must see.