Come tu mi vuoi

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..

In an otherwise uninspiring film, the Pirandello drama seems to be tailormade for the Garbo mystique. I wonder if any Hollywood director would attempt a Pirandello play today. I salute the director for picking up the play to make a film--but unfortuntely the combination of Pirandello and Garbo could have been wonderful had it had been creatively handled. Eric von Stroheim's role is again colorless for actor-director who made memorable films.

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.

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.

Garbo puts in a strong lead performance but this film suffered with poor support from Douglas and Von Stroheim. Douglas was a particularly bad choice and Bruno comes across as absurd.

Garbo shows great range deftly transforming from drunken diva to redeemed believer in the power of love, even if she can't remember who she is.

Interesting... Garbo appears to flub a line in the last scene at approx 1:07

"oooh Lena, help me! You must know? The others, the other woman women who were here that night. Who were they?"