La chair et le diable

Famed silent is for the time period a well made melodrama. The story is of no real consequence and now seems very familiar as it probably was at the time of it's release. The communion scene is provocative, very erotic even today and must have been a sensation in '26. The real interest is of course the cast, Garbo especially. Of all the players she is the acting standout, with the exception of a few scenes her performance feels very naturalistic. The same goes for her appearance, whereas everybody else looks like they belong in the 1920's her unadorned hairdos and streamlined clothes convey a contemporary feeling, a flesh impact. Gilbert, who was then wildly popular, is a relic from a bygone era. He looks like he could be attractive but his ridiculous mustache and the heavy makeup required at the time sabotage his handsomeness. His acting is quite mannered and uneven, he was much better in The Big Parade, but he and Garbo share an undeniable chemistry. The real offender in overacting is Lars Hanson his eye-popping and herky jerky movements are a textbook example of the worst kind of silent screen performance, the impression that keeps a lot of people from giving silents a try. The other major person in this passion play is Barbara Kent as the angelic young thing in contrast to Garbo's rapacious strumpet. Kent passed away at 103 in 2011 one of the last remaining silent screen stars although she turned her back on public life and had been a recluse since the 50's.

The tail end of the silent screen era brought us the great screen team of John Gilbert and Greta Garbo. As we well know Gilbert came up short in talkies and there are a lot of explanations why that happened. But Garbo only started her immortal career and as she said in sound, definitely not alone.

Flesh And The Devil was her biggest screen success to date and it introduced Gilbert and Garbo as a team. Garbo is one sly and hedonistic woman who married to an older and titled man in Wilhelmine Germany. She eyes Gilbert like a prime cut in a butcher shop, especially in his army uniform.

At the same time Gilbert has Lars Hanson as a best friend since childhood and a little sister in Barbara Kent. They're like a German version of Tom, Huck, and Becky Thatcher as kids.

When Garbo's titled husband Marc McDermott catches them en flagrato only a duel will satisfy. But since both are anxious to avoid tainting the lady's name they say the duel is over some card cheating. Gilbert kills the husband, but has to flee the Fatherland for colonial service. He asks Hanson to check in on her now and then, but he never tells him about his real relationship with Garbo.

Greta is not about to wait five years for some fleshly pleasures. She marries Hanson because she has needs, but still has a yen for Gilbert. When he returns matters do come to a head.

The hedonistic woman does not triumph in this one. That satisfies the moralists of the town. But this was the Jazz Age, the Roaring Twenties and the era of the first frank discussions of sex. Sex and those steamy scenes with Gilbert are what sold this picture.

Even without sound over 80 years later Garbo and Gilbert still steam up the small screen if you're watching your DVD or the Turner Classic Movies Channel. Silent films were indeed universal and no one spoke the language of silence better than Greta Garbo and John Gilbert.

I should also mention that Barbara Kent as Gilbert's virginal sister has some good moments as well. Kent functions well as the pure counterpoint to Garbo's hedonism. And she's also the voice of conscience in the movie in her own way.

Flesh And The Devil holds up well. Garbo didn't need words to get her message across, but that was an added treat for the next decade.

Young actress Greta Garbo was tired and homesick for her native Sweden after she had journeyed to America to appear in two MGM movies. While filming her previous movie, 1926's "The Temptress," she was told her sister had died. When she asked studio executives if they could allow her some time to attend the funeral, they refused her request. Then Garbo's director Swedish friend Mauritz Stiller was removed from "The Temptress." With a paltry weekly salary in comparison to other actresses at her level, Garbo was financially struggling and gave serious thought of backing out of her next film. When she revealed her sentiments to a studio executive, she received a strongly-worded letter from MGM threatening to end her career as an actress if she didn't cooperate.

After some considerable thinking and advice from friends, she did report to the movie set for her next film, January 1927's "Flesh and the Devil." She began the filming in a deep funk until the day where she was appearing in a train station scene with lead actor John Gilbert, whom she never met. Once they were introduced and shot that station scene as well as the day's scheduled intimate kissing sequences, Garbo suddenly forgot most of her troubles.

"I don't know how I should have managed if I had not been cast opposite John Gilbert," recalled Garbo three years later. "If he had not come into my life at this time, I should probably have gone home to Sweden at once, my American career over." As one account goes, the veteran actor was bowled over by her vulnerability and took a personal interest in coaching her as filming progressed. It help that the "Flesh and the Devil" was loaded with intimate love scenes between the two of them. During one particularly passionate shot, director Clarence Brown witnessed the pair's budding relationship right before his eyes. He decided that instead of yelling cut to wrap up the scene, he motioned to his lighting and camera crew members to quietly leave the set as the two were still kissing. A few hours later, as Gilbert and Garbo continued their snuggling on the set, studio personnel brought in their dinner. By the conclusion of the movie's shoot, the two had moved in together.

Garbo's radiance shines through on screen as director Brown called for a number of close-ups, taking advantage of the actress's stunning looks. One reviewer described, "she gave a more erotic performance than Hollywood had ever seen."

"Flesh and the Devil," based on the 1894 Hermann Sudermann novel, 'The Undying Past,' was a perfect vehicle for the two new lovers. Garbo plays the wife, Felicitas, of an aging count who catches Leo (Gilbert), a German soldier, making kissy with his wife. Variety called that love-making scene and two others contained in the film hair raising. "There are three loves scenes in this picture that will make anyone fidget in their seat and their hair rise on end," said the trade magazine. The count loses a duel to Leo, who's sent to Africa for a few years as punishment. Meantime, his best friend, Ulrich (Lars Hanson) is asked by Leo to take care of Felicitas. He not only does that-he does more: the two fall in love and get married. When Leo returns and discovers what took place, well things get a little sticky.

The key line in the movie is when a church pastor, during a sermon, says 'When the devil cannot reach us through the spirit, he creates a woman beautiful enough to reach us through the flesh." The portrait of Felicitas fits the pastor's description of her to a tee. "Flesh and the Devil" was a pivotal movie in Garbo's career. Her performance was nearly universally praised, with one critic writing, "Audiences were mesmerized by her beauty and titillated by her love scenes with Gilbert. She was a sensation." Garbo received a tremendous bump in her salary with the box office profits rolling in. Soon, the actress' movies returned 12 per cent of all MGMs annual revenues at the height of her career, a tremendous amount for one actress.

Yes, the plot is a bit cliche but the performances certainly make up for it! Garbo, only in the early years of her career, gives an incredibly smoldering performance as the unredeemable temptress Felicitas, who snags the hapless Leo (John Gilbert) into a web of sex and lies. Look at that sly smile as she's trying on her widow's weeds -- very effective. John Gilbert, the heir of Valentino's mantle, proves that he surpassed the master lover with a believable portrayal of a man who realizes that he's way over his head but can't help himself. He does indulge in a bit of histrionics, but is very restrained compared to other silent lovers of the era. Only his performances in "The Big Parade" and "Downstairs" better this one. As Felicitas' second husband, Lars Hanson has the looks and talent to hold his own on the screen with his two incredibly dynamic co-stars. He amazed me opposite Lillian Gish in "The Wind" and "The Scarlet Letter" and it's a shame that he made so few movies in Hollywood before returning to Sweden.

Clarence Brown keeps the narrative flowing with a healthy balance of humor, drama, romance and action. MGM's stock company of character actors (William Orlamond, Polly Moran, George Fawcett and Eugenie Besserer) make an appearance and provide excellent supporting players to the three stars.

I found the Carl Davis score to be absolutely perfect for the images up on the screen, and the music when Garbo and Gilbert dance and two necking sessions reflect the raw passion. It's just stunning and I can't come up with enough words to describe it. After Buster Keaton's entire body of work, this movie ranks as my #2 favorite, tied with The Wind.

10/10

The fine cast makes this melodrama work, and turns a rather routine plot idea into a good and sometimes memorable movie. John Gilbert and Lars Hanson are a good combination as the male leads, and Greta Garbo is convincing as always, as the woman at the center of everything. Clarence Brown's direction also contains some good touches.

Gilbert and Hanson work well as the two lifelong friends who fall in love with the same woman. Gilbert's more passionate, hot-blooded character forms a believable and interesting contrast to Hanson's innocently earnest portrayal of his loyal, unsuspecting friend. Garbo's character is treated roughly at times by the story and by some of the other characters, but she more than rises to the occasion, and as she often does, she makes what could have been a stereotyped love interest into a complex and sometimes tormented character.

Barbara Kent also does well in a smaller role, and her character (the younger sister of Hanson's character) is used effectively at some important moments that help develop the main characters. Brown adds a lighter tone to a couple of sequences when suitable, and he provides a good pace. Given the fairly simple story, it might run a bit long, but otherwise it is well-crafted and effective.