A masterpiece, Greta at her luminous best. One can't stop being mesmerised by her perfectly chiseled face. The Dumas classic is a perfect vehicle for Garbo.

Yikes. the Hollywood names don't get much bigger than this. Greta Garbo, at 31, Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore. and one of my favorites from the oldies.. .Jessie Ralph, who made those films with W.C. Fields. Margeurite (Garbo) meets two men at the opera, Duval (Taylor) and the Baron (Henry Daniell). Duval pursues her, but she is getting more and more ill, and spending all her time with the Baron. Her maid (Jessie Ralph), and her friend (Laura Crews) keep an eye on her in supporting roles. Written by Dumas, it's quite similar to Moulin Rouge, but that was a novel written by Pierre LaMure. Both stories are about a tug of war, where the girl can't decide between the rich Baron and the common guy. Lots of scheming, and talk about the proper thing to do. This one turns into a love story, with some humor and tragedy, sacrifice. again, similar to Moulin Rouge. It's quite good, although quite dated story-line. Lots of old fashioned themes, that would never fly today. But a good story of it's time.Directed by George Cukor, who will get an Oscar for My Fair Lady. Garbo only made a couple more films after this one. Unfortunately, Conquest and Two Faced Woman were both big failures, which is probably why she didn't make more films.

Camille (1936)This melodramatic tale of true life in the face of the strictures of social reality is tried and true. You feel for both the male lead (Robert Taylor, who is quite good) and the female (Grate Garbo, of course, who is excellent). That's the whole point. These are two people who are not quite appropriate because they come from different social levels, but there is a sense they could make it work if they wanted to.But outside forces get in the way. Chief among them is the man's father, who wants to save his son from a marriage that will ruin both husband and wife. This is a key role in the film, and a critical if brief 10 minutes or so. The father is played, importantly, by Lionel Barrymore, who does little else int he movie. But here he makes his case to the Garbo with amazing force. It's a great scene, even if you wish Garbo would leap up and say, no, no, I'm going to follow my heart.But exactly what happens is what the movie is about. The rules of the culture of the time (1800s France) prevent an honest sense of two people marrying out of simple love for one another. In a way, that's the whole point of continuing the old Dumas story, which has resonated for decades into the Hollywood era. I'm not sure it would work now, except as an historical drama. This is set in the period (around 1850) and feels legit. Unlike the curious (and not bad) 1921 silent version, which sets it in a 1920s culture, this one transports us back to the original. Fair enough! There is a contrived quality to the plot, for sure, partly because of its origins. While this doesn't ruin the whole enterprise, there is a slight feeling of being led along the whole time. Garbo and Taylor are both terrific, however, and we feel some honesty to their feelings for one another. It's on that basis that the movie works. And it really does, even through the over the top drama in the last scene. Moving and beautiful overall.

CAMILLE (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1936-37), directed by George Cukor, stars Greta Garbo in what many consider to be her most perfect movie role. Taken from the play and novel "La Dame Aux Camellias" by Alexandre Dumas Files, which was filmed several times during the silent movie era (1915, 1917, 1921 and 1927), this retelling turns out to be one for which Garbo is most famous next to the rising young co-star, Robert Taylor, with the honor of having his name placed above the title under Garbo in the opening credits.Opening title: "1847 - In the gay half-world of Paris, the gentlemen of the day met the girls of the moment at certain theaters, balls and gambling clubs, where the code was discretion -- but their game was romance. This is the story of one of those pretty creatures who lived on the quicksand of popularity - Marguerite Gautier - who brightens her wit with champagne and sometimes her eye with tears." The story begins with Marguerite Gautier (Greta Garbo), a fun-loving Parisian courtesan, buying camellias from a flower woman before entering the theater with her elderly neighbor, Prudence (Laura Hope Crews). Because Marguerite is still single, Prudence has arranged a meeting between her and Baron De Varville (Henry Danielle), the richest man of Paris. While seated in the balcony during the performance of the can-can girls dancing on stage, Marguerite, gazing through her binoculars, captures the attention below of Armand Duval (Robert Taylor), whom she mistakes for the Baron. While Marguerite acquaints herself with Armand, De Varville meets with Olympe (Lenore Ulric), in a box seat initially intended for Marguerite. When the mistakes are finally realized, Marguerite and Armand part company. During the passage of time, Marguerite becomes the Baron's mistress, using his finances to help pay for her debts. Later while at an auction, Marguerite meets Armand once again, this time discovering they are meant for each other. Because of her ill health with tuberculosis, Armand takes her to the country to recover, where romance blossoms. During Armand's brief absence, his father (Lionel Barrymore) appears to see the sort of woman his son wants to marry and decide whether she's right for him or not.A worthy follow-up to Garbo's previous classic literary title heroin of Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" (MGM, 1935). Though customary at the time where studios basically reuse the same supporting players in one film after another for box-office assurance, MGM didn't make any attempt recalling those notable players from "Anna Karenina" as Basil Rathbone to play the Baron; Maureen O'Sullivan (Nichette) and May Robson playing Marguerite's loyal nurse and friend, Nanine, to appear on CAMILLE. How different the film might have become without the final choices of Henry Daniell, Elizabeth Allan and Laura Hope Crews. The strongest of this trio happens to be that of Henry Daniell, whose face and mannerisms are enough to bring shivers up and down one's spine. Because of this, his performance is as perfect as Garbo's. Their most classic scene together comes as the Baron surprises Marguerite by his unexpected presence, and preventing her from seeing her lover by playing the piano concerto louder and louder to drown out the bell ringing sounds outside the door, causing Marguerite, wanting desperately to be with the man she loves, to stand alongside the piano laughing, pretending to be entertained as she holds in her true emotion of despair. This scene along is evidence as to what a remarkable actress Garbo is and why CAMILLE is often sited to be her best work. While Jessie Ralph provides her usual acting chores of a caring nurse, it's interesting how Elizabeth Allan, having enacted a major part in the lavish screen adaptation to Charles Dickens' literary work of A TALE OF TWO CITIES (MGM, 1935), to have her character of Nichette, Marguerite's closest and dearest friend in Paris, to be surprisingly short, consisting of two brief scenes lasting no more than two minutes.CAMILLE should go on record of being one of the few Garbo movies where she appears in the very first scene rather than the traditional long-awaited ten to 15 minute star entrance. Carrying the role for nearly 114 minutes, CAMILLE is Garbo's show from start to finish. Even when she's off screen, it's still about her. Garbo may have lost her Academy Award nomination as Best Actress for her performance, but it's this type of sacrificing heroine, which she has played several times before, plus George Cukor's masterful direction, Herbert Stothart's haunting musical score, and the set decoration's recreation of 19th century Paris that has maintained its success over the years. Not only has CAMILLE become a perennial favorite on broadcast television's late show during the sixties, seventies and eighties, it's also enjoyed great popularity in New York City revival movie houses around that same time as well. It's hard to forget watching and hearing attendees, young and old alike, applauding the moment Garbo's face first appears on screen. Available to video cassette and later DVD format, CAMILLE and the legend of Garbo continues to entertain a new generation of movie lovers and film historians whenever it appears on Turner Classic Movies cable channel. (***1/2).