NOTES: Despite his rave review in The New York Times, in which he commented upon Brown's "admirable artistry" and the film's "distinguished cast" ("Miss Garbo is undeniably alluring"), Mordaunt Hall did not find a place for the movie in either his "Top Ten" or his supplementary list. His fellow critics, however, were not so neglectful. In the annual Film Daily poll of 280 movie reviewers, Flesh and the Devil came in at 10th position. The movie also scored big at the boxoffice. COMMENT: A fascinating and completely engrossing film noir, one of the top pictures in the genre, Flesh and the Devil rivets the viewer's attention from the very opening shot and never lets it go until the end title. Encouraged by Brown's inventive direction, ace cameraman William Daniels has a field day with noirish lighting and atmospheric effects. Great emphasis is placed upon darkness with some scenes so brilliantly lit, it's just possible to make out the players. Not that they have anything to complain about. Garbo not only looks great (Daniels, in fact, was her favorite cameraman) but gives a vibrant, smouldering performance that almost literally sets the screen on fire. More than one critic has even gone so far as to say that Garbo and Daniels walk away with the movie. That's not strictly true because Brown's sensitive direction also deserves a bouquet, and Gilbert's portrayal of the tortured hero is nothing short of compelling. He is more than adequately supported by Lars Hanson (a little inclined to over-act) and given solid competition by the ever-reliable Eugenie Besserer and particularly by Barbara Kent (her second of thirty-five movies) who most convincingly matures from sixteen to nineteen in the course of the story. George Fawcett also deserves a nod for his rounded portrait of the pastor who is not averse to brandy and cigars. As might be expected from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, production values are nothing short of lavish. But not escapist lavish. Most realistically lavish. Sets and costumes are breathtaking, but always appropriately in character. A final compliment to Marian Ainslee whose dialogue titles are not only literate and pithy, but seem so completely natural they neither interrupt the flow of the story nor divert the viewer's attention from the tragedy that so engrossingly unfolds on the screen.

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.

Every so often, I treat myself to a silent film, and what impressed me so much about this one is how well it stands up over time. I also rediscovered a younger Garbo, in the prime of her life and sexual powers. AND THOSE EYES!! They were absolutely mesmerizing, just the thing to lure to young men into more, shall we say, heightened responses. Without the aid of sound, they were like two simmering volcanoes, just the thing for this combination love story and moral exploration on the enduring bonds of friendship. It certainly helped that both she and John Gilbert were having a similarly torrid love affair the at time. This was a fantastic production, and as one reviewer noted, it would make a fabulous remake in the right hands. On a strictly technical note, I just learned from a film historian friend, Dr. Richard Brown of NYU, that the reason old silent films all that that "herky-jerky" look to them is because "back in the day" these movies were operated at much slower, hand-cranked camera speeds, but when saved on modern celluloid, they have a "speeded up" effect due to the numbers of frames per second. The older the film, the worse the effect. Interesting factoid.

"Garbo multiplied the cinema's power of suggestion to infinity, and the gaze so deep that every spectator there found what he soughtshe spoke a different language to every man" Ado Kyrou, 1957FLESH AND THE DEVIL (1926), the first film that the director Clarence Brown made with "an immigrant actress" who Greta Garbo had been before its premiere occurred to be one of the very best films for its time. People flocked to see it, Garbo became so eminent that she could almost dictate the terms in film industry, her relationship with John Gilbert turned out to be no baseless gossip. However, since then, 80 years have passed, not many people know how important the premiere of the film was, how historic it turned out to be in Garbo's career. Yet, it seems never to be fading since there are STILL many people who watch this film in its recent DVD release. Let us look at some aspects that make it a real classic, not only for its time, but for the general history of cinema.THE CINEMATOGRAPHY by William H. Daniels is magnificent. Probably, anyone who has seen the film will never forget its most famous lighting effect when Gilbert lightens Garbo's cigarette in the shadowy garden. Another stunning moment is the scene of Leo Von Harden and Count Von Rhaden's duel. It is played in silhouette against the vast sky and, as a result, we can see not so much people but rather their shadows. An excellent moment that remains in memory is the waltz of Felicitas and Leo on the ball at Stoltenhof. The scene is filmed so memorably that it is hard to be skipped. Yet, the image of the "Isle of Friendship" where two best friends swore eternal loyalty as children and then went to fight in a duel is presented in an unforgettable way. Such pictures never fade in memory.THE CAST are very talented, real elite of the time. GRETA GARBO and JOHN GILBERT: Gilbert, who was Hollywood's leading man after the death of Rudolph Valentino, does a great job here as Leo Von Harden. His love to Felicitas (and to Garbo in real life) is so natural that everybody will get an impression that it is real what they can find on the screen. The love scenes between the two are particularly natural, hardly to be found elsewhere in films! If there is chemistry between the stars in a film, it is, without any doubt, in FLESH AND THE DEVIL. Greta Garbo performs so well that no wonder people saw her (many for the first time) and very soon started to admire her as an actress. She is excellent in the role and her acting still does not appear to be dated whatsoever! The whole of Garbo's sequence is marvelous but if I were to choose which scenes are particularly memorable, I would pay attention to two brilliant moments: first, the one at the train station when Leo and Felicitas meet for the first time and Leo picks the flowers that fell onto the ground and gives them to her, and, second, the moment when Leo and Ulrich, two lifelong friends, go to fight in a duel. Viewer's attention is directed towards Hertha, Ulrich's virtuous sister. She does her best to persuade Felicitas to take steps to stop this madness that a duel between two best friends appeared to be. How beautifully Garbo shows a change of heart... I admit that I have never seen such a performance before! Therefore, the words by Kyrou about Garbo, entailed at the beginning of my review, appear to accurately fit here. OTHER CAST: Besides Garbo and Gilbert, there is a great Swedish actor, Lars Hanson, with whom Garbo played in one film before FLESH AND THE DEVIL (this was Mauritz Stiller's THE SAGA OF GOSTA BERLING). He is memorable as Ulrich, particularly in the final sequence when friendship occurs to be, indeed, sacred. The fabulous acting of the three (Garbo, Gilbert and Hanson) is expressed in a brilliant scene of the three meeting after Leo's return from Africa and drinking a toast. Other cast give very good performances, too, including Barbara Kent as Hertha and Marc Mc Dermott as Count Von Rhaden.OTHER MEMORABLE MOMENTS include a number of humorous scenes that are, in no way, dated. It is important to state that many silent films may seem "silly" because today's viewers laugh at the scenes that were not supposed to be funny. It is caused by the challenge in people's sense of humor. However, it does not appear to be in FLESH AND THE DEVIL. Humor is retained and still serves its purpose. Consider the pastor seeing twins and believing to be drunk (he sees one girl in double). Or the final shot ... "You won't bid me goodbye?"FLESH AND THE DEVIL is a film that I would recommend to anyone to see. It is a real classic and, in this regard, it may be considered similar to other classics of the time, like SUNRISE (1927), BEN HUR (1925) and THE LAST LAUGH (1924). But there are three more aspects about it that make the movie a must see - William H. Daniels' cinematography, Clarence Brown's direction and Greta Garbo's magnificent silent performance together with her alluring beauty. See it so that the film can last forever in your most beautiful memories. 9/10!