The title of this movie, "Two-Faced Woman," might just as well be labeled "Two-Faced Man." Greta Garbo gets all dolled up from her outdoors skiing persona to become a New York glamor puss, all in the interest of pursuing her husband. She gets passed off as a twin sister, wherein most of the comedy of this film lies. Melvyn Douglas is her recent husband of a very short whirlwind romance on the ski slopes somewhere out West. But he has returned to the daily grind as a magazine impresario in the Big Apple. Although he fell for the attractive ski instructor hook, line and sinker, he can't tear himself away from the excitement of his big city persona. He's addicted to work, glamor and recognition.Garbo plays Karin Borg and her would-be twin sister Katherine, and Douglas plays Larry Blake. Some great laughs are provided by the supporting cast, especially Constance Bennett as Griselda Vaughn, and Roland Young as O.O. Miller.While this is an entertaining piece, it's not a very sharp or witty script. It's a weak story and the screenplay is choppy in places. It's not among the best work of either Garbo or Douglas. They had made three movies together, this being their last. The film bombed at the box office and turned out to be Garbo's last movie. She quit films and retired to New York where she became a favorite of among the jet set for many years. She never married and died in New York at age 84 in 1990. She was buried in her native Stockholm, Sweden.Garbo never won any major honors in her career, just short of 20 years. But she received several nominations including three Oscar nominations. The Academy Awards gave her an honorary award in 1954 for her unforgettable screen performances. Who could ever forget her In "Grand Hotel" (1932), "Anna Karenina" (1935), "Queen Christina" (1933) or "Camille" (1936)? And, she was the essence and embodiment of excellent comedy in "Ninotchka" of 1939. I think that may be the best satire ever put on film. Douglas was her co-star in that smashing success.Interestingly, Douglas never won an award or even received a nomination during these golden years of Hollywood. But he kept his career alive and won several awards in the 1960s to 1980, including two Oscars.A little added enjoyment is a couple of skiing scenes early and late in the film. A very good skier did some excellent stunt skiing as Douglas's character. Garbo and Douglas fans should enjoy this movie as a light sample of their comedy work. Others may find it so-so.

By no means Garbo's best film but certainly not the travesty that its reputation would lead you to believe. True the material doesn't really suit her but she gives it a game attempt and has her moments, particularly the rumba sequence. Aside from Garbo the cast is full of agile comic players chief among them Melvyn Douglas a master of debonair charm and Constance Bennett who snatches away any scene in which she appears with silky brio. Also most amusing are Roland Young in his usual fussbudget mode and an impossibly young and chic Ruth Gordon as the loyal if confused secretary.Cukor keeps the picture moving along but he doesn't display his customary light touch, something that the picture sorely could have used. The misfire of the film can be laid at his feet. A nice inoffensive picture and one that if she had continued to act would have been swiftly forgotten as many of her lesser dramas were but an unfortunate endcap to Garbo's film career.

Two-Faced Woman (1941) ** 1/2 (out of 4) At the age of 36 screen legend Greta Garbo made this MGM comedy, which tried to take her out of the costume drama and place her into a present time comedy. The results were a disaster when the film was first released and depending on which myth you believe, the bad reaction caused Garbo to retire. I've heard a lot of bad things about this film but in the end it isn't nearly as bad as its reputation. In the film Garbo plays a ski instructor who ends up marrying a man (Melvyn Douglas) after a few hours. Later that night he demands she follow him to NYC but she refuses. As time goes on the husband stays away but Garbo decides to go after him only pretending to be her vamp twin sister. This certainly isn't the greatest comedy ever made but it's not nearly as bad as some would make you believe. Yes, Garbo certainly isn't herself here but I really don't see that as a bad thing because seeing her like this is at least interesting. Seeing her smile, act drunk, playing love able and this type of thing isn't exactly what she's known for but I found her act to be quite charming even if that thick accent came off not working too well here. She also struggles during a few scenes but you can't deny that she's giving it her all as she works her way through the material. Douglas manages to be quite pleasant and ends up delivering a fine comic performance. Supporting players Constance Bennett, Roland Young and Robert Sterling turn in some fine work as well. Another plus was some of the subject matter, which certainly wasn't seen in too many films after the Hayes Office went into effect seven years earlier. The stuff is hidden behind the "marriage" but it's still fairly risqué for its time. Apparently the version currently being shown is the "cut" version missing four minutes and alternating one of the subplots. Either way, this film is a minor entertainment but those expecting something great should probably stick to Garbo's earlier films.

This turned out to be Greta Garbo's last film, and in this light it could be said that her career did not end on a particularly good note. While this isn't a bad film, it's also pretty forgettable other than the fact that you get to see the Swedish vamp play a very unusual role where she smiles, does comedy and occasionally acts "kooky". I really don't think the movie's mediocrity is mostly the blame of Ms. Garbo, but the silliness and banality of the plot. In many ways the film seemed more like an episode of The Flintstones than a big budget film starring a Hollywood "heavyweight". If you don't believe me, just read a bit more about the plot: Workaholic Melvin Douglas is on vacation and meets ski instructor(!) Garbo. He is instantly smitten and very soon afterward they are married. However, instead of settling down to the simple life Douglas promised, he races back to the big city and his wild life--leaving Garbo behind--supposedly just for a week or so. The weeks become months and eventually Garbo heads to New York--only to find him paying way too much attention to another woman. So, given this situation, Garbo does what any normal woman would do--pretend to be her own twin sister who is wild and crazy and try to vamp Douglas herself! It is pretty funny watching all this (in particular, Garbo doing a crazy dance number when she gets drunk), but it's also pretty stupid and 100% ridiculous. For such a high-profile woman with a reputation for elegance, boy is this movie a HUGE departure--probably too much of a departure--that is why the public was less than impressed with this film.By the way, by the time this film was made, Garbo was getting pretty old to be playing such roles. In one scene in particular when she first arrived in New York, her hairstyle can only be described as horrid--looking almost like a hairstyle I'd expect to see on Una O'Conner in a Frankenstein movie. How the hairstylist chose THIS hideous and matronly style is beyond me.