Greta Garbo.. Timeless…

Greta… Garbo‘s…

Mystique…

Magnetism…

Mesmerised me… forever…

I found… her presence…

Enigmatic… electrifying…

Timeless…

Her wish… to be…

“Left.. alone“…

Illusive…

Awesome…

She fascinated me… then…

She fascinates me… still…

Greta Lovisa Gustafsson… was born in Sweden… an actress who became an international star.. an icon.. during the Twenties (silent films) and Thirties..

She was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress and received an honorary award for her “luminous and unforgettable screen performances“… was also ranked in 1999 as one of “the greatest female stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema” by the American Film Institute.

Garbo launched her career in Hollywood in the 1925 silent film “Flesh and the Devil“.. with her leading man and lover John Gilbert.. in which she gave “the most erotic performance that Hollywood had ever seen“.

Pierre de Rohan added.. “she has a glamour and fascination for both sexes which has never been equalled on the screen“…

She… was…

A… sensation…

Garbo‘s “subtlety of expression and naturalism“.. catapulted her into an iconic status and the biggest star of the next decade.. “en plus“.. was hailed a cinematic legend.

At the peak of her popularity.. she was a “virtual cult figure“.

Watching her films every night for the past month on the TCM channel.. I’ve been spell-bound by Garbo.. all over again…

Not only was she once described as the most beautiful woman who ever lived.. she could act divinely.  Her co-star Rex O’Malley said.. “she doesn’t act.. she lives her roles“.

Of her underplaying and subtlety in delivering her roles.. the director George Sidney added.. “you could call it underplaying, but in underplaying she overplayed everyone else.”

Few of Garbo‘s twenty-four Hollywood films were artistically outstanding according to critics.. however her impossibly “magnetic and commanding performances overcame the weaknesses of plot and dialogue“.. given that “all moviegoers demanded of a Garbo production was.. Greta Garbo.”

Her “Anna Karenina” was.. entrancing…

Her “Camille“.. enchanting…

“Ninotchka.. delightful.

In her World War I role as a German spy in “Mata Hari“.. she was seductive.

In “Queen Christina” Garbo was.. magnificent.

However uncharacteristically.. her role in George Cukor‘s film “Two Faced Woman” was a disaster.. a complete let-down.  Garbo was not the Garbo who fascinated.. entranced.  In this role.. she overplayed the character to death.

Not surprisingly she referred to the film as.. “my grave“…

Sadly… tragically…

It… was…

She was only thirty six years old.. ambivalent.. indecisive.. fearful and worried about her age.  She tellingly said “time leaves traces on our small faces and bodies.. its not the same any more, being able to pull it off.”

The Great Greta Garbo.. drifted into the private life where she uttered her beguiling famous words… “I want to be.. alone“.

She struggled with her lifelong melancholy.. and depression.  Approaching her 60th birthday.. she expressed her feelings.. “In a few days it will be the anniversary of the sorrow that never leaves me, that will never leave me for the rest of my life.”

However.. she was an avid and passionate Art collector.. her home in New York was filled with paintings by Renoir.. Kandinsky.. Bonnard.. Jawlensky.. and Rouault.  Collectively.. they were worth millions.

Greta… Garbo…

Unique…

Legendary…

“La.. divine“…

There… will…

Never… be…

Another…

Garbo…

a.