The divine woman
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The divine woman |
| Original title | The Divine Woman |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1928 |
| length | 80 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Victor Sjöström |
| script | Dorothy Farnum |
| production | MGM |
| camera | Oliver T. Marsh |
| cut | Conrad A. Annoying |
| occupation | |
| |
The Divine Woman (OT: The Divine Woman ) is an American film by Victor Sjöström and the only collaboration with his compatriot Greta Garbo . The film, loosely based on the career of Sarah Bernhardt is based, was first performed on 14 January 1928th There is only a ten-minute fragment left.
action
Marianne, the daughter of a well-known actress, was brought to a farm near Paris as a child. After a few years the mother takes her daughter to her home. On this occasion, the mother's current lover, M. Legrande, tries to seduce the naive Marianne. The girl defends herself desperately and knocks Legrande down. Believing to have killed the man, Marianne flees Paris in a panic. On her escape she meets the soldier Lucien and they both fall in love. Lucien found Marianne accommodation with her friend, Madame Pigonier, and shortly afterwards left with his regiment. One day Marianne meets Legrande again, who is fascinated by her beauty. He promises her a great career on stage and Marianne becomes his lover out of gratitude. Lucien is now deserting to see Marianne again. He is arrested and imprisoned. Fortunately, he meets Marianne again, who is now a celebrated theater star, confesses his love to her and at the end of the somewhat complicated further actions, both live happily but poorly in South America.
background
Since 1926 Greta Garbo was in the studio hierarchy of MGM become a major star. After a successful seven month strike for more money and, where possible, better roles, the studio tried hard to be considerate of their wants and needs. In this respect, it was a gesture of goodwill when the actress in The Divine Woman was not only joined by Lars Hanson, a Swedish leading actor whom she already knew from the filming of Gösta Berling . Victor Sjöström was also one of the best and closest friends of Garbo's disgraced mentor Mauritz Stiller . Sjöström, who had come to the USA a little earlier as Stiller and had changed his surname there to Seastrom , which is easier to pronounce for Americans , was more balanced in character and character than Stiller and was therefore able to make a successful career as a director at MGM. The shooting of The Divine Woman proceeded in great harmony, according to all that is known. For the first time, Garbo played a really likeable woman and not a femme fatale who dragged men into misery. However, the script was rather banal and the finished result was an artistic disappointment for everyone involved. The film was thought to be lost for a long time, but intensive research in the early 1990s led to the retrieval of a film reel in a Moscow film archive. Shortly afterwards, the fragment was shown at the New York Film Institute with a high level of journalistic effort that was not entirely in line with its actual artistic value.
Theatrical release
At $ 267,000, production costs were well below the average for a Garbofilm. The low production value could be due to the fact that it was the actress' first solo film and the studio didn't want to take unnecessary risks. Box office earnings were a solid $ 541,000 in the US, with an additional $ 390,000 coming from overseas markets. A cumulative total result of 931,000 US dollars was higher than with simultaneous films by John Gilbert such as Four Walls , Twelve Miles Out or William Haines , e.g. B. Spring Fever . The profit was $ 354,000. With this, Greta Garbo had proven that she was able to make a film a success even without popular co-stars.
Reviews
Most of the critics didn't like the film and found the script to be mundane. The assessments of the portrayal of Greta Garbo were also quite different. Among the few positive reviews was the one in the New York Herald Tribune magazine :
“Many have claimed that Miss Garbo doesn't actually act, but is just a beautiful woman with a strong charisma. However, anyone who has seen her as Marianne in this new MGM film will never make that claim again. [..] All in all, we can't remember two such excellent performances in the film as those offered by these two Swedish actors. "
Web links
- Background information and links to numerous screenshots
- The divine woman in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Footnotes
- ↑ Many [..] have stated that Miss Garbo did not act, however, that she was only a beautiful woman with a strong appeal. After seeing her play Marianne in this new Metro-Goldwyn picture, no one ever again could say that. [..] Still we cannot for the moment think of any two performances as fine as these offered by a Swedish actress and a Swedish actor.