The Lady of the Camellias (1936)

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Movie
German title The lady of the camellias
Original title Camille
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1936
length 108 minutes
Rod
Director George Cukor
script Zoë Akins ,
Frances Marion ,
James Hilton
production Irving Thalberg for MGM
music Herbert Stothart
camera William H. Daniels
cut Margaret Booth
occupation

The Lady of the Camellias (original title: Camille ) is an American film by George Cukor from 1936 with Greta Garbo . The film is based on the play The Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas .

action

Marguerite Gautier is one of the most famous courtesans of Paris around 1850. One day at the opera she met the young diplomat Armand Duval, whom Marguerite initially believed to be the fabulously wealthy Baron de Varville. They both fall in love. Marguerite begins a relationship with Armand, but soon finds herself in financial distress. Her previous lifestyle is also not likely to win Armand's family over. His father speaks to her seriously and urges the desperate young woman to give up Armand out of love. Marguerite, who suffers from tuberculosis, renounces her lover and returns to Paris, where her strength is rapidly dwindling. Totally impoverished and abandoned by all friends, she ends up dying in the arms of Armand.

background

Since its premiere, the Lady of the Camellias has been one of the most popular prestige appearances of any respected stage actress. Sarah Bernhardt and Eleonora Duse celebrated triumphs with the play and the first film adaptations were made with the beginnings of cinema at the end of the 19th century. Greta Garbo knew the content very well from her days at drama school in Sweden and absolutely wanted to play the role of Marguerite Gautier. Negotiations about the adaptation began in 1935 and for a long time it was not entirely clear whether sheshould play Maria Walewska or Die Kamelliendame first . Finally, in the fall of 1936 filming began under the supervision of Irving Thalberg , whose health deteriorated during the work and who died unexpectedly on September 14, 1936. In contrast to most of the actress's other films, the cast was made up of good actors right down to the supporting roles. Even the choice of Robert Taylor , who took on the thankless part of Armand, was logical for the studio, as he had become one of the most popular male actors in Hollywood in recent months and his appearance next to Garbo would attract additional crowds. For the first and only time since 1927, Garbo allowed the sets, the filming locations, to be freely accessible and not, as is usually the case, blocked off for unauthorized persons with gazebos and partitions.

Two scenes are particularly well known. In the first third of the plot Marguerite has the Baron de Varville as a guest and is sitting with him at the piano when suddenly Armand stands at the front door and rings the doorbell. Marguerite lies to the baron in such a way that she doesn't know who is at the door. He knows or suspects the truth, however, and both torture their way through the dialogue with strained smiles, which reaches its furious musical and emotional climax when the baron plays a disturbing piano piece. Quite a few critics claim that this was by far the best performance by Greta Garbo. At the very end, in the death scene, the actress opens her eyes for fractions of a second before she dies, which gives the action an emotional boost.

Awards

Academy Awards 1937

New York Film Critics Awards 1937

The film was also selected in the 2005 Time selection of the best 100 films from 1923 to 2005 .

Theatrical release

With a production cost of $ 1,154,000, the film was roughly in the range of an A production. It was a huge hit at the box office and grossed $ 1,154,000 in the US, a good third more than Anna Karenina from the previous year. Internationally, the film's revenues were US $ 1,688,000, making The Lady of the Camellias the most successful Greta Garbo film ever with a total result of US $ 2,842,000. The profit, however, was just under $ 388,000.

criticism

The reviews have been full of praise for Greta Garbo and her subtle portrayal. Frank S. Nugent in the New York Times put it in a nutshell:

“After more than 50 years, The Lady of the Camellias has become less of a piece than an institution. Just as Hamlet is the measure of all things for a great actor, Dumas Son's play is the ultimate test for a dramatic actress. Greta Garbo's portrayal is in the best tradition: richly shaded, tragic and yet reserved. She is just as incomparable in the role as it was before her after the stories that Bernardt was. Thanks to her perfect acting skills, the already worn-out subject is reinterpreted, fascinatingly sad and touchingly tragic. [...] Miss Garbo has interpreted her Marguerite Gautier with the subtlety that has earned her the title 'First Lady of the Screen'. "

The evangelical film observer comes to a rather ambivalent judgment :

"The [...] tragic and at times sentimental love story is shaped in a reasonably believable manner by the acting power of Greta Garbo and her partner, sometimes even convincingly human."

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Having passed its fiftieth anniversary, Camille is less a play than an institution. Just as Hamlet is the measure of the great actor, so has the Dumas fils' classic become the ultimate test of the dramatic actress. Greta Garbo's performance […] is in the finest tradition: eloquent, tragic, yet restrained. She is as incomparable in the role as legend tells us that Bernhardt was. Through the perfect artistry of her portrayal, a hackneyed theme is made new again, poignantly sad, hauntingly lovely. [...] Miss Garbo has interpreted Marguerite Gautier with the subtlety that has earned for her the title, 'first lady of the screen'.
  2. ↑ Evangelical Press Association, Munich, Review No. 144/1952.