I've still got to see Flesh and the Devil (and a few others), but I've seen Queen Christina and Ninotchka and Grand Hotel....and really, Garbo is the only classic film actress I find really interesting, much less with any possibility of affinity.
Do you know, btw, that she was very interested in the idea of playing Dorian Gray? *That* would have definitely been a movie worth seeing....
I caught the tale end of Flesh just as I was settling in at work. After that, there was a documentary, followed by Mysterious Lady, The Temptress, and A Woman of Affairs. All in all an enjoyable evening, though it's impossible to take in a silent film and check your e-mail simultaneously, so things piled up a bit... *shrugs* C'est la vie, Garbo's worth it. Camille is also a good one, plus the ones you mentioned (though I've only seen parts of Grand Hotel--they always seem to play it right before I get in for the night, or just as I'm leaving! *shakes fist at the Fates*). The moment in Queen Christina where she states that she won't die and old maid, "I shall die a bachelor!" is, IMHO, one of the greatest moments in black- and-white film. I understand that she dearly loved to play with gender roles, and often referred to herself in the masculine, so it doesn't surprise me in the least that she wanted to play Dorian Gray. (And yes, it cerainly would've been something!) Garbo is my favorite. Aside from her, I liked Jean Harlow in Red Dust though that's all I've managed to catch of hers, and I've enjoyed films starring either of the Hepburns. I've read things that make me curious about Shearer's pre-code films, though I've only caught one thus far. (A Free Soul--not bad, but not Garbo.)
"I shall die a bachelor!" is a great line and one I remember fondly as well....so is one of Ninotchka's openers: "Don't make an issue of my womanhood."
Or, transphonated and deeply resonant, "Dawn't make ahn eeshue awff my voomahnhood."
Yeah....the only actress I've ever bothered reading whole biographies of, apart from Sarah Bernhardt (and she played Hamlet, so there's more for the genderbending, lol). Definitely the only one I've read *multiple* bios and articles on.
And now I must confess, I only recently heard the song "Everything Old Is New Again", and the line in there ("But leave Greta Garbo alone,/ Be a movie star on your own") did hit me rather hard, precisely because she's the only film diva that I found worth my curiosity and sympathy. Marlene Dietrich has some fine deviant moments, but since it was all part of a general style of "decadence" it didn't have the same effect as Garbo's very...honest characterizations. She always impresses as someone you'd like to get to know better.
Don't even start on the "Sunset Boulevard" jokes...lol. Or the "Cabaret" ones, for that matter...chances are I'll get there half a block before you and rig the allusions myself, making punch and selling tickets in the foyer...>:)
On the other hand...*gestures grandiosely*...go right ahead....
"Everything Old Is New Again" You're one up on me; I haven't heard it at all. I've read the synopsis for Boy from Oz, though, and it sounds like something worth seeing. I'm afraid that both Sunset Boulevard and Cabaret seem to have fallen under the Curse of Grand Hotel, so I haven't seen enough of either of them to make jokes. They're all films I've been wanting to see, so I think I'm going to wind up going out and renting the three of them--preferably before the end of October. ;-P
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2005-09-07 08:04 pm (UTC)Do you know, btw, that she was very interested in the idea of playing Dorian Gray? *That* would have definitely been a movie worth seeing....
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Date: 2005-09-08 05:38 am (UTC)Camille is also a good one, plus the ones you mentioned (though I've only seen parts of Grand Hotel--they always seem to play it right before I get in for the night, or just as I'm leaving! *shakes fist at the Fates*). The moment in Queen Christina where she states that she won't die and old maid, "I shall die a bachelor!" is, IMHO, one of the greatest moments in black- and-white film.
I understand that she dearly loved to play with gender roles, and often referred to herself in the masculine, so it doesn't surprise me in the least that she wanted to play Dorian Gray. (And yes, it cerainly would've been something!)
Garbo is my favorite.
Aside from her, I liked Jean Harlow in Red Dust though that's all I've managed to catch of hers, and I've enjoyed films starring either of the Hepburns. I've read things that make me curious about Shearer's pre-code films, though I've only caught one thus far. (A Free Soul--not bad, but not Garbo.)
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Date: 2005-09-08 09:13 am (UTC)Or, transphonated and deeply resonant, "Dawn't make ahn eeshue awff my voomahnhood."
Yeah....the only actress I've ever bothered reading whole biographies of, apart from Sarah Bernhardt (and she played Hamlet, so there's more for the genderbending, lol). Definitely the only one I've read *multiple* bios and articles on.
And now I must confess, I only recently heard the song "Everything Old Is New Again", and the line in there ("But leave Greta Garbo alone,/ Be a movie star on your own") did hit me rather hard, precisely because she's the only film diva that I found worth my curiosity and sympathy. Marlene Dietrich has some fine deviant moments, but since it was all part of a general style of "decadence" it didn't have the same effect as Garbo's very...honest characterizations. She always impresses as someone you'd like to get to know better.
Don't even start on the "Sunset Boulevard" jokes...lol. Or the "Cabaret" ones, for that matter...chances are I'll get there half a block before you and rig the allusions myself, making punch and selling tickets in the foyer...>:)
On the other hand...*gestures grandiosely*...go right ahead....
no subject
Date: 2005-09-08 10:12 am (UTC)You're one up on me; I haven't heard it at all. I've read the synopsis for Boy from Oz, though, and it sounds like something worth seeing.
I'm afraid that both Sunset Boulevard and Cabaret seem to have fallen under the Curse of Grand Hotel, so I haven't seen enough of either of them to make jokes.
They're all films I've been wanting to see, so I think I'm going to wind up going out and renting the three of them--preferably before the end of October. ;-P