Garbo: The Signature Collection

It's probably very hard for young movie fans to imagine what earlier generations saw in this alluring but enigmatic Swedish-born star of the silent and early sound eras. Greta Garbo was a striking woman and an effective actress, but even at her warmest and most outgoing she seemed remote and inaccessible. Although the husky-voiced ice queen's appeal was lost on some working-class Depression-era audiences, she was still a huge favorite of more sophisticated moviegoers, and her home studio, MGM, lavished great care on her glossy star vehicles. Warner Home Video has collected the best of them in this boxed set, which also includes a perceptive documentary on the legendary, reclusive actress. The films are three Garbo silents collected together—The Temptress (1926), Flesh and the Devil (1927), and The Mysterious Lady (1928)—as well as Anna Christie (1930), Grand Hotel (1932), Mata Hari (1932), Queen Christina (1933), Anna Karenina (1935), Camille (1936), and Ninotchka (1939). Although each make for worthwhile viewing for fans of classic Hollywood drama, the bona fide standouts are Clarence Brown's Flesh and the Devil, in which slinky seductress Garbo comes between old friends John Gilbert and Lars Hanson; Edmund Goulding's Grand Hotel, an all-star offering in which she plays a lonely ballerina in a luxurious Berlin hostelry; Rouben Mamoulian's Queen Christina, a beautifully filmed period drama that re-teams Garbo with matinee idol (and former off-screen lover) Gilbert; and Billy Wilder's Ninotchka, which attempted—too late—to soften Garbo's image by casting her as a cold, efficient Soviet functionary who warms up considerably after being exposed to happy-go-lucky playboy Melvyn Douglas in romantic Paris. For the most part, the DVD transfers here are very good, and in addition to the excellent new TCM feature-length documentary profile Garbo, narrated by Julie Christie, bonus features include commentaries and featurettes on the Garbo silents discs; the 1921 silent version of Camille (starring Rudolph Valentino) on Camille; and a new 12-minute “making-of” featurette, premiere newsreel footage, and the 19-minute parody short “Nothing Ever Happens” on Grand Hotel. Highly recommended. (E. Hulse)