Leading Couples: Garbo and Gilbert

As I promised in my review of the new book Leading Couples, I watched the silent classic Flesh and the Devil (1926) to explore my fascination with Greta Garbo and John Gilbert. The story is about two friends, Leo (Gilbert) and Ulrich, whose friendship is bound by blood with a ritual they performed as children on the Isle of Friendship. When Felicitas (Garbo), a temptress, falls in love with Leo, he is forced into a duel by her husband. Sent off to Africa, Ulrich takes care of Felicitas and marries her, not knowing Leo's previous romantic attachment to her. The triangle becomes a square as Ulrich's little sister, Hertha, is hopelessly in love with Leo. Can Leo and Ulrich's friendship survive Felicitas' temptations?

The love shared between the two men is so intense it borders on the homoerotic. Their love rivals that they share for Felicitas. It's quite interesting. Passion, in many forms, is the driving force of the story as well as the characters. Also, Gilbert and Garbo had such great chemistry that the screen seems to light up when they are together. They had a real-life romance on and off throughout the years they knew each other.

Two Moments of Eletricity

1) A cigarette in the garden.

Leo (Gilbert) says to Felicitas (Garbo) "You know... when you blow out the match... that's an invitation to kiss you." WOW! If only I could use that line in real life (any guys out there with matches handy?). Cigarettes are so symbolic in classic movies. They are one of the most important tools to show sexual attraction. And this scene is a great example of that.

2) The Den of Sin

Felicitas lures Leo into her "den of sin", as I like to call it. It's basically the bedroom in the home that she and her husband share. Here, hidden from the rest of the world, they proceed to be all up on each other. The scene is so long and it lingers on each kiss that the passion elevates to a sort of heightened eroticism. Hot!

Interesting Facts about Garbo & Gilbert from Leading Couples

1) Garbo never married. The one time she came close was when she left Gilbert at the altar. This may or may not be a rumor. Garbo fans, please let me know!

2) Garbo was a notoriously shy hermit. Gilbert was the only person who go her to come to a film premiere, Bardelys and the Magnificent (1926), and smile for the camera.

3) Garbo helped Gilbert get a talkie role when his star was falling. She insisted he be cast opposite her in Queen Christina (1934).

4) Gilbert alowed Garbo to share billing above the title in Flesh and the Devil (1926) (see above image), even though he could have sole billing.

5) Gilbert encouraged Garbo to host parities. She was the most sociable she had ever been when she was with him.

6) When Gilbert passed away, a rumor spread saying that Garbo's response was "What's that to me?" Garbo was so upset, that she held a press conference to denounce the rumor as false.

Otto Preminger Lecture 11/13/2008

What I learned at the Otto Preminger lecture (and from Kevin in general)...

1) Otto Preminger employed Dalton Trumbo to write the movie Exodus (1960), even though Trumbo was blacklisted.

2) Leonard Maltin once said something to the effect of: Otto the director should tell Otto the actor not to overact.

3) Otto did two all black musicals, both starring Dorothy Dandridge. Carmen Jones (1955) and Porgy & Bess (1959).

4) It's speculated amongst film historians that Dana Andrews was Otto's favorite actor. They made 5 films together.

5) Otto often kept the camera on groups of people. He was an objective filmmaker and trusted the audience's intelligence to form opinions of their own. You'll see very few reaction shots in Preminger films.

6) Otto was all about realism. He also liked to cast real life people in their real life roles in his movies. For example, the conductor Shorty Rogers and his band Shorty Rogers and His Giants were in the film The Man with the Golden Arm (1956).

7) Jean Simmons had 4 weeks left of her RKO contract with Howard Hughes and had to make Angel Face (1953) against her wishes. Otto was hired since he was very efficient. Simmons cut her hair in protest.

8) In the film Laura (1944), an artist had done a painting that was to be used as a central point in the film. When Otto took on the project, he got rid of that painting and had Gene Tierney photographed. The photo was painted over to make it look like a real painting.

9) Martin Luther King, Jr. was asked by Otto to play a cameo role in Advise & Consent (1962). He was interested, but ultimately declined due to negative publicity that ensued from the offer.


Below is a picture of Kevin (left), me (middle) and Bob (right) shortly before the lecture started. Close friends Frank and Blythe attended too. The lecture turned out great. Kevin managed to provide a lot of information in just an hour. He showed clips from Man with the Golden Arm, Anatomy of a Murder and Fallen Angel and had a kick-ass Powerpoint presentation. Go Kevin!

You Otto See It: Stalag 17 (1953)

Gutten Morgen, Sergeants. Nasty weather we're having, eh? And I so much hoped we could give you a white Christmas... just like the ones you used to know...

This is my last entry before the lecture, which is today. This project was a lot of fun and I'm a little sad it's almost over. My next post will be what I learned from Kevin's lecture, in the same style from the one I did last year for Elia Kazan. I still have a few more Otto Preminger films on my Netflix queue, and I can post about them in the future, but for now this series is complete.

I have one big, gigantic, enormous reason why you Otto see Stalag 17 (1953). Because Otto Preminger is in it! He plays Oberst von Sherbach, the Kommondant of a German prisoner of war camp. Preminger did so well with his Nazi type roles that it became part of his image, even though he was Jewish and very anti-Nazi. He also played Nazis in The Pied Piper (1942), Margin for Error (1943), They Got Me Covered (1943) and Where Do We Go From Here (1945) (I'm not 100% sure on the last one). Mind you, Stalag 17 is not directed or produced by Otto Preminger. This is Billy Wilder's film. But after watching so many Preminger-directed films, it was a nice change to see him acting in one.

You Otto See It: Bonjour Tristesse (1958)

Bonjour Tristesse (1958) is my new obsession. In a nutshell, the story is about bored, rich people who play with other people's lives to pass the time. It reminded me a lot of the film My Man Godfrey. In Bonjour Tristesse, 17-year old Cecile (Jean Seberg) is staying with her father, Raymond (David Niven), at their vacation home on the French Riviera. He is openly having an affair with a French woman named Elsa (Mylene Demongeot), that is until Cecile's godmother, Anne (Deborah Kerr), comes to stay and he shifts his focus. Anne gets in the way of Cecile's two major relationships. The tight yet aloof bond with her father and the burgeoning romance with young law student, Philippe (Geoffrey Horne).

This film is probably the best example of Otto Preminger's keen attention to the details. If you don't pay close attention, you'll miss many important subtleties that are woven into the fabric of the story. And since I am all about the details, I thought I would dissect 3 short scenes from the film to show how Preminger used these subtleties to reveal elements of the character's personal dilemmas.

1) Champagne Scene

Before heading to a casino for a night of fun, the primary characters, all glammed up, drink some champagne. Distracted by their own charms, not one of them notices that the maid is serving herself very generous portions of champagne, which she guzzles down greedily as the party laughs away at their own jokes. It's an interesting commentary at the obliviousness of the upper class (and its moochers) to the state of the lower class. This is an ongoing theme throughout the movie.

2) The Shoulder Kiss Scene

All summer long, Cecile and Philippe frolick around in their bathing suits worshipping the sun, the ocean and each other. The lack of parental supervision has put their courtship into overdrive. That is, until Anne, Cecile's father's fiancee, catches them in a passionate embrace. Anne chastises them, demanding that they no longer see each other. Philippe leaves, but not before kissing Cecile on the shoulder. Enjoying the kiss, Cecile kisses that exact same spot on her shoulder. This is really the first instance we Cecile acknowledging some kind of real connection with someone other than her father. These people are to some extent numb and when one actually feels something real they are either excited or scared by it.

3) Sleep or Sex? Scene

Preminger got away with murder here. Anne and Raymond are engaged. Only a serious commitment from Raymond would allow for Anne to ignore her prudish nature and give into their mutual passion.

Raymond: Oh. Pig, pig, pig. I ate like a pig.
Anne: Sleepy?
Raymond: In a way.
Anne: [pause] No, I have to work.

Basically, Raymond just gave her an opportunity to sleep with him and she just turned it down. All of this in front of Raymond's daughter Cecile. It shows how wrecklessly Raymond treats sex and how this will affect not only Cecile but also Anne.

You definitely Otto see this film. In fact, I will go out on a limb and say that because there is so much in this film to take in, that I think you Otto see it twice! If anything, watch it for Saul Bass' beautiful title sequences. They are worth it on their own.