Purely Joyful Movie!

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

I'm not a big fan of Garbo in general, and her talkies specifically. Her acting was more suited to the silent era, and this film, an early talkie, has a lot of silent film elements as well as silent film stars like Ramon Navarro and Lewis Stone. In fact, for 1931, this was an all star cast. Garbo herself had just been nominated for an Oscar for "Anna Christie" (1930), Stone was nominated for "The Patriot" (1930) and was in the highly popular "Big House" (1930), and the great Lionel Barrymore got his only Oscar for "A Free Soul" (1931). Navarro was still popular, though his best days were behind him.Considering how many great films occurred in 1931 (e.g., "Frankenstein", "Cimarron", "City Lights", "Dracula", "The Champ", "M", "Public Enemy", "Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde", "Monkey Business"), this is clearly a 2nd tier film though it was a big commercial success at the time.

I've just bought a boxed set of six Garbo talkies and this is the first one I watched - as a Billy Wilder buff I already own Ninotchka, and I've seen both Camille and Queen Christina on television years ago - and the thing that jumps out after 84 years is Garbo's charisma and beauty so that the other actors are irrelevant as is the plot. Because this is MGM those other actors include Lionel Barrymore and Lewis Stone, neither exactly chopped liver though Ramon Navarro who gets to play Garbo's love interest and billing to reflect this was long past his sell-by date. The melodramatic elements even in a story about a real person albeit one somewhat fictionalized are unavoidable yet Garbo is able to rise above it even when being 'noble' and suffering exquisitely. It's not necessarily something I'd watch again in a hurry but I'm definitely glad I saw it.

The Silky, Shiny, Clinging Costumes Glitter with that MGM Sheen on Greta Garbo, Slinking around as a Sultry, Seductive Spy. Not Only a Spy but the Infamous Enigmatic Exotic Dancer who it was Speculated Caused the Death of Thousands in WWI.So why isn't this Movie One of the Great Ones. Because its Clunk Overshadows the Funky Hats and Sparkly Attire. It is Assembled with a Montage that is Hardly Exciting. It Lingers a lot, and for a Spy Drama that can be Troublesome. The Lingering can be Forgiven when One Ogles the Sensuous Garbo and Her Delicious Duds, but the Story Drags.Lionel Barrymore Overacts as Usual and Roman Navarro Plays it Very Naive, Almost Childlike and is just too Vulnerable for Any Tension and as a Result Their Scenes Together are not as Good as the Ones when He is Off Screen. There is One Exception and that is Perhaps the Most Moving Scene of the Movie. The Oft Mentioned Madonna Candle.Overall, it is Definitely Worth a Watch and the Shadowy Lighting is Interesting at Times and Greta Garbo is Always Appealing, but the Film Disappoints because when it isn't Very Good (and it is occasionally) it is Very Bad.

. . . why NOT watch Greta Garbo elevate a historical woman who used her privates to literally send millions of privates to their deaths as "the Jerry's" top spy? Why NOT present Ms. Mata as the reincarnation of Saint Joan of Arc? (Blasphemy always has been one of Hollywood's favorite pastimes; all that's needed to transform a couple of homely people with bad teeth and poor hygiene into cherubic cop killers is to hire Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty to "portray" BONNIE & CLYDE.) Tinsel Town has made at least 10 films featuring Satan for each of the ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD. Given a chance to recreate a heroine of WWI, do the movie moguls give us THE JEANETTE RANKIN STORY, I REMEMBER EMMA GOLDMAN, or SONG OF THE SUFFRAGETTE? Heck no; instead, a creature from the Black Lagoon of Infamy is dredged up from the murky depths and presented to a populace apparently suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder as some sort of martyr to chain-smoking and nymphomania. In the spring of 1945 Adolph probably would have loved to quote Garbo as the movie remake of his youthful spy crush, and simply say "I quit." But even Garbo cannot make a silk purse from a sow's . . .