Greta Garbo: A Lone Star

The woman behind the face and films contained a certain quality of mystique that made her an undefinable image of Hollywood beauty and glamour. The most compelling thing about Greta Garbo was her early retirement from the screen that left us only with beautiful, haunting black and white images to remember her by.

This great documentary runs through Garbo's life and films in chronological order in an attempt to reveal the 'real' Garbo. This is never achieved, as so many conflicting stories of her personality and life work to undermine each other, yet it is a fascinating portrait nevertheless. We see some great footage from her early silent work with John Gilbert (their relationship is also discussed in some detail here), her first line in the talkies (The fabulous 'Gimme a viskey with ginger ale on the side...and don't be stingy, baby' from 'Anna Christie') her glamour MGM talkies where she played tragic women such as Anna Karenina, Camille and Queen Christina, and that magic moment where Garbo 'laughed' on screen in 'Ninotchka' (not the first time she laughed, as the film posters alleged, but 'Ninotchka' marked her first real comedy).

See it for a fascinating look at a true Hollywood icon.