MovieChat Forums > Flesh and the Devil (1926) Discussion > Alternate ending?

Alternate ending?

posted 20 years ago by ConorL
9 replies | jump to latest

Apparently the version I saw (at the Stanford theatre in Palo Alto) was sporting an alternate ending tacked on to appease, as the organist phrased it, "midwestern" audiences. I'm assuming this is all about the last-minute reconciliation of the two friends after Garby's unfortunate tumble through the ice... Can anybody tell me, if you've seen the original, how the untampered-with version of "Flesh and the Devil" wraps up? I'm assuming they kill each other deader than disco, but that could just be my morbid imagination at work.

[–] luverofmovies 19 years ago

The ending I've seen several times was the one you saw. I wonder if, in that day and age, the one you proposed would have been acceptable. However, you mentioned another one, so maybe I am wrong. Your ending today would have been quite exciting (the evil one gets away with it, and goes on to other victims to her charms.) Maybe it would have driven the '20's audience nuts, so possibly any other ending would not have worked for them at that time. The alternate ending would have worked today, though! Lots of buzz.

[–] The-Silent-Photoplayer 19 years ago

The ending you're talking about has after what you see in the film, John Gilbert going to Barbara Kent. It was written for the film and shot that way. The only reason it was removed was because Clarence Brown said he didn't like it 40 years after the fact, which I find rather pretentious on the part of those who removed it.

-J. Theakston
The Silent Photoplayer
http://www.thephotoplayer.com/

[–] txwildswan 18 years ago

This is correct and I agree 100% with what this person says. I purchased the Garbo: The Ultimate Collection -put out by TMC and it explains about all that ending.

[–] BlueGreen 18 years ago

Actually, I am VERY happy that it ended as it did. Their friendship - as "misogynous" as it may seem (and it is, up to a point) - is what I love most about this film. With a final "shoot-out", it would have been, perhaps paradoxically (or not), much less poignant and more pathos-laden at the same time. To me, it would have spoiled the film.

[–] Cienna 18 years ago

Actually, I am VERY happy that it ended as it did.

Me too. The alternative ending with Leo and Hertha ending up together was anti-climatic. Plus you could assume all that would happen over time.

Renée Zellweger Best Actress Oscar 2006.

[–] ozgirlfan 15 years ago

I would like ending where the friends kill each other but Garbo still tumbles into the lake and drowns.

[–] twistedude 15 years ago

In the only ending I EVER saw, Garbo falls through the ice and drowns, and the two friends come to their senses, remember a lifetime full of friendship, drop their guns (or maybe not) and fall into each other's arms. Not wishing to mess with same-sex romance (largely because I found the WHOLE FILM unconvincing)---it seemed that the moral of the story is that a good friend is better than a bad woman--even a dead bad woman. Of course, they don't know she's dead yet--we do, though.

I rather like the ending that ozgirlfan suggests!

I read the last 10 pages of the novel (The Undying Past, by a 19th and early 20th century Prussian man)---and the reconciliation between the two friends takes longer, and at the end, still remains only a matter of hope on the part of Leo--a little reminiscent of Scarlett's words at the end of GWTW (but his hope has some foundation).. (Felisitas did not die so dramatically, but went off to Berlin, where she got a divorce, and lived happily ever after with neither of them).

6 "unfavorables" on amazon...I've only found a few critics who agree with me that this movie is no great shakes! (but I refuse to see it a third time...twice was enough).

"Thus began our longest journey together." To Kill a Mockingbird

[–] Nolegirl97 11 years ago

I just saw this movie, and my alternate ending would be Garbo making it to the men and then explaining everything, then Ulrich shooting her.

Nah...I guess the original is best.

[–] mdonln 8 years ago

I suspected Felicitas would be killed off but I never imagined it would happen the way it did.

She was such a horrible person I was hoping she would redeem herself in some way first. I thought she'd run off to the island and arrive just as Leo and Ulrich were taking aim and about to fire.

I knew Leo had resigned himself to dying so he was not going to shoot at Ulrich. Ulrich, on the other hand, had every intention of killing Leo so he would shoot in his direction. I expected Felicitas to run toward Leo to beg for his forgiveness and pledge her undying love when, all of a sudden, she would accidentally be struck by the bullet from Ulrich's gun meant for Leo. Both men would run to her. As she lay dying in Leo's arms, she would confess to Ulrich and profess her love for Leo. The end

That's what I was thinking would happen but I'm glad the movie didn't end that way. That would have been the cliche ending we see in a lot of movies. The ending we got was better because it answered one of the questions I had throughout the movie. Felicitas was beautiful but why did she have such a strong hold on these men; especially Leo. This ending shows it was a sort of magically spell, something mysterious and unexplained that was immediately broken or lifted upon her death.

Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]