This movie is one of the best silent movies I have ever seen. Greta Garbo is excellent in every way, showing great acting skills and making known to the world that she is a star. Perfect.
"Life, is not a having and a getting, but a being and a becoming." Myrna Loy
I agree, Garbo was wonderful!
shareI was in awe of Garbo when I watched The Temptress. Really happy to have the Garbo boxed set.
I think the only other silent I've seen is Nosferatu.
Picton wrote a nice score but does the main string theme sound familiar to anyone?
Well, it's most certainly not amongst the best silent films I've seen, especially when you compare it to the works of Fritz Lang and F.W. Murnau. However, The Temptress is a distinguished piece of work from director Fred Niblo, who may be no Sergei M. Eisenstein, but the vast majority of his work is generally graceful, beautifully crafted and technically/visaully stunning to look at. The scene during the banquet in honor of Elena (Miss Garbo) is cleverly filmed with the camera drawing back to give the spectator a thorough conception of the great table and the number of guests. As for Greta Garbo, she makes every scene in which she appears a telling one and Antonio Moreno gives a sound performance as Robledo.
shareThat shot of the banqueting scene is called a tracking shot. I'd like to know how they did it, even more, the shots of the feet and legs underneath the table.
shareThis movie was OK but not great.Garbo gives good face in her close-ups,but otherwise is shallow and one dimensional.Her argentine love,is much better.
shareSaw Garbo in the Grand Hotel a long time ago and it didn't really leave an impression on me. But I caught this the other night on TCM and I was completely blown away by her. She was so beautiful in this, I now understand what all the fuss was about.
"A labyrinthine man never seeks the truth, but only his Ariadne."
Mr Finch, you are one lucky guy, if this movie and Grand Hotel are the first Garbo movies you've seen! If you found her beautiful in The Temptress, you should see her in some of her greatest triumphs, like Camille, Anna Christie, Queen Christina and many others. Anyone who appreciates "what all the fuss was about" with Garbo will love her in these films and more.
No one was ever more loved by the camera than Greta Garbo. She's fabulous!
He was on Planet Earth the whole time!
Thanks for the heads up! I plan on trying to see all her films now!
"A labyrinthine man never seeks the truth, but only his Ariadne."
Also, the film she made immedietely after this Flesh and the Devil is amazing, one of the best silents I've ever seen. Ninotchka was the first Garbo film I'd seen, whilst it's very good, it's also her penultimate film, so I wish I had seen her earlier stuff first. But it did make me go out and buy more of her films. I think my favourite Garbo film is Camille or Flesh and the Devil, but if you get into Garbo, the quality of her films doesn't seem to matter so much.
shareI don't agree that this movie was so wonderful. I suppose there are many things about it that are good, I won't dispute that but, overall, not so much.
First, it seemed to go on and on and on. I thought it was about to end on at least four different occasions and, oh no, there was more. Also, I think the story is soap opera-ish and ridiculous. This woman who is so alluring she drives me to destroy themselves. Well, yeah, that does happen but the portrayal is way to melodramatic.
A lot of the film's budget seems to have gone towards creating scenes that look great but aren't very important to the story. The whole movie just seemed too much and over the top like it was trying too hard to include every possible concept in one movie.
Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]
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Agreed. It's an awesome movie, especially because of Garbo, but also because of the leading man: the underrated Antonio Moreno, who is THE best latin lover of the silent era, IMHO. Both were breathtakingly beautiful and had great chemistry on screen. And it makes me glad that they decided to make official the unhappy ending, which is far more interesting and memorable.
Animal crackers in my soup
Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop