søndag 24. februar 2008

GRETA GARBO 1905-1990 - Henning Sebastian Jahre`s thoughts and reviews of her

Grand Hotel 1932.... it`s the first picture I saw of her









Ninotchka 1939










Two-Faced Woman 1941






Camille 1936
















On March 22 I received these wonderful items from the excellent site http://www.garboforever.com/News-1.htm - do pay a visit:-)







































































































































































































































































































































Some Garbo memories.... In the early 90s I saw - or heard - Garbo`s voice shortly before she passed away. She spoke on the telephone with Sven Broman in Swedish... She heralded Sweden`s Queen Silvia as being awfully pretty and stressed the subject if CrownPrincess Victoria indeed would inherit the throne. Because Queen Christina (as u all know, 1 of Garbo`s most famous roles)abdicated - it was not until 1980 I think, that women were allowed back on the throne in Sweden... 1990 was also the year that the Norwegian cruiser Scandinavian Star caught fire on sea and several passangers were killed... During the talk with Broman, Garbo expressed concern and sheer terror that this could happen in Scandinavia... She seemed to be a Royalist and she even asked the King Carl Gustav that if he did not have time to meet her - it would be ok... The KING indeed wanted to meet her and afterwards Silvia would only say; "she was magical"... the feelings were mutual it seems... Over the years Sven Broman talked a lot about Garbo in Swedish TV and stressed the subject that Ingmar Bergman didn`t like her mouth... "I couldn`t provoke her".... she just said that Bergman was far above her... She also asked him once when he wanted to see her Oscar; "Aren`t u ashamed of me back in Sweden???" the reply was - of course - "No we are terribly proud...."













































































































































her makeup box and the stars who signed it


















































































































































Garbo dismissed this photo; "It`not REAL... the photo is compiled together....."

Garbo to Sven Broman when he heralded her eyelashes: "hahaha, there`s nothing much left there...."





















Garbo and Donald Duck - from the excellent site http://www.garboforever.com/























Flesh and the Devil - 1927 - with John Gilbert
























with Grey Reisfield, her niece ....

















1989 With her niece Gray Reisfield 1990.... she never returned from the hospital...


















Klosters 1988


















these two collages are from http://www.garboforever.com/ - the film that never was; but what GG and many a fan dreamt of her to be in....
















































this is believed to be the last picture taken of her... 1990....






















taking a walk in old age with friend with Cecile de Rotschild























the divine as I love her.... as MATA HARI 1931















































Garbo and I - collage(C)(P)2007. The picture of me - 2006.














Most photos are from the excellent site http://www.garboforever.com/ and the people running it are all ace:-))) DO VISIT THAT WEBSITE....




















by Henning Sebastian Jahre



Camille


2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Garbo`s best, February 13, 2005

MGM offered the best of production values and their most handsome leading man... I don`t care what they say or for that matter Garbo said("Handsome, but stupid"): Robert Taylor is as great as Garbo as the lovesick, temperamentel Armand.... Yes, "Moulin Rouge" in 2001 was really a revisit actually.... If u wanna c Garbo - the woman audiences from the 20s fell in love with; check out MATA HARI... In that she`s the eternal mistress and seduces us still after over 70 years... If u wanna c Garbo - the ACTRESS; Camille is the thing... If u wanna c Garbo - the MYSTERY/ENIGMA - the gorgeous closeups...; Check out Rouben Mamoulian`s QUEEN CHRISTINA... It`s coldly made and doesn`t have the nerve or power of Camille.... What is BOTH Garbo and Taylor`s magic is that thet were never fashionable - they are so old-fashioned that they sort of is like an old ancient paiting that suddenly comes 2 life... That`s why, I for 1, appreciate Garbo. And by being timeless they trancsend any era. Garland had it as well. Al Jolson? It`s like looking into an old museum piece.
Queen Christina



2 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
GARBO AT MAGNETIC BEST..., March 1, 2005

... but it`s coldly made without much heart. Time and time again, readers have been overwhelmed by the old publicity "Garbo the great actress", "The Sphinx", "The Greatest Star"... Oh I could go on forever... However, boiled down to the essentials, she had a charismatic, photogenic face, BUT SHE NEVER DEPENDED ON PROMOTING HERSELF: MGM and fellow artists and critics sang their rhapsodies and privately I suspect she overdosed quickly of the SuperStar-label and became bored with the whole idea. I think she felt she was overpraised much too early in her career and felt embarassed by the never-ending attention. In Queen Christina she is beautifully lit and photographed(and from 1927 on - she was filmed behind closed curtains...with only William Daniels and Karl Freund close at hand)... I would say that many an actress with that attention could have easily have filled her shoes. She was a timid actress. Cukor once observed that he felt she had to be thrown into the action - she never created. Seeing her with Constance Bennett in TWO-FACED WOMAN og Charles Boyer in CONQUEST, you`ll see that she can`t reach their standard in scenes she is forced to act and interplay - and not merely pose and being brilliantly photographed in close-up. In QUEEN CHRISTINA she is a MOVIESTAR, not an actress... So who would I define the ultimate star of the 20th century? ELIZABETH TAYLOR; for all her brilliant performances(and bad 1s), her legendary life and beauty... Now, Miss Taylor is what A MOVIESTAR AND A GREAT MOVIEACTRESS is all about..
Two Faced Woman
by HENNING SEBASTIAN JAHRE

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
No great shakes, but Garbo glitters AND BENNETT IS THE BEST!!!, November 18, 2005

It echoes the Sonja Henie-films(Sun Valley Serenade made the same year), but Garbo is at her magnetic best - especially when she flirts and lures Melvyn Douglas away from the charms of Constance Bennett in the night-club scene. Miss Bennett steals every scene she is in - bless her - but though the plot is thin, it is(like the Sonja Henie`s)full of witty 1-liners... It REMAINS a must-c:-)))



4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
GARBO - THE ENIGMA, November 3, 2000
By
Henning Sebastian Jahre (Oslo, Norway) -

As MATA HARI, Garbo shows us hints of what was soon 2 come(Queen Christina, Camille) but in THIS film she is a sexy siren. No wonder 20s and early 30s people fell head over heals for her. All other "goddesses" are pale shadows. There was nothing as magical as Garbo. The script is corny at times, Lionel B. hams his part(see Mickey Rooney "do him" in BABES IN ARMS 1939) but the film has a magic air that is spellbounding... In no way a great thriller or a suspenser(laughable when it is attempting 2)but a great GARBO vehicle. Roman Novarro is OK but is ruined with some of the lines he has to say.


4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
at last.... here she is - in full splendour:-), February 18, 2007
By
Henning Sebastian Jahre

I`ve grown up with Garbo... Ever since I was a child, Swedish television has indeed appreciated her legacy and I`ve witnessed all the sound films mentioned here: To my mind, what makes Garbo great is her wonderful sphinx face... and her melancholy, sad remarks... When called upon hysterics and outburts, she is painfully amateurish... That goes for ANNA CHRISTIE, GRAND HOTEL, CONQUEST, AS YOU DESIRE ME.... In CAMILLE, NINOTCHKA and TWO-FACED WOMAN she shows us the actress, a girl who DID posseess nuances... method acting.... And never more so that in the silent FLESH AND THE DEVIL 1926. In it she is a man-eater, a sultress, a she-devil and she she in only limited when call upon a confrontation scene with Lars Hanson`s sister... The film has wonderful closeups of its three stars and the subject remains as fresh as it did in 1926. The scenes in the snow and how she seduces John Gilbert is quite good and I must say - FLESH AND THE DEVIL is still quite watchable even today. To me the friendship between Gilbert and Hanson is a homosexual one and when Garbo falls through the ice - the men are seen embracing each other - and free of that devil Felicitas. Their intense friendship fools no one in 2007, but 80 years ago it must have... Garbo is only 21 in the film, but shows a mature display of acting and womanhood - no wonder the world fell for her and the same goes for the sound MATA HARI..