As You Desire Me (1932)

Writers:

Gene Markey (adaptation)
Luigi Pirandello (play)

Release Date:

28 May 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

You don't need us to tell you not to miss this film. You couldn't be kept away!

Plot:

Budapest bar entertainer Zara is a discontented alcoholic who is pursued by many men but lives with novelist Carl Salter...

Plot Keywords:

Italian Army | Alcoholic | Novelist | Missing Person | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Greta Garbo	...	Zara aka Maria
Melvyn Douglas	...	Count Bruno Varelli
Erich von Stroheim	...	Carl Salter
Owen Moore	...	Tony Boffie
Hedda Hopper	...	Ines Montari
Rafaela Ottiano	...	Lena
Warburton Gamble	...	Baron
Albert Conti	...	Captain
William Ricciardi	...	Pietro
Roland Varno	...	Albert

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:Approved

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Although Erich von Stroheim was barred from the MGM lot by studio head Louis B. Mayer and production head Irving Thalberg, he was hired for the role of Karl Salter at the insistance of Greta Garbo, who threatened to quit otherwise.

Quotes:

Baron: Get rid of these other swine.
Zara: Other?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Va savoir (2001)

Botched effort with fine Garbo performance and script.

This is rather a botched effort. Fitzmaurice is not a good director. He allows von Stroheim to act badly, Douglas and others to overact badly, but does turn a fascinating play into an intriguing script and give us another fine Garbo performance. She is excellent in the lead - it's a film that cried for a remake later in the forties but never got it. As a drunken cabaret singer in the initial scenes, Garbo in a blonde wig is a comic revelation. Interesting to note that von Stroheim has no accent at all, in fact he can barely read his lines, he is as talentless here as an actor as someone who has never been on stage before in his life. He even pronounced "Maria" as if it were "Mareer." Isn't that Douglas in the audience by the pillar in the initial scene? - either that or a look alike double. His character should not be present at that moment. Available on MGM/UA video.