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24 reviews in total

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27 out of 28 people found the following review useful:
One Legend Portrays Another, 18 May 2002

Author: Ron Oliver (revilorest@juno.com) from Forest Ranch, CA

Seductively mysterious, the exotic dancer MATA HARI pays the ultimate price for being the most famous spy of World War One.

Coming only fourteen years after the execution of its title character, here is a densely plotted film given the full MGM gloss & glamour. Production values are excellent, even if the script strays a bit too much into fiction to tell its story.

Languid & languorous, Greta Garbo slinks across the screen like a large cat, almost purring her dialogue rather than speaking it. Utterly fascinating, it is easy to see why she dominated her generation & why her legend still endures. Finally coming fully alive during a penultimate murder scene, Garbo exhibits the frenetic energy of which she was capable on screen. Fortunately, she is only required to dance once, leaving to the imagination the full impact of Mata Hari's original private performances.

Ramon Novarro, who receives co-equal billing with Garbo, had been an important movie celebrity far longer than she, but her rising sun tended to obscure most other stars in her orbit and Novarro has to work hard to get much notice in their joint scenes .As always, MGM's chameleon actor (this time he plays a Russian) gives a very competent performance, but as a romantic pair they make a rather unusual couple - which simply means that Novarro's sexual ambiguity is perfectly mirrored by Garbo's intrinsic androgyny.

Lewis Stone is quite effective as a sinister German spymaster. C. Henry Gordon gives some nice moments as a tough French policeman. Lionel Barrymore is also on hand, flamboyantly overacting as a Russian general who delivers military secrets to Mata Hari in exchange for her favours; he apparently decided Garbo wasn't going to steal the entire picture and he puts up an outrageous display of ham acting.

Karen Morley & Frank Reicher appear as German agents who learn the price of becoming no longer useful to Berlin; movie mavens will recognize an uncredited Mischa Auer in the opening scene as an unfortunate victim of Mata's wiles.

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Born to a prosperous hatter in The Netherlands on August 7, 1876, Margeretha Geertruida Zelle was convent schooled and later attended a teacher's college. In 1895 she married British-born Campbell MacLeod, a captain in the Dutch colonial army and lived with him in Java & Sumatra from 1897 until 1902.

After their divorce, Margeretha settled in Paris, where she changed her name to the Malay 'Mata Hari,' which means 'eye of the day.' Fabricating a mystique of exotic mysticism, the beautiful Mata supported herself quite nicely as a courtesan and erotic dancer, giving special performances around Europe to delighted clientele. Several military officers of various nations counted themselves among her lovers.

The details of Mata's involvement in espionage still remain rather vague. It's possible she entered the German Secret Service as early as 1907, but she later is thought to have worked for the French Secret Service, as well. As a citizen of neutral Holland, she was still able to travel freely after the commencement of the War and it is alleged that she garnered secrets from Allied officers for her German employers. It was the British who tipped off the French as to Mata's supposed activities while in Belgium, and she was arrested upon her return to France.

At the court martial trial, she could only be found guilty of giving outdated information to the Germans, which she claimed was entirely innocent. However, it was more than enough to imprison her for three months, before her final rendezvous with a firing squad on October 15, 1917.

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16 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Campy, but fun, 9 December 2003

Author: overseer-3 from Florida

"Mata Hari" is a pre-code film that took lots of liberties with the real life story of the World War One spy, but who cares? One watches a film like this to enjoy the old stars in action, including Lionel Barrymore, hamming it up sans wheelchair. Though Garbo has never been one of my favorites I enjoyed her performance here; she smiled quite a bit and never once said she wanted to be alone. Most of the time she just wanted to be with handsome Ramon Novarro, and who could blame her?

Funniest moment to me: Ramon's character is obviously Catholic (as Ramon was in real life) and he has promised his mother to keep a candle lit before this Madonna icon and never let the flame go out, because if it goes out then evil will descend upon him. So Mata (Greta) tells Alexi (Ramon) that his room is too brightly lit; he goes around and turns off all the lights -- except for the candle. So then she asks him to blow out the candle. "If I am everything to you then you will blow it out." He asks her in shock: "But why would you ask me to?" (a perfectly reasonable question she doesn't answer). He ends up rejecting the sacred for the profane, blowing the flame out and the room goes into darkness. The camera pulls away and we are supposed to know instinctively that they are making love all through the night. And of course evil descends on Ramon's character, and he goes blind, but what the heck, this is Hollywood.

Watch it for the stars, not for history. If you want history, read a book.

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17 out of 21 people found the following review useful:
Worth a watch, 19 September 2005

Author: Michael Bo (michael.bo@pol.dk) from Copenhagen, Denmark

German spy Mata Hari works in Paris during World War 1 under cover as an exotic dancer, and falls in love with a young Russian officer while she is taking advantage of him.

The script is rubbish, dialogue trite at best, and the treatment doesn't hold together well. Adrian's costumes are ridiculously improbable, but in a sinfully pleasurable MGM kinda way. You simply sit there and gape at Adrian's inventiveness and sense of kitsch. And William Daniels photographs them beautifully.

As he does his favorite subject, Greta Garbo. There is no way anyone could call Mata Hari one of the better Garbo roles, although she looks gorgeous at every turn, even in her slightly awkward Balinese dance in the beginning, all arms and legs. And still Garbo manages to be sexy! Notice the glance she sends Ramon Novarro as she draws the curtain of her bed. This was a short period in the history of Hollywood, when there was no functioning censorship, and it is always titillating to see what cinematographers, directors and stars made of it. And here they exploit it to the full.

Not a great film, not even in the Garbo canon, but still worth a watch, absolutely.

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12 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
Enjoyable Melodramatic Love Story, 26 April 2008

Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

In 1917, in Paris, the famous dancer Mata Hari (Greta Garbo) has a double life as a German spy, obtaining secrets from French and Russian officers in bed. The chief of the French Secret Service Dubois (C. Henry Gordon) is unsuccessfully in her tail trying to find proofs to incriminate Mata Hari. The Russian general Serge Shubin (Lionel Barrymore) has a crush on Mata Hari, but when she meets the young Russian pilot lieutenant Alexis Rosanoff (Ramon Novarro), she sleeps with him to photograph secret documents in his possession. But they fall in love for each other, and the jealousy of her lover Shubin provides the evidences to Dubois to arrest her.

This fictional and naive romance based on the life and death "Mata Hari" is an enjoyable melodramatic love story. Of course it is not a historic event, but this pleasant romantic fantasy is supported by an extremely beautiful Great Garbo performing a charismatic role in a great production. In spite of not being a masterpiece, I totally disagree with the unfair reviews in IMDb. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Mata Hari"

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7 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Garbo Makes the Role & the Character Her Own, 29 March 2006
Author: Snow Leopard from Ohio

As the notorious "Mata Hari", Greta Garbo makes both the role and the character her own, providing a portrayal that is much deeper and more complex than the historical character probably was. The rest of the cast and production work well enough, but they are mostly there only to provide Garbo the backdrop and the foils that she uses to develop the main character.

The story focuses Mata Hari's liaisons with two Russian officers, an older general played by Lionel Barrymore, and a young aviator played by Ramon Novarro, with an implacable Secret Service man (played by C. Henry Gordon) trying to stop her. Each of the three plays his part well, while allowing Garbo to take the spotlight. Lewis Stone also makes good use of his limited screen time, and Karen Morley has some memorable moments as another spy.

The story probably has little in common with the historical facts, and while the historical character is an interesting one, it seems certain that Garbo's character is more so, combining her obvious appeal with a depth of feeling and a complicated set of priorities, as few other actresses could have done. Designing the story and characters with her in mind works well, making for good drama and one of Garbo's many effective performances.

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12 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
This is about love, not history., 28 November 1999

Author: David Atfield (bits@alphalink.com.au) from Canberra, Australia

Garbo in love. There is nothing to compare with it. And MGM knew it. Again and again they fashioned vehicles for her to be in love, and "Mata Hari" is one of the best. Who cares that it has nothing to do with the real Mata Hari? This is a beautiful film - it looks gorgeous and is brilliantly acted. It was always difficult for male actors to hold their own with Garbo - Robert Taylor failed, Olivier by his own confession couldn't "hold a candle to her" - but there are three who certainly could John Gilbert (of course!), Melvyn Douglas (in comedy) and here the sublime Ramon Novarro. He was perhaps the only one of Garbo's leading men who could compare with her in beauty (though Lew Ayres is pretty cute in "The Kiss")and William Daniels films him nearly as lovingly as he does Garbo. The shot of his face where he blows out the candle (at Garbo's insistence), that his mother made him swear to always burn, is most beguiling. The two display a rare chemistry, and the final scene in the prison cell is very moving. Novarro in love is as enchanting as Garbo in love.

And the film is about the experience of love, and how it over-rides all else in life. Very romantic and very touching. Unrequited love sends Lionel Barrymore mad - this is a great performance too - and Lewis Stone's incomprehension of love makes him a cold, heartless monster (another expert performance from him). The sad thing here is that Novarro and Garbo were never again paired. A great and powerful film.

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
An exotic Garbo vehicle, 18 April 2006

Author: netwallah from The New Intangible College

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

In the early scenes Mata Hari (Greta Garbo) dances a slinky oriental dance; it's not clear what sort of culture she is meant to represent—there are silver pagodas on her head, and a many-armed god in the background, as well as other orientalist culture indicators sprinkled throughout. It's enough that she's exotic, without needing to pin her nationality down. Her costumes are gorgeous and also vaguely oriental, but with much silver lamé. She wears hats. It's Paris during WW I, and there are spies all over the place, and she's the most independent and fearless of them all, cool and heartless, using men easily, as she does General Shubin (Lionel Barrymore), until she meets the handsome young Russian aviator Rosanoff (Ramon Navarro), who has excellent posture, melty eyes, and a Spanish accent. Navarro is all pleasing surfaces. In the course of being irresistible, she steals secrets from him and accidentally falls in love. This causes problems, she has to kill Shubin to protect Rosanoff, and she has to part with the aviator. His plane crashes, but she finds him when he is blinded in hospital and tells him sweet lies, and she protects him in court and faces the firing squad. The movie is purely a Garbo vehicle, and she is fine, breezing through the clichés and the bad writing, and acting cool and then passionate. She is, of course, compellingly lovely. When she is not dancing, she moves sinuously, mostly. She has an odd carriage when walking slowly through a room, leading with her head bent forward, her neck arched, her shoulders one or two inches from a shrug. Otherwise she reclines langorously and gazes at other characters with a smile impossible to read.

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8 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
She's sexy. She thrills. She chills. She's a spy!, 24 April 2002

Author: Michael O'Keefe from Muskogee OK

She is not the first to play Mata Hari, the alluring spy of World War I. But Greta Garbo is very memorable as the temptress; the seducer; the beguiling not-so-secret agent. Garbo's exotic dance is quite lethal for the early 1930s. Ramon Novarro plays the young lover willing to give his life for hers. Lionel Barrymore is the older lover that dies by her hand. This classic does not claim to be factual to history, but makes a great melodrama not to be missed. Supporting cast features Lewis Stone, C. Henry Gordon and Karen Morley. Viva la France.

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9 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
Pure Fantasy, Pure Melodrama, Pure Camp, 18 July 1999
Author: phred22 from Beltsville, MD

Anyone wishing to know the truth about Mata Hari, the exotic dancer who was executed as a spy during World War I, will soon realize this is not the movie for them. But the real Mata Hari was a pathetic middle-aged woman who got in way over her head when she tried espionage--her legend is much more entertaining. Greta Garbo plays the femme fatale brought down by love to the hilt and the cast ably supports her, although modern audiences may find Ramon Novarro ludicrous as the romantic lead. The best are C. Henry Gordon as the French police chief and Lewis Stone as the leader of Mata Hari's spy ring. Nearly every line is out of melodrama--I just wish I had a better memory to quote some for you. My recommendation: just enjoy it.

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Today It's A Camp Delight, 6 February 2010

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Any resemblance to the little Dutch girl with a most interesting life for the prurient who became Mata Hari and this film starring Greta Garbo is strictly coincidental. About the only two things I can think of is that she was a spy and she did die by firing squad.

Mata Hari had a fascinating life and was 41 when she met her demise and Garbo was 27 when she made this film. Her espionage activities only covered a small part of her life, her whole story ought to have been told.

What this film lacks in facts it certainly makes up for in a kind of campy allure. Garbo is certainly at her sexiest as the woman who drives men of all ages mad with desire, so much so they wind up betraying their country. That's what she does to Lionel Barrymore who plays a Russian general who does same. She turns him into an old fool.

But she herself gets good and foolish when she meets up with young Russian aviator Ramon Novarro. When she herself falls in love, it proves to be her undoing.

There are a couple of really good performances here by a pair of ruthless adversaries. Lewis Stone is her spymaster and not a man to trifle with. See how he deals with another of his reluctant employees played by Karen Morley. He's far from the wise and good Judge Hardy in this role. His opposite number is C. Henry Gordon who knows full well that Garbo is a spy and is just waiting to nail her and I don't mean in the biblical sense.

Mata Hari is a camp delight today, it certainly hasn't aged well. But that's not to say you won't enjoy Greta Garbo in this part.

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