Greta Garbo: A Lone Star (2001) (TV)

Director:

Steve Cole

Release Date:

4 September 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Narration | Actress | Character Name In Title

Cast

Lauren Bacall	...	Herself / Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ty Burr	...	Himself (uncredited)
Kitty Carlisle	...	Herself (uncredited)
Greta Garbo	...	Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)
John Gilbert	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Leatrice Joy Gilbert	...	Herself (uncredited)
Sam Green	...	Himself (uncredited)
Molly Haskell	...	Herself (uncredited)
Signe Hasso	...	Herself (uncredited)
Jack Larson	...	Himself (uncredited)
Diana McLellan	...	Herself (uncredited)
Karen Morley	...	Herself (uncredited)
Luise Rainer	...	Herself (uncredited)
George Sidney	...	Himself (uncredited)
Mauritz Stiller	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Karen Swenson	...	Herself (uncredited)
Irving Thalberg	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hugo Vickers	...	Himself (uncredited)
Peter Viertel	...	Himself (uncredited)

Directed by
Steve Cole

Produced by
Jessica Falcon	....	executive producer: American Movie Classics
Lucy Graham	....	assistant producer
Angela Hall	....	line producer
Chris Hunt	....	producer
Marc Juris	....	executive producer: American Movie Classics
Bert Seligson	....	associate producer

Film Editing by
Paul Aviles
Fiona Gillespie

Production Management
Nancy McKenna	....	executive in charge of production: American Movie Classics

Art Department
Dave Freeman	....	graphic artist

Sound Department
Percy Againer	....	sound recordist
Peter Davies	....	dubbing mixer
Ravi Gurnam	....	dubbing editor
Jo Kepler	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
David C. Blackman	....	camera operator: rostrum camera (as David Blackman)
Simon Fanthorpe	....	camera operator
Phil Gries	....	camera operator
Mike Pharey	....	camera operator
Simon Wagen	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Brian Jones	....	on-line editor
Steve Olive	....	on-line editor

Other crew
Brian Edwards	....	talent executive: American Movie Classics
Nina Frantzen	....	archive source
Áke Fredriksson	....	archive source
Lisa Menikides	....	production assistant
Marvin Paige	....	archive source
Alan Sievewright	....	consultant
Hugo Vickers	....	consultant
Emma Whittle	....	production secretary

Production Companies

• Iambic Productions (for American Movie Classics)
• London Weekend Television (LWT)

Other Companies

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)  archive
• April Film & Bild  archive
• British Film Institute (BFI)  archive
• British Pathé  archive (as British Pathe News)
• Clips and Footage  archive
• Corbis  archive
• Culver Pictures  archive
• Image Bank  archive
• Joel Finder Collection  archive
• John E. Allen Inc.  archive
• Kobal Collection  archive
• Passport International Entertainment  archive
• Producer's Library Service  archive
• Santa Barbara Museum of Art  archive
• Scalo Publishers  archive
• Sotheby's  archive
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI)  archive
• The Rosenbach Museum & Library  archive
• Turner Entertainment  archive
• Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research  archive

Runtime:

45 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

Iambic Productions

Movie Connections:

Features Love (1927/I)

A documentary that Garbo's genius deserves

Even though more than 60 years have passed since the last screen production with Greta Garbo was released (TWO FACED WOMAN by George Cukor), a lot of people are still amazed by the mysterious personality of this Swedish actress. There are some documentaries about this person but Steve Cole's appears to be a unique presentation of the star. It turns out to be interesting for all kinds of viewers, the ones who have not much read about Garbo, the ones who know something but want to know more as well as her real true fans.

The wide range of original archives is one of the most significant aspects of the film. The pictures and archive recordings make a wonderful journey to the 1920s and 1930s when Garbo was the top Hollywod star. By the use of these materials, a viewer gets a clear idea of chronological events from Greta Garbo's life, including her films in Europe (SAGA OF GOSTA BERLING, PETER THE TRAMP and THE JOYLESS STREET), 1925 arrival in Hollywood with the director Mauritz Stiller, her first roles in silent movies, like THE TORRENT (1926), FLESH AND THE DEVIL (1927), THE KISS (1929), etc through the sound films the top of which were Queen Christina (1933), CAMILLE (1936) and NINOTCHKA (1939), finally to her retirement from screen and generally a lonely and melancholic life till her 1990 death in the New York apartment.

Throughout the movie, a lot of people who either knew Garbo personally or write biographies about her tell very interesting stories. Actress Luise Rainer says for instance about her interesting meeting with Garbo in the 1930s and stresses a striking beauty all of the people noticed in the Swedish Sphynx. Director George Sidney refers to wonderful skills that Garbo had while playing. Biographers, like Karen Swenson and Hugo Vickers, tell amazing stories of Garbo's relationship with Salka Viertel and Mercedes de Acosta. Finally, Leatrice Gilbert Fountain, the daughter of John Gilbert, tells tear jerking stories from Garbo-Gilbert relationship. Indeed, John Gilbert was a person whom Garbo deeply loved and after listening to Leatrice, you will surely draw this conclusion. The stories from their private life are presented in relation to the films they made together from their first film, silent FLESH AND THE DEVIL (1927), to their last one, sound Queen Christina (1933), soon before Gilbert's sudden and early death in January 1936. This helps a viewer get a clear idea why Garbo insisted on Gilbert play Antonio instead of Laurence Olivier. She simply felt most comfortable on screen with him because she deeply loved him.

If you are interested in the personality and life of Greta Garbo, this documentary is a must see. 50 minutes supply you with so many interesting facts from her life and such a number of amazing stories that you will not find elsewhere. Although Garbo would be 100 this September, her phenomenon is still amazing. And let it be so...as she is a quintessential prototypical myth of glamorous classic actress in cinema. 9/10 for the documentary!