The Temptress (1926)

An architect tries suppressing his passion for a seductive woman.

Directors:

Fred Niblo, Mauritz Stiller (uncredited)

Writers:

Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (as Vicente Blasco Ibañez), Dorothy Farnum (scenario)

Stars:

Greta Garbo, Antonio Moreno, Marc McDermott

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Greta Garbo	...	Elena
Antonio Moreno	...	Manuel Robledo
Marc McDermott	...	M.Fontenoy (as Marc MacDermott)
Lionel Barrymore	...	Canterac
Armand Kaliz	...	Marquis de Torre Bianca
Roy D'Arcy	...	Manos Duras
Robert Anderson	...	Pirovani (as Robert Andersen)
Francis McDonald	...	Timoteo
Hector V. Sarno	...	Rojas
Virginia Brown Faire	...	Celinda
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Helen Brent

Storyline

In a masked ball in Paris, Manuel Robledo, a young Argentinian architect, meets Elena, the Marquess of Torre Blanca. Later, the young woman is rightly accused causing the misfortune and loss of wealth of Fontenoy, a man who fell for her charms. To escape social criticism, the Marquis of Torre Blanca transfers his residence to Argentina. There, Elena meets again Manuel, when he is building a river's dam. Manos Duras, a thug, harasses Elena, and when Manuel intervenes, he defies him to a whip duel. The duel is long and vicious, both men suffering many cuts on their faces and naked chests, but in the end, the thug is vanquished and humiliated. Manos Duras sets up an ambush to murder Manuel, but the Marquis of Torre Blanca is killed instead. Now, there only two men in love for Elena, the eternal temptress^Å

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Plot Keywords:

female jealousy | bare chested male fighting | bare chested male | hairy chest | homosexual subtext | 

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Taglines:

Ibanez never wrought a more powerful and alluring story than this tale of a girl who gambled with men, love, life itself! Dramatic! Colorful! Romantic! A great production, directed by the man who made "Ben Hur", with a great cast plus Greta Garbo, the flaming new film beauty. (Newspaper ad cut).

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 October 1926 (USA)

Also Known As:

La tentatrice

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$669,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Cosmopolitan Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min 106 min (2005 alternate)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Actual footage of the dam being built is of the St. Francis Dam in Los Angeles County. The dam was completed May of 1926, and then failed March of 1928, killing over 400 people.

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Goofs

When the camera crane pulls back from Fontenoy along the long banquet table prior to his suicide, the crane throws a shadow across him from the overhead studio lighting.

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Quotes

Manuel Robledo: I am yours - do what you will with me.

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Alternate Versions

In 2005, Turner Entertainment Co. copyrighted a version with a new musical score composed by Michael Picton. It was first broadcast on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) on 30 January 2005 and ran 105 minutes.

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Connections

Referenced in MGM Parade: Episode #1.30 (1956)

User Reviews

Garbo drives four men to ruin with a mere flick of an eye lid in her breakthrough Hollywood silent.

Greta Garbo's second Hollywood feature is an irresistible meller, done to a turn by director Fred Niblo at his finest. (Dig those parallel tracking shots; first over a formal dining table laden w/ service & delicacies, and then under the same table, now heavy w/ service & delicacies of a rather different nature.) At this point in her career, Garbo was still playing femme fatale types (watch how she cups her lover's face in her hands) and in this adaptation of a rum Blasco-Ibanez novel, she drives four men to their ruin without lifting a finger. The plot takes us from Parisian highlife (a superb masked ball, a suicide at a banquet, overnight love in a park) down to the Argentine for dam building, a duel of honor played out with whips, sabotage & floods (with remarkable effects), and then back to Paris for our moral. When he's at his best, co-star Antonio Moreno is a bit like Brian Donleavy, alas he usually just looks vaguely surprised. But Roy D'Arcy & Lionel Barrymore get to whoop things up splendidly. Note that Garbo's regular lenser Wm Daniels shares credit with Tony Gaudio. But everyone deserves a prize, including one for the fine newly commissioned score.