The Seductive Lady, the Lovable Captain, the Charming Silent Movie

"Romantic – but in this case – indiscreet"

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

Greta Garbo and John Gilbert in A Woman of Affairs (1928)

Greta Garbo and John Gilbert in Flesh and the Devil (1926)

Greta Garbo and Antonio Moreno in The Temptress (1926)

Lew Ayres and Greta Garbo in The Kiss (1929)

Carla Gugino in The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)

Greta Garbo and John Gilbert in Love (1927)

Greta Garbo, Nils Asther, Johnny Mack Brown, and Fred Solm in The Single Standard (1929)

Greta Garbo and Ricardo Cortez in Torrent (1926)

Greta Garbo and Ramon Novarro in Mata Hari (1931)

Greta Garbo and Conrad Nagel in The Mysterious Lady (1928)

Vienna before the war - city of love and laughter - living gayly to the music of the waltz and the opera - !

Greta Garbo in The Mysterious Lady (1928)

"The Mysterious Lady" Greta Garbo, Conrad Nagel, Gustev Von Seyffertitz 1928 MGM

Greta Garbo

Conrad Nagel

Gustav von Seyffertitz

Ludwig Wolff

Bess Meredyth

Marian Ainslee

An attractive Russian spy seduces an Austrian officer in order to get some important plans, but when she actually falls in love with him, both of them are placed in a dangerous situation.

Fred Niblo

The Mysterious Lady

Golden silent

On this evidence, Garbo&apos;s silent work is her most accomplished. She struggles in talking roles; her dour, flat acting voice meant she had to be characterised as emotionless - hence the iceberg persona, and she was probably glum because she knew she was struggling. Here we can see her real eloquence and the confidence behind it that comes of knowing she is shimmering and wonderful. In contrast to many other silent stars who exaggerated every gesture, Garbo shows intelligence and discrimination in her movements, which involves a lot of posturing but is not unnatural. She uses her natural grace for expression, particularly her arms - she really is lithe and expressive - and she must have missed all that later in her career.

Fred Niblo&apos;s inventive direction here also impresses; he never lets a scene go dry and the narrative method is almost as sophisticated as a talkie as he brings out a good deal of subtle but telling body language. We watch characters speak and can pretty much divine what they&apos;re saying, which reduces the need for irksome intertitles.

The first part of the film, set in Vienna, is a romantic encounter, deceptively straightforward. But there is intrigue in store, and in the latter half of the film, set in Warsaw, tension consistently mounts as every scene is built around suspense - don&apos;t think that Hitchcock invented this stuff. Garbo and her leading man, Conrad Nagel, seem connected to each other on rubber bands such is the dramatic bond between them.

At the climax is a superb trick that will make you exclaim out loud. This could be the best film I&apos;ve seen this year.

On this evidence, Garbo's silent work is her most accomplished. She struggles in talking roles; her dour, flat acting voice meant she had to be characterised as emotionless - hence the iceberg persona, and she was probably glum because she knew she was struggling. Here we can see her real eloquence and the confidence behind it that comes of knowing she is shimmering and wonderful. In contrast to many other silent stars who exaggerated every gesture, Garbo shows intelligence and discrimination in her movements, which involves a lot of posturing but is not unnatural. She uses her natural grace for expression, particularly her arms - she really is lithe and expressive - and she must have missed all that later in her career.

Fred Niblo's inventive direction here also impresses; he never lets a scene go dry and the narrative method is almost as sophisticated as a talkie as he brings out a good deal of subtle but telling body language. We watch characters speak and can pretty much divine what they're saying, which reduces the need for irksome intertitles.

The first part of the film, set in Vienna, is a romantic encounter, deceptively straightforward. But there is intrigue in store, and in the latter half of the film, set in Warsaw, tension consistently mounts as every scene is built around suspense - don't think that Hitchcock invented this stuff. Garbo and her leading man, Conrad Nagel, seem connected to each other on rubber bands such is the dramatic bond between them.

At the climax is a superb trick that will make you exclaim out loud. This could be the best film I've seen this year.

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The Mysterious Lady

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