After an hour or so, she’d run back to join Hauser for dinner. Photographs by Cecil Beaton; courtesy of Sotheby's, London. Her most famous roles were in Anna Karenina and Camille. A friendship with Greta Garbo had its many pleasures. With Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery. Even Gayelord Hauser, who was one of her closest friends, she always referred to as Dr. Hauser. His wife can stay behind if Brent's character agrees to get a divorce, in which case she can also have one. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories, One day in 1954, while I was producing the TV series The Halls of Ivy, which starred Ronald Colman, Eleanor Aherne, the wife of the actor Brian Aherne, called to invite me to dinner. With Greta Garbo, Herbert Marshall, George Brent, Warner Oland. In spite of Cukor’s pessimism, I kept hoping. YouTube clips Merchandise Links Garbo's Funeral Service Bibliography Contact Leading Men. During one of her visits to Los Angeles, I had to go to New York to talk to Gloria Swanson about appearing in my film Airport ’75. Brian Aherne had the unenviable task of greeting Garson and her husband, the Texas millionaire Buddy Fogelson, at the door. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Directed by Richard Boleslawski. “Look,” I said, “I’ll come to France to talk to you in person.”, I was in Cap d’Ail less than 48 hours when I realized there was no way she was going to make the picture. Garbo whispered to me, “I’m not going to sign.”, “Oh, yes, you are,” I whispered back. Three years ago, though, she wrote me a letter. Once she’d uttered one of those little Garboisms, a subject was closed. She was wearing black velvet pants with a white blouse and a black velvet bolero. “My dear boy, it’s not at all a thrill,” he said. I never know which way to look.”. And so, after all the years she’d known them and all the times she’d stayed with them as their houseguest, Garbo signed the Ahernes’ guest book for the first time. “Are you still going to the market?” I told her yes. When I go down to the pool in the morning to have breakfast, she’s already out there sunning herself, stark naked. A letto con Greta Garbo, tra i misteri della Divina All’asta gli oggetti dell’attrice che lasciò le scene a 36 anni e si autoesiliò. Another morning excursion—this one in the station wagon—took us to Mr. Guy’s clothing store in Beverly Hills. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED!!!!! “Otherwise you’re going to walk home.”. I had spotted a sweater there which I thought Garbo might like. An earlier attempt to invite Garbo to a large social event at the Steins’, I knew, had been rebuffed. She began appearing in Swedish films in the early 1920s, changing her last name during that time. When we got to the Ahernes’, Eleanor—normally poise personified—was in a panic. I’m scared to death to tell G.G., because meeting one new person is all she can handle, and she’s never met Greer Garson.” When the doorbell rang, Eleanor made a beeline for the kitchen. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, thenView saved stories. Garbo was wonderful with him—funny, warm, charming—and his spirits rose. Garbo came to California every spring and stayed with him for several months. However, I saw only the entrance hall and the living room, which was filled with beautiful furniture and exquisite paintings—auctioned after her death for almost $20 million. A woman is sent to a reformatory when her con artist lover flees after killing a man during a botched blackmail scheme. Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. I was in New York the first time she used her nom de guerre with me. If she lunched at Hauser’s, they had iced tea and dietetic food. “Please, we mustn’t move,” she whispered urgently. The truth is, she wasn’t very feminine. Irene, who was looking out the upstairs window, watched in amazement as Garbo moved from front to back. At the Winter Garden, I learned what her celebrity cost her in the world outside. Going to a public place with Garbo was always an adventure, partly because she hated to commit herself to anything in advance. A wife neglected by her husband, a medical researcher in China, falls in love with a dashing diplomatic attaché. The next day, since I’d been given producer Ray Stark’s house seats for a matinee of Funny Girl, starring Barbra Streisand, I invited Garbo. In the end, as I turned into Irene’s driveway, I said to Garbo, “Would you mind terribly getting into the backseat? As we walked away, she whispered, with great wonder in her voice, “You know everyone in Beverly Hills.”. Depending on the time of the year, she drank either vodka or, as she said, “Guttysark” (Cutty Sark scotch). 4 talking about this. A Unique Superstar: 20th Century Icon Garbo on TCM, Movie Poster of the Week: "Mädchen in Uniform" and the film posters of the Weimar Republic, Yore Movie Swells: Bad Triangle Art or The Worst Love Triads in Celluloid Cinema. Certificate: Passed © 2021 Condé Nast. “We’re not leaving,” I said. Gayelord’s health-food line had just been launched in Japan. We had encountered a grand total of two people. I seldom used the Rolls, and I doubted if she’d ever been in it. Irene always drove herself to the studio, dressed primly and properly in a suit with gloves and a bag. “I really would like to sit in front.”, I had no idea how to handle this delicate situation. Greta Garbo is the demure and elusive icon of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Greta Garbo in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1932 (Associated Press) Reisfield, who was born in Stockholm in 1932, came to the U.S. with her parents and spent her childhood in Southern California. French District, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA. But, as a noted producer recalls, Garbo’s celebrity and eccentricities produced some unusual moments, from a … I should have known what was coming next. “Today, absolutely,” I said. She was very competitive. Garbo was always “of the period.” In real life, she had a brisk, mannish walk. De Acosta wrote almost a dozen plays, only four of which were produced, and she published a novel and three volumes of poetry. She held it up, put it down, examined it in front of a mirror, viewed it under different lights, stretched the sleeves out. At the end of one of her California trips, she came to the front door and rang the bell. All material belongs to their respective owners. Garbo looked up from her cream puff. Generally regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses of all time, Garbo was known for her melancholic, somber persona due to her many portrayals of tragic characters in her films and for her subtle and understated performances. I had a station wagon and a Rolls-Royce in those days. She applauded and applauded, and didn’t seem to mind that the aisles were again jammed with people gawking at her. Taking me aside, she said, “Bill, I’ve made a terrible mistake. I'd recommend this for Garbo completists only. An unhappily married woman is caught up in scandal and murder when her affection toward a young man is misinterpreted. Please come over and have dinner with me.’”, She paused and thought deeply. Please comment! Few of his guests spoke English, and the evening was excruciating. So I decided to take it that day. It’s only a Polaroid, but it’s not bad, eh?” The photo showed Garbo at her most robust, in a white turtleneck sweater. Song by The Andrews Sisters.A tribute to the most beautiful woman in the world,and one of the greatest actresses in movie history. Alone. She was best known for her portrayals of strong-willed heroines, most of them as compellingly enigmatic as Garbo herself. Greer and Buddy signed first, then Irene. Two days later, I flew back to Los Angeles, and no sooner had I entered my house than Garbo rang the doorbell. In Austria, Katrin is lonely after her sister's marriage and she agrees to marry her father's research associate Dr. Walter Fane. He even got out of bed and sat in a chair. I don’t know what she did between four and six. Yvonne is a beautiful model who loves frequenting the Parisian bohemian life, because she loves hobnobbing with artists. 9 of 16 people found this review helpful. Their dressing rooms were next door to each other, but they had never met. I eventually steered the conversation to The Trouble with Angels. In 1953 Garbo bought the fifth-floor apartment at 450 East Fifty-second Street. When she phoned you, or left a message for you to phone her, she often identified herself as Harriet Brown. All rights reserved. A semi-fictionalized account of the life of Mata Hari, an exotic dancer who was accused of spying for Germany during World War I. It didn’t seem fair: she had been in my bedroom many times, but just to talk. If Garbo had said no with some sorrow in her voice, it wouldn’t have hurt so much. He has just learned of a raging cholera epidemic in inland China and must go there and try to get it under control. Title: “You’re sitting with Garbo,” she said, “and you had to come over here because she doesn’t want to speak to me.”, “Isn’t she a funny little creature? Garbo and I lunched at the Ahernes’ brownstone in the East 50s, and I gave her the script. It was not a comfortable evening. Fane takes her to China but constantly ignors her in favour of his medical research. Instead, she just said matter-of-factly, “It is not possible for me to do it. I phoned to tell her the script was on its way. If you were on the next level of intimacy, you called her Miss G. That is how I always addressed her, and she always called me Mr. Frye. In 1964 our friendship almost turned professional. With hundreds of hours of television under my belt, I had an opportunity to make my first feature, The Trouble with Angels, based on Jane Trahey’s book Life with Mother Superior. Clips from TCM doc set to "Blue Eyes" by MIKA*****THIS VIDEO IS FOR FUN! Comedy, Certificate: Passed When he spotted her, he blurted out, “It’s Garbo!” Once he was himself again, they got along quite well. But Garbo liked the second act more than the first, and when the curtain came down, I couldn’t get her out of her seat. A few days later, Garbo and I were at another intimate affair. Fane travels to fight a cholera epidemic and Katrin goes with him and helps. She took my advice, and the simplicity of the black clothes, combined with her wonderful hair, which was just beginning to turn gray, produced a stunning image. Because she liked Louis B. Mayer and the director, George Cukor, she offered to shoot the final scenes over again. Like a delighted child, she flew around the side of the house, past the garage and clotheslines, and came in the back door. Lonely Katrin has an affair with Jack Townsend of the British Embassy. I cotton them up!” she replied with a straight face. She was dressed in what I called her “Katharine Hepburn look.” It was rather Chinese—loose cotton pants, a kind of coolie jacket, a straw hat tied under the chin, and the inevitable sunglasses. From the awards race to the box office, with everything in between: get the entertainment industry's must-read newsletter. “Good God, how would I know if they have sex?” I asked Garbo if she and Swanson had been friends. He reported that when the butler opened the door Doris came into view, gushing, “Oh, Greta, it’s so wonderful to see you.”, Garbo didn’t respond at first. It was a relaxed evening, and Garbo and I got to know each other better. This film has some rather fantastic elements about it, mainly that Greta Garbo would be playing a spinster, and that having several suitors - as her mother claims that she has - she would hastily accept a marriage proposal from someone for whom she has absolutely no passion. Garbo hated spending money. Greer Garson was supposed to come to dinner tomorrow night, but I gave her the wrong date and she’s coming tonight. I thought I could get Garbo for the picture. This FAQ is empty. I sent the book to her in New York, and she showed interest. Actors who possessed that unique chemistry were often used again and again for her films. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. I don’t want to rust.”. Garbo with John Gilbert on the MGM set. I introduced the two of them to my shopping companion, and we chatted for a minute or two. It is not possible.”. Garbo agreed. I put Garbo in the backseat, behind the driver, but before I could get around to the other side a woman opened Garbo’s door and tried to climb in. “It only costs one dollar and 10 cents.”, “That’s right. Since booze was not part of his health program, as soon as he retired for his nap, Miss G. would be at my door, all primed for a Guttysark or two. He is to show her a ... See full summary ». Camille is a 1936 American romantic drama film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer directed by George Cukor, and produced by Irving Thalberg and Bernard H. Hyman, from a screenplay by James Hilton, Zoë Akins, and Frances Marion. The wonder in her eyes and voice as she contemplated the flower was positively childlike. She was in her late 40s, and absolutely beautiful. The other fantastic element is trying to believe that there is any chemistry between Garbo and "the other man, George Brent. “Bill, dear, it’s a long drive out to the ocean, and I’d like to sit in the front seat with you.”, “That’s going to be impossible,” I said. When the first draft of the script was finished, I flew to New York with it. A hint of sadness crossed her face. The Painted Veil Pressed in this way, I came up with the most pathetic story. But still so beautiful.”. Irene wanted to see the storied star in the flesh, so she parked and waited for Garbo to get out of the limo. She was fourteen when her father died, which left the family destitute. To her closest friends, such as Eleanor Aherne, Greta Garbo was G.G. Just before I left home, the phone rang. Why, I asked her, hadn’t she come out and been sociable? “Good morning, Miss Brown, you’re up very early.”, She was always brisk and businesslike on the phone. People walked down the aisle and crossed through the row in front of us, staring and talking and pointing. But she was not a strict follower of Hauser’s wheat-germ-and-alfalfa-sprout regimen. Garbo had never met Roz Russell, but she knew the two of us were close friends. Garbo’s response was always the same. I went out to the guesthouse as they were preparing to leave. I often wondered out loud why she didn’t live there full-time. Crime, Certificate: Passed She loves to be wanted.”. It took an actor with a special quality and strong magnetism to match Greta Garbo's presence on the screen. A woman preparing to marry her fiance is accused of bigamy by a stranger but she fights back by trying to prove she's the victim of a conspiracy designed to discredit her. She’ll be here any minute. I feebly tried to reduce the growing tension. Romance, Certificate: Passed Now their new found happiness will depend on Walter's survival. Just think: Jules Stein, arguably Hollywood’s most powerful man, who could have requested any and every star in town (certainly any and every MCA star) to visit him at the end, wanted to see only Garbo. Only five people had been invited that evening—the very social actor Clifton Webb and his mother, Maybelle; Zsa Zsa Gabor and Porfirio Rubirosa, the international playboy whose wives had included tobacco heiress Doris Duke and Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton; and I. Barbara Hutton had lived in the house where we were dining before the Ahernes. When she was ushered into Jules Stein’s bedroom, his face came to life. Eventually, we even talked about her movies. Use the HTML below. After dinner, I’d sometimes put a white napkin on a tray and place 20 objects on it—a postage stamp, a penny, a daisy, a cuff link, and so on. She had no film aspirations until she ap… A few days later I called Eleanor Aherne and invited her and Garbo to my Coldwater Canyon home for dinner. I walk the asphalt of New York.” I suspect the real reason she maintained her base in New York was that she wanted to keep “the movies,” as she referred to the whole motion-picture industry, at a safe distance. And she had never been a client. Garson’s voice carried clearly down the hall, and Garbo recognized it immediately. To my knowledge, it’s the first time Garbo has ever had third billing.”. The music is called Evermore. Trapped in a crowd soon numbering about 50, Garbo panicked. A Polish countess becomes Napoleon Bonaparte's mistress at the urging of Polish leaders, who feel she could influence him to make Poland independent. Garbo was born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson in Stockholm, Sweden, the youngest of three children of Karl Alfred Gustafsson (1871–1920) and Anna Lovisa Johansson (1872–1944). Garbo had quite a heavy Swedish accent, and it seemed to me that it became more pronounced with time, as her voice became deeper. After a ski instructor catches her husband flirting with an old flame, she decides to pose as her (fictitious) twin sister in an attempt to keep him faithful. When we both lived in Hollywood, I used to know Miss Swanson. But it has been years since I talked to her. When it is discovered by Walter he becomes very bitter. The winner got a bottle of scotch or wine, or a box of chocolates, and Garbo won every time. Although Garbo was an international movie star, she shied away from the press, her fans, and Hollywood events. “Maybe she’s come to see it.”, “Well, potential buyers like to see what a house looks like at night.”. Enjoy the show, and before the curtain comes down we’ll run up the aisle and get out.”. “I’m sorry, we don’t take deliveries at the front door. By the time I got to her table, she had figured out exactly what was going on. “The Ahernes’ house is for sale, you know.” (It really was.) insignia on the rubber floor mat. She looked absolutely at home in slacks and sweaters. It took a few years, however, before I dared to broach the subject. Any list of the most stylish celebrities in Hollywood history would be incomplete without Greta Garbo. Garbo was still so high from watching Streisand’s performance that she was unfazed. The part had lots of warmth and humor, and over the years I’d seen a wonderfully funny side of her. She did everything but put it on. History. Garbo was famous for canceling at the last minute, although she never did it to me. I always added a little ice. I was well aware by then that Garbo was far less likely to cancel a same-day social obligation than one set for the future. Garbo and Irene were both wearing simple slack suits. He had sold it to Cary Grant and Randolph Scott, who made a pact that whichever of them married first would get the house. A wife neglected by her husband, a medical researcher in China, falls in love with a dashing diplomatic attaché. * Lenore Cotten’s husband, actor Joseph Cotten, was away doing a film, so she invited Eleanor Aherne, Garbo, my friend the producer James Wharton, and me to dinner. “It can be goddamned embarrassing. Before giving a definite yes or no, she told me, she would have to see a final draft of the script. “Why don’t you let your hair grow a little longer and let it hang just above your shoulders?” I once asked her. I asked her if she’d like to go along. “Let’s stop and look at the view,” I’d say. I did ask for an explanation, and her reply was short and dramatic: “We have Garbo staying with us.”. After giving me the scotch, she made another little presentation. She studied that sweater as if it were a piece of Georgian silver. “There was no one to make me.”. She was fourteen when her father died, which left the family destitute. (Not the full interview) She must have been spying from across the street. Theater. Actress Greta Garbo (1905-1990), an icon of Hollywood’s Golden Age, was born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson in Stockholm, Sweden. She became my neighbor. I didn’t like it that way, and she knew it. She lived beside the East River on 52nd Street, across from the River House. The next night she arrived as usual for her Guttysark. “What is she doing here?” she asked. “I can walk in New York, too,” she told me. The players had 30 seconds to study the tray and then go back to their seats and write down as many of the objects as they could remember. Garbo’s Los Angeles days were fairly structured. They retired early to their separate beds. By the time the script was finished, Garbo had retreated with her friend George Schlee to his house at Cap d’Ail on the French Riviera. Dill leaves Mary standing at the altar in order to marry his old flame, Connie, instead. Greta Garbo, Actress: Ninotchka. I was home at 10:30, and I didn’t say a word the whole evening.”. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? When do you want to come for a drink?”. Knowing that Mary still has feelings for Dill, Jeff keeps quiet about his own love for her. Maurice and Stella Trent are happily married. She didn’t want details, exactly, just the broad brushstrokes. Garbo looked marvelous in a blouse and slacks, with a sweater on her shoulders. Garbo sat opposite me, so I had a chance to study her closely. Generally regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses of all time, Garbo was known for her melancholic, somber persona due to her many portrayals of tragic characters in her films and for her subtle and understated performances. Garbo was a friend, and she seemed deeply touched when I offered her the use of my house during the eight weeks it would take to make the film. Since Irene Dunne’s house was on the way, in Holmby Hills, I told Eleanor I’d pick her up en route. Cary married Barbara Hutton, so Randy moved out. Fleeing her cruel uncle and an arranged marriage Susan Lenox falls in love with a kind stranger but circumstances force her to become a woman of easy virtue. The phone rang in my hotel room one morning. Finally, exasperated, I said, “Well, what did you talk about with Miss West?”, “Oh,” she said, “I didn’t talk. An audible buzz began to surround us. After dinner all she talked about was musclemen. Mercedes de Acosta (March 1, 1892 or 1893 – May 9, 1968) was an American poet, playwright, and novelist. Although they were working on adjoining soundstages, she never again saw Garbo, whose set was always kept closed. Gayelord Hauser seldom entertained, but one night he invited me over for what he called “a Hollywood party.” I assumed I’d be in the company of a lot of old friends; however, all 50 guests were Japanese. I was totally charmed. Those were her great films. He has all the chemistry of a cardboard box.The best part of the film is once Marshall realizes he has been cuckolded and makes an ultimatum to his faithless wife. In 1924, the newly-formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studios was looking for glamorous and sophisticated talent to entice movie audiences. I don’t know anything about monkeys, so I didn’t talk.”, “What about after dinner?” I asked. I told Eleanor a story Irene had told me years earlier about Garbo. Her apartment covered an entire floor. Hauser took a nap every day about six. Everyone else called her Miss Garbo. The two stars were both working at MGM, on different films. One morning she walked over to tell me, as proud as punch, that she had just killed a rattlesnake with a hoe. Her answer to my simple question spoke volumes about Greta Garbo. It was Irene. Fane travels to fight a cholera epidemic and Katrin goes with him and helps. Garbo, I knew, would want to ride in the front seat. Garbo was in beige slacks and a beige sweater. Miss Dunne gets carsick if she rides in the backseat. Garbo’s verdict: “Two-Faced Woman was not good and never could be made good.”. She wore no jewelry. Greta Garbo, Swedish American actress who was one of the most glamorous and popular motion-picture stars of the 1920s and ’30s. Garbo didn’t believe me for a minute. Trying to perform in a moral straight jacket is probably what really cost this film its potential edge. “Put on your black slacks and sweater,” I said. With Greta Garbo, Fredric March, Freddie Bartholomew, Maureen O'Sullivan. A friendship with Greta Garbo had its many pleasures. “Because Miss West is going to be in white. “The car won’t be here and I don’t know if we can get a taxi. Modul de preparare a prajiturii Jerbo pe etape insotite de fotografii Drama. [3]Garbo's older sister and brother were Sven Alfred (1898–1967) and Alva Maria (1903–1926). Back out on Beverly Drive, I recognized Angie Dickinson walking toward us with her daughter. At the Farmers Market, I headed for the fresh vegetables, but we passed a bakery on the way, and Garbo stopped. Garbo and Gayelord said they would ride with me to Santa Monica. Not even for $1 million—a monumental salary in those days—which Columbia had authorized me to offer her. I never took a photograph of Garbo. Brent - who was so wonderful with Kay Francis, Bette Davis, and Ruth Chatterton - is here no more attractive than the husband he is trying to supplant. Ray Stark had alerted the manager that we were coming, so we were ushered to our seats just as the houselights dimmed. Why don’t we have dinner sometime? “Surely she didn’t talk about monkeys after dinner, too?”, “No.