LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Greta Garbo: John Gilbert
built 628 days ago
Overruling MGM studio boss Louis Mayer, Greta Garbo recruited former lover John Gilbert to co-star in this romantic classic, directed by Rouben Mamoulian. Garbo is electrifying as the fierce-willed 17th-century Swedish monarch who defied tradition, shunning a politically motivated arranged marriage to pursue true love. With Ian Keith, Lewis Stone. 99 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English, French, Spanish; theatrical trailer.
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Metro was primarily interested in the services of Stiller, but at his request they gave Garbo a modest featured player's contract. She first appeared in two Latin love stories drawn from torrid Vicente Blasco-Ibanez novels. As a Spanish peasant girl in "The Torrent" (1926) and a vamp in "The Temptress" (1926), Garbo received favorable reviews, but she seemed indistinguishable from any number of other Hollywood actresses of the time. However, her breakthrough came when MGM paired her with the silent screen's most popular leading man, John Gilbert, in the unrestrained romance "Flesh and the Devil" (1927). By all accounts, the two developed an instant and intense romantic rapport that carried over on-screen and encouraged the publicity and gossip about her off-screen life that has followed Garbo ever since. Following the success of "Flesh and the Devil," Garbo demanded a raise in her salary, from $600 to $5,000 per week.
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The most important of Garbo's silent movies were Torrent (1926), The Temptress (1926), Flesh and the Devil (1926), and Love (1927). She starred in the latter two with the popular leading man John Gilbert. Her name was linked with his in a much publicized romance, and she was said to have left him standing at the altar when she changed her mind about getting married.
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In 1927 Greta almost married John Gilbert, but failed to show up on her wedding day. This kind of behaviour, even though he had allowed her to live rent free on a cottage on his estate, did not endear her to many in Hollywood. Aloof as always, she failed to attend John Gilbert's 1936 funeral as well.
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