Unlike many of her contemporaries Greta Garbo had made a successful transition from silent films to talkies in 1929. Her three subsequent films were commercial successes but were hampered either by weak scripts or leading men with whom there was no 'chemistry'. One of these was Gavin Gordon who proved to be so abysmal that he was relegated to a lower division!
In 1931 she hit the jackpot with a largely fictionalised account of the alleged espionage activities of Dutch born Margarethe Zelle known to legend as Mata Hari. Her importance as a spy has no doubt been overrated and she was executed on the flimsiest of evidence. MGM conveniently ignored all of this and simply recognised a perfect vehicle for Garbo and so it proved to be.
'Chemistry' is both rare and elusive and on the silver screen means only one thing: buffo box office. It is certainly no revelation that women were not exactly Ramon Novarro's cup of tea but the 'chemistry' between effete Mexican and sultry Swede is palpable and benefits the film greatly.
As the fictional General Shubin Lionel Barrymore is, well, Lionel Barrymore and Lewis Stone is sufficiently cold-hearted as spymaster Andriani, generally assumed to be based on Georges Ladoux, head of French counterespionage. It is he who delivers the prophetic line: 'The only way to resign from our profession is to die'. Art direction is by Cedric Gibbons although to what degree is difficult to judge as he was credited with a total of 1,500!
On its re-release this pre-code production did not escape the unwelcome attentions of the Hays office and lost a few minutes. Apparently there is an uncut version in Brussels but the chances of its being shown commercially are minimal.
As for Garbo she is luminous, intoxicating, tantalising and incredibly sensual in a role that marked the beginning of her Golden Age in which commercial success was matched by critical acclaim for her acting skills.
Probably best to leave it to Bette Davis who said of Garbo:'What she does with the camera lens is nothing short of witchcraft'.
Review of Mata Hari
