MGM were famed for being the last of the studios to embrace sound. Although this was made several years after their last silent movie, this exemplifies MGM's legacy in making exceptional silent films by nostalgically bringing back some of their famous style but in a talking picture.
This all-star film was made for the fans, the fans of the stars and therefore the stars all act the way the fans expected them to. A lot of fans had grown up with these people being in the silents and wanted to see them like they were back in their glory days - on the silent screen. Greta Garbo and the Barrymore brothers are exactly the characters you'd expect them to be, they're almost doing impressions of themselves but because they're all such good actors, really good actors it works perfectly. Joan Crawford for example, who became a silent superstar by flirting with her eyes, speaking with her expressions and with her exaggerated emotional outbursts plays that role again - but with words as well. It makes her character stand out and maybe it's because of her incongruous style that she grabs your full attention. Because her acting skill, even in silent mode, is so convincing and she herself, so compelling, you can fully believe she is real.
The one fly in the ointment is Wallace Beery. I can't understand why he became such a big star - then again so did Jean Harlow. His character is made even less believable by his terrible German accent. There's one atrocious scene where Beery first notices Joan Crawford's legs. This is pure Merrie Melodies! His eyes bulge and his tongue almost hits the floor like that cartoon wolf when he sees a Betty Boop type! He's just not convincing.
This is a difficult film to score. It's entertaining, acted and photographed fabulously but you get the impression that this is just an excuse to stick all these actors together. The writing has taken a back seat, the actual story doesn't really say much. Essentially it's just an old soap.
This all-star film was made for the fans, the fans of the stars and therefore the stars all act the way the fans expected them to. A lot of fans had grown up with these people being in the silents and wanted to see them like they were back in their glory days - on the silent screen. Greta Garbo and the Barrymore brothers are exactly the characters you'd expect them to be, they're almost doing impressions of themselves but because they're all such good actors, really good actors it works perfectly. Joan Crawford for example, who became a silent superstar by flirting with her eyes, speaking with her expressions and with her exaggerated emotional outbursts plays that role again - but with words as well. It makes her character stand out and maybe it's because of her incongruous style that she grabs your full attention. Because her acting skill, even in silent mode, is so convincing and she herself, so compelling, you can fully believe she is real.
The one fly in the ointment is Wallace Beery. I can't understand why he became such a big star - then again so did Jean Harlow. His character is made even less believable by his terrible German accent. There's one atrocious scene where Beery first notices Joan Crawford's legs. This is pure Merrie Melodies! His eyes bulge and his tongue almost hits the floor like that cartoon wolf when he sees a Betty Boop type! He's just not convincing.
This is a difficult film to score. It's entertaining, acted and photographed fabulously but you get the impression that this is just an excuse to stick all these actors together. The writing has taken a back seat, the actual story doesn't really say much. Essentially it's just an old soap.