Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Supernatural (1933)



“Treat all supernatural beings with respect- but keep aloof from them!”

            I have been looking to watch Supernatural starring Carole Lombard for the longest time. I do not know what made me do it but I went onto YouTube and found it. I have tried to find it on the site for a long time I did once and then they took it down. I am so used to seeing Carole Lombard in her comedy roles that as soon as I heard about Supernatural and how it was darker than her more well known films I had to see it. I was very happy that my expectations for this film did not fall flat it was very good.
            Ruth Rogen has been arrested and sentenced to death after killing three of her lovers. She shows no emotion for having taken three lives. A psychologist deems her sane she knew perfectly well what she was doing. In court she laughs at the judge and laughs at what she did. In jail days before she is about to be executed Ruth begins to panic and demands to see a person who will not come to her.
            A Dr. Hudson asks the warden if he could perform an experiment on Ruth. He thinks that Ruth’s spirit can escape her body and travel into another woman and carry out her evil deed of killing her lovers. He wants to use ultraviolet light to see if he can trap the soul. Ruth agrees but she swears she will have her vengeance no matter what happens.
            A man breaks into a home where a young man, John Courtney, has been laid out before he is to be buried. He makes a plaster cast of John’s face. The trespasser is a spiritualist named Paul Bavian. He is the man who keeps getting letters from Ruth urging him to come see her but he refuses. Paul’s landlord is an annoying old drunk lady who keeps nudging him about what she knows. She says she knows about something that happened between him and Ruth but if she pays him they can still be friends and he will not tell anyone. Paul’s ring hides poison in his ring and pricks the old woman killing her.
            Paul writes a letter to Roma Courtney (Lombard), John’s twin sister. He writes that John has come to him and he needs to see her urgently. Roma asks her boyfriend Grant (Randolph Scott), Dr. Hudson, and her lawyer Hammond. All three tell her not to go they think it is a scam. Roma cannot help her grief and curiosity. With Grant by her side, Roma goes to see Paul at his apartment. Before the couple gets to his apartment, Paul has rigged up his death mask of John along with a few other tricks. One of Paul’s tricks is having John say that Hammond was the one who murdered him. Roma falls for this out of confusion and grief but Grant can see through the phony spiritualists.
            After the séance Roma and Grant go to see Dr. Hudson at his apartment. They are told Dr. Hudson is not to be disturbed but they do not listen. When Roma and Grant find the doctor they see him with the body of Ruth Rogen. Dr. Hudson says they must leave immediately because there is a danger of a contagion but not in the normal sense. As Grant and Roma begin to tell the doctor about their visit to Paul’s an ice cold wind blows through the room even though the doors are closed. Roma faints and when they bring her to a chair they find fingerprints on her throat. Ruth Rogen tried to get into Roma’s body but failed.
            Dr. Hudson convinces Roma to have Paul over the house for another séance. Paul once again puts poison in his ring this time poisoning Hammond. A cold wind comes through the room and Roma grabs her throat. Grant lays Roma on the couch and at that moment Ruth goes into Roma’s body. When she wakes up and stands up she immediately walks over to Paul.
            Roma possessed by Ruth takes Paul to Ruth’s place. Paul does not realize that Roma is possessed by Ruth and is dumbfounded about why they are at the dead woman’s place. This is part of Ruth’s plan to get Paul to confess that he gave her up to the police Paul says they cannot stay in the apartment so he proposes going to Roma’s yacht. After they leave the apartment, Grant and Dr. Hudson come by. They speak to the owner of the apartment building asking if he saw a woman and a man come by. At this time Dr. Hudson realizes that Roma has been possessed by Ruth. They try to think of where Roma and Paul could have gone. The wind blows, an image of John comes before Grant, and a wooden toy boat falls to the ground. Grant sees this as a sign and rushes to the yacht.
            On the yacht Roma/Ruth feeds Paul champagne and tries to seduce him. She tries to strangle him and almost succeeds. Grant and Dr. Hudson come just in time. Paul runs out of the room trying to get to the small boat to take him back to land. Roma walks over to the window and begins to laugh a wicked laugh. Ruth leaves Roma’s body and gets her revenge on Paul.

            Some reviewers have said that the acting is not that great but honestly I have no complaints. Carole Lombard was fantastic. As I said I am so used to seeing Lombard in her comedies that when I found out this film was a darker film of hers I had to see. I did not know what to expect. Lombard was a great actress she had so much talent and this film just proves how great of an actress she was. She had range as an actress she pulled of being this nice girl who was grieving for her brother to this seductive evil woman. Lombard was perfection I give her so much praise. Vivienne Osbourne who played Ruth Rogen was unbelievable. I found myself feeling a little tense in her scenes. Randolph Scott was good but his character was dull.
            Supernatural is a really good film. It is a bit cheesy but I liked the story a lot. Supernatural is short but in that short amount of time the story gets right to the point and keeps you on your toes the entire time. You can watch Supernatural on Youtube


Monday, October 29, 2012

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)



“A queen has no hour for love, time presses, and events crowd upon her, and her shell, an empty glittering husk, she must give up all the a woman holds most dear.” 

            My epic to watch every film Olivia de Havilland and Errol Flynn made together (epic… I am making it sound like they made a million pictures together) has brought me to their sixth film The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. I had been hoping to see more Olivia de Havilland in the film but of course this being a film where Bette Davis is the headliner I should have known that de Havilland would barely be in the film. I like both Errol Flynn and Bette Davis I thought I could handle just seeing the two of them together but the two together did not work very well and wound up being one huge bore.
            I have to be honest I was not paying too much attention to the film. I did for like the first half hour and then Bette Davis got too much for me and I found the plot to be confusing. I got out of the plot that Elizabeth is in love with Essex but her love for him threatens the country. She is torn between being a woman with desires and being the queen of a powerful country. Essex comes back after a campaign in Spain and she is not too pleased with him for whatever the reason may be. Essex leaves the court and returns to his family home.
            Without Essex around her Elizabeth is miserable. She thinks she is old and he does not love her. Lady Penelope (de Havilland) sings a song about a woman and her young love to make Elizabeth upset. The queen has a fit and orders Essex back to the court. When he comes back before he sees the queen Penelope warns Essex of the queen that she has been pacing back and forth most nights cursing his name. When she asks if he loves Elizabeth, Essex replies that he does.     
            What drove me nuts most of the film starting from when Essex returns to Whitehall as Elizabeth’s command is that they argued more than anything making it seem as if they hated each other more than loved each other. And their conversations going back and forth between arguing and professing their love just bored me and made me lose all focus and concentration.
            Bette Davis is a great actress and she gave a very good performance but to me she was definitely a modern actress she was good playing characters in a modern setting. I did not like her in a period piece. Now Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland in all but one of their films together (unless you want to add thank Your Lucky Stars) made period films. Olivia de Havilland made a hand full of period films herself. They looked good and acted well in those films. Davis let it be known at Warner Bros. that she wanted to make this film. She wanted to play this prestige role. Davis wanted to have Laurence Olivier in the role but he was set to star in Wuthering Heights. Warner Bros. put Flynn in the role because he was making money for the studio. De Havilland was upset that she came back from playing a central role in Gone With the Wind to playing a second tier role with barely any screen time. I cannot blame de Havilland for being upset that must have been so disappointing. But of course she would have her revenge on the studio a few years later.
            The supporting cast was excellent even if they were not in the film so much. Donald Crisp played Francis Bacon. He looked like he would have fit right in 1500s England. Vincent Price was Sir Walter Raleigh and a bit of a mean streak. Henry Daniell as was probably the best cast. He was usually cast as the angry ambitious guy who wants to bring down the main character and that is exactly what he was in this film. Nineteen year old Nanette Fabray made her film debut. She looked adorable and her character was so sweet.
            Michael Curtiz directed the film and Erich Wolfgang Korngold created the score. Curtiz the more I see his films the more I admire him. He got such beautiful close-ups of each of the cast members. Korngold was a genius at creating mood and atmosphere with his beautiful scores.
            The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex has its moments of being a brilliant film but for me it was mostly boring. There was too much dialogue and not enough action and I felt not so much explaining of what was going on. The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex is worth seeing at least once because it is an excellently well made film. 

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Fifth Avenue Girl (1939)



“You see, it's my birthday.”
“Birthdays are all right, but you never get over the first one.” 

                Fifth Avenue Girl has a different kind of plot for a comedy film from the 1930s. It had so much potential to be really funny but fell short. There was no spark, no life to it.
            Tim Borden is the wealthy owner of a factory that makes pumps (pumps for what I do not know). His business is not doing well because the workers are striking and several other issues. All Borden can do is throw his hands up and go home. The day happens to be his birthday and he expects some kind of happiness and positive attention at home. Instead Borden comes home to an empty house and a blackmail letter that his wife has been seen with a young society boy. Borden throws the letter in the fire not caring. He decides to go out to the zoo that is across from his beautiful mansion.
            At the zoo he meets a young unemployed girl named Mary Grey (Ginger Rogers). Since it is his birthday Borden takes Mary out to a fancy restaurant. At first Mary is worried about what everything costs but by the end of the night she is all fed and happy and having a good time with Borden. Borden’s wife is at the same restaurant with her younger man. He goes over to his wife who is furious that he is with another woman and he simply tells her he does not care what she thinks he is having a good time on his birthday.
            The next morning Borden wakes up with a black eye he cannot remember getting. His wife is furious with him for being out with Mary when all the sudden Mary walks downstairs from the guest bedroom. Neither Mary nor Borden remembers how they got home. Mary does remember that Borden got into a fight with the cab driver and that is all. After breakfast Borden realizes this is the first time in a very long time that his wife and children have paid any attention to him and he likes that his wife is jealous and his children are mad at him. He comes up with the idea for Mary to stay in the house so his wife will pay attention to him more.
            A doctor for the family tells the wife to be nice to Mary thinking in time she will reveal her true colors as a gold digger. Mrs. Borden thinks her husband is crazy but the doctor tells her she is the one who needs help not her husband. Borden is so happy and carefree he does not even go to work. That was also part of his plan to get his son to start running the business for him.
            To make a long story short the Bordens become a happy family once again and Mary falls in love with Tim, Borden’s son.
            Ginger Rogers in her Pre-Codes and several of her other films in the 1930s was the personification of the snarkiness. No one could better fire away a sarcastic comment or reply like she could. Ginger was given the snarky sarcastic lines in this film but she just delivered them so flat and so slow. Unfortunately I think she partly brought the film down. She is not the sole reason the film was dull was but her flat delivery of almost all her lines did not help. It seems as if Ginger just phoned in her performance it did not seem like she enjoyed making this film.
            Fifth Avenue Girl had a cute story and if Ginger Rogers’s performance had not been so dull and the character of Mrs. Borden had been so annoying the film would have been enjoyable. I also found the character of Mike the driver played by James Ellison to be pointless and a waste of time. It took so much away from the main plot of the story. Fifth Avenue Girl, as one reviewer on IMDB wrote, is like My Man Godfrey with Carole Lombard and William Powell only the sex roles are reversed. Only with Fifth Avenue Girl there is no chemistry at all between Ginger Rogers and Walter Connolly or any of the characters for that matter and there was no quick paced wit being thrown around. Only watch Fifth Avenue Girl if you are a big fan of Ginger Rogers. 

Friday, October 26, 2012

Tortilla Flat (1942)


“They say that a little love is like a little wine. Too much of either makes a man sick.” 

I kind of had a feeling as soon as I recorded Tortilla Flat that I was not going to enjoy it too much. I am not too much of a fan of Spencer Tracy although he is a very good actor but there is something to him that I cannot get into. Once I read a synopsis of what the film was about I had a feeling I would be bored. So with the plot and Tracy as well this being from a Steinbeck novel I knew I was not going to be sitting through this with too much enjoyment. The only reason I recorded this was because John Garfield and Hedy Lemarr are in it, I have been on the lookout for more of their films. 
The story takes place in a northern California area known with a large Mexican- American community. Many of the people in the area are poor and several of the men are wondering bums. Pilon (Tracy) is one of those men. He is good at getting people to do what he wants and to do things for him. While sitting down by the beach one day a lawyer comes to Pilon asking where he can find Danny Alvarez (Garfield). Pilon tells the lawyer that Danny is jail for disorderly conduct after he got drunk. The lawyer asks Pilon to take him to the jail he needs to speak to Danny about him having inheriting two houses from his grandfather who passed. 
Danny only has one day of jail left so with the guard they leave to check out the houses. Before they go they all stop to get some wine so they can celebrate. While walking to the house Danny is introduced to a beautiful woman named Dolores (Lemarr). Pilon sees that nothing good can come of the relationship, or so he thinks because he wants Danny to stay with them not get a job and run off with some girl. Pilon manages to talk Danny into letting him rent the second house. The guard tells Pilon he can that he (Pilon) has been leading Danny around. Pilon grabs the man and tells the guard that he never take advantage of his friends. 
Pilon does not like Dolores at all when she comes to the house one night. She tells him that she does not like him or his friends at all. From this point Pilon sets out to cause a rift between Danny and Dolores. His plan backfires though when Danny goes on a drunken binge and shows up at the factory where Dolores works and causes a fight where he gets seriously hurt. During Danny’s time in the hospital Pilon feels terrible and prays to go that Danny gets better. He even gets a job that no one knows about so he can help his friend buy a boat. Danny does get better and marries Dolores. 

There is a lot more to this story but I am in no mood to write more about it. 
Spencer Tracy I wound up not minding too much even if his character was a pain in the ass. Pilon was a character who knew what he was doing he knew that his friends were dumb enough to listen to him and he could manipulate them very easily. I do not like people or characters like if they are not the bad guys. You can see Pilon has a heart in him somewhere but he keeps that closed off so everything he says sounds like a load of crap. John Garfield reminded me of a little boy being manipulated by the older boys and once he found what was going on went into a rage. This is only the third time I have ever seen Garfield in a film and I really like him he was a very good actor. Hedy Lemarr was great. She looked like she could have been a local of the community. Her character was feisty and she played that perfectly. Frank Morgan plays a character named Pirate who has a couple of dogs. The character once prayed to St. Francis to help one of his dogs who had been seriously sick and the dog became better. Morgan stole the whole film. He was fantastic in this role. He seemed like such a nice man like you want to reach through the screen and hug him! 
Tortilla Flat was an alright film. As I mentioned I knew I was not going to like it too much because of Spencer Tracy and the plot. I will say all the actors were perfect in their roles they all did great. Tortilla Flat is worth at least one viewing. If TCM ever airs the film again give it a try. 

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Frankenstein (1931)



“It’s Alive!”

            Years ago my brother was on a Universal Monster kick. I can remember clear as day my parents buying him the DVDs of Dracula, The Mummy, The Wolf Man, and Frankenstein. I had no idea why he was so interested in them especially because they were old black and white films. At the time I was not into classic films yet so I had no interest in them. Then I noticed maybe a year or two later that Anthony was putting the DVDs in a box to be sold. By that time I had just begun to like classic films so he told me to take them. Now, several years later, I am finally getting around to watching at least one of the classic horror films. I chose Frankenstein to watch first because I love Young Frankenstein by Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder, I had to see what the comedic geniuses were referencing.
            I am not going to write a summary of the film out because I am sure that everyone in their life time has heard the story of Frankenstein or more accurately Frankenstein’s monster.
            I can clearly see why this film is cited as the birth of the horror film genre. I can just picture it being so scary for movie goers in 1931. Over seventy years later the close ups of The Monster’s face are terrifying. If I was little kid watching this now I would be afraid. I read that the makeup for the Monster was all done by the makeup artist Jack P. Pierce and make no reference to Mary Shelley’s book character. Pierce created the most iconic monster makeup ever. He made the face makeup a grayish- green color so it would look pale on the black and white screen. All future references to the Monster were made to look like Pierce’s work.
            The cinematography and some of the sets have a great German Expressionist look. The Expressionist look and it being in black and white greatly enhance the scariness to the film.
            I had to laugh at several of the scenes because I kept thinking of Young Frankenstein. Young Frankenstein is one of my all time favorite movies. I put that movie on and I laugh as if it is the first time I seeing it. From the first scene I was laughing when Frankenstein told Fritz (not Igor) to get down when they are at the cemetery and he is still standing. In Mel Brooks’s version Gene Wilder tells Marty Feldman to get down and he is still standing up. If you have never seen Young Frankenstein there is clearly something wrong with you and you must go watch it right now.
            Frankenstein is a classic film all film lovers of any decade or genre should see. It is one of the perfect examples of filmmaking, style, writing, casting, direction, and cinematography. Even though Frankenstein is based off of a classic work of literature it has a good story and characters that “horror” films of today lack.
 

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Sky Giant (1938)

Sky Giant does not have an unfamiliar story. I feel with this if you have seen one aviation film from the thirties you have seen most of them. It takes aviation, puts in two guys who at first do not get along too well, and throws in a girl they both happen to like. Sounds like any other film not necessarily just an aviation themed film.
            The film starts off with an old air force colonel named Stockton taking over an aviation school. He wants nothing but the best from his students and runs it as if they are in the military. Stockton wanted a pilot named Stag Cahill (Richard Dix) to have an office job but Cahill says there is no way he would ever want to work in an office he loves flying. As he was leaving to go to another airline company Cahill gets a letter from his commanding officer that he has to stay with Stockton for a mission.
            Stockton’s on Ken (Chester Morris) signs up for the school. He does not make a good first impression on Cahill when they first meet and for the first few weeks the two men go back and forth driving each other crazy. Col. Stockton is not happy when he sees his son has applied and been accepted to for the school. Ken is reckless and irresponsible but with this Ken sets out to prove himself.
            Eventually Cahill and Ken become friends and they start vying for a girl’s attention. Cahill had met Meg Lawrence (Joan Fontaine) as he was saying goodbye to some of his friends. He thought she was a guy getting into his locker before he even left and he kicked her in the behind and she fell. Since then he was always trying to get her cousin to let him meet her. Meg falls for Ken and even agrees to marry him until he refuses to give up flying and work at a desk job and they split up. Seeing this as a moment of weakness Cahill moves in and constantly tells Meg that he loves her and wants to marry her and she eventually agrees to if the mission he has to go on is his last and he agrees.
            What would an aviation film be without there being a mission? Cahill, Ken, and Meg’s cousin Ferguson go on the mission where they have to map out Alaska and some other places. Their plane goes down in the snow in Alaska and Ferguson breaks his leg. And just like in most aviation films the guy who is keeping the others from reaching safety sacrifices himself.
            When Cahill and Ken come back Meg runs to Ken first. Cahill can see that Meg really loves Ken. He lies telling Ken and Meg that he lied about his age on the marriage certificate so now the marriage has to annulled.
            Happy ending everyone gets what they want and they walk away all best friends.
            The cast was very good. Richard Dix and Chester Morris I have seen in other films but I really do not remember them. Joan Fontaine was barely in the film until the end. She was only twenty-two when she made this film. The more films I see of Fontaine’s I notice how good she was even in her early films. She is very natural in front of the camera you can believe she is her character.
            Sky Giant was alright I got bored of it pretty quickly. I am not saying it was a bad film I happy I got the chance to see it. TCM aired the film last week for Joan Fontaine’s birthday. If they ever air it again give it a try.
 


Sunday, October 21, 2012

Silent Sundays: A Woman of Affairs (1928)



There have been so many classic films I have enjoyed so much and found out they are not available on DVD (Test Pilot being the ultimate). A Woman of Affairs if one of them and honestly I am so shocked this is not available on DVD because it is a Greta Garbo film and one of her silents. Of the Garbo films I have seen A Woman of Affairs is the most outstanding. From beginning to end I was taken with it. The story is very melodramatic but the acting and the cinematography and the direction are incredible to the point where I feel that this should be shown in a film class.
            Diana (Garbo), Neville (John Gilbert), and David (Johnny Mack Brown) have all been friends since they were kids. Diana and Neville have loved each other in all that time. Diana and her brother Jeffry (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) are wealthy and reckless and Neville is poor. His father does not like Diana’s family and will not have his son be with Diana. Meanwhile, Jeffry hero worships David and wants his sister to be with him. Neville tells Diana one day that he is leaving for Egypt for a new job and will be away for two years. Diana is angry because she knows his father is sending him so far to be away from her. Neville and Diana plan to marry the night before he leaves but his father talks him out of it and he speaks to Diana himself.
            Two years go by and Diana has been reckless. David has always been at her beck and call. He eventually gets her to marry him. On their honeymoon in London, two men come. David gets a wild look of fear of desperation in his eyes he runs towards the window and jumps. Everyone believes David’s death was an accident that he had been drinking. Jeffry is there and he says his sister is lying David never drank. Diana confesses that he killed himself for decency because she had been with men before him. For years everyone accepts her story and she wanders around Europe.
            Seven years later Diana returns to London. Neville is now happily engaged to a woman named Constance (Dorothy Sebastian) and they are to be married in three days time. Diana goes to Neville’s house because he knows an old family friend and doctor named Hugh will be there. She needs Hugh’s help for her brother who is now seriously ill. Hugh tries to excuse himself but no one believes his lie so he tells them about Diana being back and Jeffry being ill. All of Neville’s old feelings for Diana storm his emotions. He tells Constance he loves only her that he was with Diana a long time ago. Not being able to handle his feelings for Diana any longer he leaves the party and finds her in the street outside Jeffry’s apartment. Neville takes Diana back to his apartment. She sees a photograph of Constance, comments that Constance’s eyes are true and clean unlike her own. Their feelings of love and compassion and longing take over and they spend the night together. The next morning Hugh comes by the apartment and tells them both Jeffry has died.
            Months later, Constance and Neville are happily married. Neville gets a letter from Hugh who is writing from a hospital in France. He writes that Diana is very ill and delirious and calls out his (Neville’s) name constantly. Hugh feels that if he comes Diana will have the will to live. Neville tells Constance he has to go as an old friend and asks her to come with him. At the hospital Neville is told that Diana has had a miscarriage and has no will to live. At first she does not recognize Neville as she lays in her hospital bed. She does when she comes out of her room panicking looking for her flowers. Diana turns to David and tells her how much she loves him. She turns around and recognizes Constance. At once Diana feels terrible she can see how much Constance loves Neville.
            Back in England Neville has become impossible. He is irritable and snaps at Constance. Neville drives out to Hugh’s place not knowing that the doctor has brought Diana back to England. He tells his old friend that he is in love with Diana. The doctor sends Neville up to Diana. Neville says to Diana that all he wants is their happiness, she asks about Constance. Neville replies that Constance knows about his love for her (Diana). They plan to run away to South America the following night.
            Diana receives a letter from Neville’s father asking to meet with him. Almost as soon as Diana shows up Neville comes with Constance. Neville is sick and tired of everyone seeing Diana as a villain who killed David for her indecency. He tells the truth that David was a thief he had embezzled thousands and was about to be arrested the night he died. Rather than go to jail he killed himself. Diana as David’s wife paid off his theft. Neville’s father sees Diana much differently and better now. Diana does not stay she goes to leave and Neville follows. He comes back though saying that she had told him that Constance was going to have a baby. Constance says that is not true she told him that to get him back in the house. Neville, Hugh, and the father race out to reach Diana but it is too late, she crashed her car into the tree where she and Neville proclaimed their love for eternity.
            Greta Garbo… honestly I do not know even know what to say she was so brilliant. She was outstanding. I can see why Garbo was such a huge box office draw even in silent films she had such a magnetism. I could not look away from her whenever she came on the screen. Of the Garbo films I have seen her acting was so raw and incredibly emotional and she never looked more beautiful. I like hearing Garbo speak I like her accent but it was interesting not hearing her speak and just watching her facial expressions they said more than words ever could. I loved Garbo's chemistry with John Gilbert. There was a scene where they kiss at the beginning that you can completely tell they were in love with each other off screen the kiss and the embrace were so real. John Gilbert was so handsome and so good. Dorothy Sebastian nearly stole the film from Garbo (in my opinion). She was so pretty. At the end where Constance is at Neville’s father’s house, Sebastian acted the hell out of that scene she was amazing. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in his few scenes is excellent. Jeffry was a tortured character right from the beginning with this awful rage and pain and Fairbanks just took off with it that you would swear he was not acting at all. I must mention that Fairbanks was only nineteen years old!! And he pulled this role off to perfection!
            Of the silent films I have seen so far A Woman of Affairs was stunningly and amazingly directed to the point where, as I mentioned, it should be shown in film classes. I have seen some of Clarence Brown’s other films but never have they caught my eye like this one. I felt like I was watching a really good German or French silent film not an American one. There were some amazing close ups and tracking shots. I do not know the technical terms for the shots I wish I did to better describe them.  This is a perfect example of how the direction greatly enhances a film and its story.
          I must also praise Adrian for his costumes. To me in the other films I have seen Garbo in her outfits mostly look awkward on her or she looks awkward in them. This film was different she was in the flapper fashion of the time with the cloche hats, the skirts, and the shoes and she looked beautiful. Garbo looked comfortable in the clothes they did not dominate her or distract from her. 

            A Woman of Affairs is silent filmmaking perfection. I was so surprised that this was made at MGM during the silent era, I cannot pinpoint why but I just am. I was blown away with how stunning this film was made and acted. The day I find out A Woman of Affairs is coming out on DVD (whenever that will be) I will be so happy and will be buying it the day it is released.
You watch the film here