PETER THE TRAMP (1922)
Credits: An Erik A. Petschler Production; directed
and written by Erik A. Petschler; photographed by Oscar Norberg;
assistant director Verner Nordlund
Cast: Erik A. Petschler, Greta Gustafsson, Helmer Larsson,
Fredrik Olsson, Tyra Ryman, Gucken Cederborg
Synopsis: Peter (Erik A. Petschler), who has joined the
army to get away from a bad love affair, meets the mayor's daughter
(Greta Gustafsson) in the town where he is stationed. After a
love affair with the daughter, he ends up marrying a rich widow.
THE STORY OF GOSTA BERLING
(1924)
Credits: Svensk Filmindustri; directed by Mauritz Stiller;
adaptation by Mauritz Stiller and Ragnar Hyulten-Cavallius from
the novel by Selma Lagerlof; photography by Julius Jaenzon; art
direction by Ragnar Bratten, Erik Jerken and Vilhelm Byde.
Cast: Lars Hanson, Greta Garbo, Ellen Cederstrom, Mona
Martenson, Jenny Hasselquist, Karin Swanstrom, Gerda Lundequist,
Torsten Kammeren, Svend Tornbeck, Otto Elg Lundberg, Sixten Malmerfelt
Synopsis: Alcohol, high society and women cause minister
Gosta Berling to lose his postion. He meets Countess Dahna (Greta
Garbo) with whom he falls in love. Through her love, he is redeemed.
THE STREET OF SORROW (THE
JOYLESS STREET) (1925)
Credits: A Sofar-Film; directed by G.W. Pabst, adaptation
by Willy Haas from the novel by Hugo Bettauer, photography by
GUido Seeber, Curt Oertel and Robert Lach.
Cast: Werner Krauss, Asta Nielsen, Jaro Furth, Greta Garbo,
Agnes Esterhazy, Gregor Chmara, Valeska Gert, Einar Hanson, Loni
Nest, Marlene Dietrich
Synopsis: Franz Rumfort (Jaro Furth) unsuccessfully tries
to support his poor family in postwar Vienna with the help of
his oldest daughter, Greta (Greta Garbo). Their poverty nearly
drives her to become a woman of ill-repute, but she is saved by
her father and a Red Cross lieutenant (Einar Hanson).
THE TORRENT (1926)
Credits: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; directed by Monta Bell; adaptation
by Dorothy Farnum from the novel by Vicente Blasco Ibanez; titles
by Katherine Hiliker and H.H. Caldwell; photography by William
Daniels; edited by Frank Sullivan.
Cast: Ricardo Cortez, Greta Garbo, Gertrude Olmsted, Edward
Connelly, Lucien Littlefield, Martha Mattox, Lucy Beaumont, Tully
Marshall, Mack Swain, Arthur Edmund Carew, Lillian Leighton, Mario
Carillo
Synopsis: Lenora (Greta Garbo) and Rafael (Ricardo Cortez)
grew up in the same Spanish village. Because he is from an aristocratic
family and Lenora is not, his mother decides to break up the lovers.
Leonora becomes a famous prima donna and returns to the village.
She and Rafael begin their love affair again, but, once again,
his mother interferes, and he ends up marrying Remedios. Many
years later they meet again, but he has aged far beyond Leonora.
He returns to his family and she to her career.
THE TEMPTRESS (1926)
Credits: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; directed by Fred Niblo, adaptation
by Dorothy Farnum from the novel by Vicente Blasco Ibanez; titles
by Marian Ainslee; photography by Tony Gaudio; edited by Lloyd
Nosler
Cast: Greta Garbo, Antonio Moreno, Marc MacDermott, Lionel
Barrymore, Armand Kaliz, Roy Darcy, Alys Murrell, Steve Clemento,
Roy Coulson, Robert Anderson, Francis McDonald, Hector A. Sarno,
Virginia Brown Faire, Inez Gomez
Synopsis: Elena and Robledo meet at a party in Paris, but
he later finds that she is married to his good friend Torre Blanco.
Refusing her pleas to take her away, he returns to his work as
an engineer on a dam construction project in Argentina. To his
dismay, Blanco and Elena come to Argentina where the men neglect
their work because of Elena. Unfortunately, she also attracts
the attention of Robledo's nemesis, the unscrupulous Manos Duros
who, along with his men, has frustrated Robledo's work at every
opportunity. The men fight each other over the Temptress, Duros
kills Blanco by accident when he tries to shoot Robledo, and he
and his men dynamite the dam. Robledo, defeated, offers himself
to Elena saying he will go anywhere she wishes. In spite of her
love for him, she refuses saying he must finish the work he has
started. Years later, Robledo, having successfully completed
the dam and become engaged to an Argentine beauty, meets Elena
in Paris who has become an alcoholic derelict.
FLESH AND THE DEVIL (1927)
Credits: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; directed by Clarence Brown,
adaptation by Benjamin F. Glazer from the novel "The Undying
Past" byHermann Sudermann; titles by Marian Ainslee; photography
by Wiliam Daniels; edited by Lloyd Nosler
Cast: John Gilbert, Greta Garbo, Lars Hanson, Barbara Kent,
William Orlamund, George Fawcett, Eugenie Besserer, Marc MacDermott,
Marcelle Corday
Synopsis: Leo von Sellenthin (John Gilbert) is having an
affair with Felicitas (Greta Garbo), wife of Count von Rhaden
(Marc MacDermott). When the affair is discovered, the two have
a duel, and Leo kills the Count. He is forced to leave for America.
His best friend, Ulrich von Kletzingk (Lars Hanson) marries Felicitas
unaware of the previous affair. Several years later, Leo is safe
to return and is again enticed into an affair with Felicitas.
When Ulrich learns of this, Felicitas tells Ulrich that Leo
tempted her, so the two men agree to a duel. Feeling remorse
at what she has done, she races across the ice covered lake at
to stop the duel at the last minute, but falls in the lake and
drowns. Ulrich is only wounded in the duel, and the two men remain
friends.
LOVE (1927)
Credits: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; directed by Edmund Goulding,
adaptation by France Marion from the novel "Anna Karenina"
by Leo Tolstoy; titles by Marian Ainslee and Ruth Cummings; photography
by William Daniels; edited by Hugh Wynn
Cast: Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, George Fawcett, Emily
Fitzroy, Brandon Hurst and Philippe de Lacy
Synopsis: Anna Karenina (Greta Garbo) is having an affair
with military man Vronksy (John Gilbert). Her husband, Karenin
(Brandon Hurst), refuses to give her a divorce, so she leaves
him and her young son, Seresha (Phillippe de Lacy). However,
Vronksy must leave the military to do this. Years later, Vronksy
decides he want to return to the military, but Anna has nothing
to go back to. Realizing she has lost everything, she throws
herself in front of a train (an alternate ending available on
video versions today shows Vronksy and Anna reunited in the end).
THE DIVINE WOMAN (1928)
Credits: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; directed by Victor Seastrom,
adaptation by Dorothy Farnum from the play "Starlight"
by Gladys Unger; titles by John Colton; photography by Oliver
Marsh; edited by Conrad A. Nervig
Cast: Greta Garbo, Lars Hanson, Lowell Sherman, Polly Moran,
Dorothy Cumming, John Mack Brown, Cesare Gravina, Paulette Duval,
and Jean de Briac
Synopsis: Marianne (Greta Garbo) is left on a farm so her
mother can live in Paris. Years later, her mother sends one of
her lovers, Legrande (Lowell Sherman) to bring Marianne to Paris,
but when he makes a pass at her, she hits him and runs away thinking
she has killed him. She meets Lucien (Lars Hanson) who is in
the military, and he leaves her with his friend, Mme. Pigonier
(Polly Moran). While Lucien is gone, Marianne happens to meet
Legrande again, and when he entices her with the prospects of
becoming a stage star, she becomes his mistress. When Lucien
returns as a deserter, he is arrested and put in prison. Later,
on parole, he finds Marianne, but denounces her for her lifestyle.
She is still in love with him and vows to give up her career
for him. They go away to small farm in South America to live
their lives together.
THE MYSTERIOUS LADY (1928)
Credits: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; directed by Fred Niblo, adaptation
by Bess Meredyth from the novel "War in the Dark" by
Ludwig Wolff; titles by Marian Ainslee and Ruth Cummings; photography
by William Daniels; edited by Margaret Booth
Cast: Greta Garbo, Conrad Nagel, Gustav von Seyffertitz,
Edward Connelly, Albert Pollet, Richard Alexander
Synopsis: Tania (Greta Garbo) is a Russian spy who makes
love to Austrian Captain Karl von Heinersdorff (Conrad Nagel)
in order to steal secret plans he has. Although she has fallen
in love with him, she goes through with her duty. When it is
discovered what has happened, von Heinersdorff is sent to jail.
He escapes with the help of his uncle (Albert Pollet) and goes
to Russia to find Tania. He finds her and learns that she really
does love him. She proves this by stealing papers from her superior,
General Alexandroff (Gustav von Seyffertitz), but is forced to
shoot him when she is discovered. She and von Heinersdorff flee
to Austria to begin a new life.
A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS (1929)
Credits: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; directed by Clarence Brown;
adaptation by Bess Meredyth from the novel "The Green Hat"
by Michael Arlen; titles by Marian Ainslee and Ruth Cummings;
photography by William Daniels; edited by Hugh Wynn
Cast: Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lewis Stone, John Mack
Brown, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Hobart Bosworth, Dorothy Sebastian
Synopsis: Diana Merrick (Greta Garbo) falls in love with
aristocratic Neville Holderness, but Neville's father disapproves
of the Merrick family's way of life and forbids him to marry her.
Giving in to his father's influence, Neville marries Constance
(Dorothy Sebastian), and Diana marries David (John Mack Brown).
While in France on their honeymoon, Diana learns that David is
a thief, and when it is apparent the police are after him, he
commits suicide. She spends many years secretly paying back all
of David's debts. When she returns to England, Neville wants
to leave Constance and marry her, but she turns him away. She
then leaves and kills herself by crashing her car into the tree
where they first declared their love.
WILD ORCHIDS (1929)
Credits: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; directed by Sidney Franklin;
adaptation by Willis Goldbeck from the story "Heat"
by John Colton; continuity by Hans Kraly and Richard Schayer;
titles by Marian Ainslee and Ruth Cummings; photography by William
Daniels; art director Cedric Gibbons; edited by Conrad Nervig;
gowns by Adrian
Cast: Greta Garbo, Lewis Stone, Nils Asther
Synopsis: John Sterling (Lewis Stone) and his much younger
wife, Lili (Greta Garbo), travel by ship to the Orient to inspect
plantations there and meet the Javanese Prince De Gace (Nils Asther)
who is attracted to Lillie. He offer them the hospitality of his
home in the jungle setting which they accept. At every opportunity,
the Prince makes advances on Lili, and, although somewhat tempted
because of her husband's inattention, she refuses his attentions.
Sterling later sees the shadow of the two behind a shade, and
it appears they are embracing. The two men go on a tiger hunt,
and when a tiger is almost upon him, the Prince realizes his gun
is not loaded. Sterling kills the tiger but not before the Prince
is badly hurt. Lili, suspecting something bad may happen, runs
to where the two men are. When Lili offers comfort to the Prince,
it appears Sterling's suspicions are justified, but the couple
later reunite and go home together.
THE SINGLE STANDARD (1929)
Credits: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; directed by John S. Robertson;
adaptation by Josephine Lovett from the novel by Adela Rogers
St. John; titles by Marian Ainslee; photography by Oliver Marsh;
edited by Blanche Sewell
Cast: Greta Garbo, Nils Asther, John Mack Brown, Dorothy
Sebastian, Lane Chandler, Robert Castle, Mahlon Hamilton, Kathlyn
Williams, Zeffie Tilbury
Synopsis: San Francisco debutante Arden Stuart (Greta Garbo)
in Tommy Hewlett (John Mack Brown) of her own social set and,
instead, goes away with artist Packy Cannon (Nils Asther) on a
South Seas cruise. He eventually leaves her, and she returns
to San Francisco an outcast. Tommy still wants to marry her,
though, and they do and have a child. Later, Packy returns wanting
to renew the affair - and Arden is tempted - but the love of her
child keeps her from leaving her husband and home.
THE KISS (1929)
Credits: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; directed by Jacque Feyder; adaptation
by Hans Kraly from a story by Geroge M. Saville; titles by Marian
Ainslee; photography by William Daniels; edited by Ben Lewis;
art direction by Cedric Gibbons; Gowns by Adrian
Cast: Greta Garbo, Conrad Nagel, Anders Randolf, Holmes
Herbert, Lew Ayres, George Davis
Synopsis: Irene Guarry (Greta Garbo) and her husband (Anders
Randolf) live in Lyon. Her husband's business partner (Holmes
Herbert) has a young son, Pierre (Lew Ayres) who is in love with
Irene. She enjoys the attention, but keeps his advances at arm's
length. When she agrees to an innocent goodbye kiss, they are
caught by her husband. In a jealous rage, he tries to kill Pierre,
but Irene kills her husband with his own gun. André, a
former lover, defends her at her trial, and she is acquitted,
but, because she has been protecting Pierre, André doesn't
know the true circumstances surrounding her husband's death.