AfterEllen.com - Remembering Greta Garbo (page 2)

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When Garbo finally arrived in the United States at the age of 20, she made her first MGM studio film, The Torrent (1926). The film was an instant hit, and was followed in the same year by The Temptress, then Flesh in the Devil, her first pairing with actor John Gilbert. Garbo supposedly fell in love with Gilbert only briefly, but Gilbert never got over her. In The Girls, McLellan writes, “He begged his ‘Svenska flicka’ (‘little Swedish girl”) to marry him. She was so lonely that she occasionally consented. But, always, she panicked at the last minute and bolted.”

Garbo literally left Gilbert at the altar in 1926, and it was through Gilbert that she soon met actress Lilyan Tashman.

Tashman was an openly bisexual glamour girl who taught the notoriously frumpy Garbo how to look like a movie star. She was also the first of her many female lovers in Hollywood. Other conquests included actresses Eva von Berne and Salka Viertel, comedienne Bea Lillie, writer Mercedes de Acosta, Swedish Countess “Hörke” Wachtmeister, and even Louise Brooks. Many of these women were protected from public scrutiny by their “lavender marriages” to men, but not Garbo. As a result, John Gilbert became her “show beau,” and for years she strung along a host of other men who shared his unrequited devotion.

Garbo managed to cut her swath through the women of Hollywood and retain her status as one of the biggest movie stars of the era. She made her first film with sound in 1931, Anna Christie, and was one of the few silent era stars to transition successfully into talking pictures. She followed with well-known films like Grand Hotel (1932), Queen Christina (1933), Anna Karenina (1935), Camille (1936), and Ninotchka (1939).

She retired from film permanently in 1941 with the George Cukor-directed comedy Two-Faced Woman (tagline: “Go gay with Garbo!”).

Of course, womanizing is a subject only mentioned in the highly unofficial version of Garbo’s life. If you read the New York Times biography on Garbo, you will learn only of her cancelled wedding to Gilbert, and that “the actress would have other romantic involvements, but would never marry.” It’s typical of the Garbo party line.

In most mainstream publications, Garbo’s sexual orientation is alluded to only vaguely, with code words like “androgynous” and with references to her penchant for “masculine” clothing. One might even find a list of her paramours that includes actors Gilbert and John Barrymore, as well as gay photographer Cecil Beaton (self-described as a “terrible, terrible homosexualist.")

But you will need to seek out McLellan’s The Girls for the details on Garbo’s affairs with women. In fact, The Girls holds a wealth of information about the known (and rumored) lesbian loves of many of the stars of the Golden Era of Hollywood, including Alla Nazimova, Isadora Duncan, Tallulah Bankhead, Hattie McDaniel, Patsy Kelly, Lizabeth Scott, and notorious heartbreaker Marlene Dietrich. The book is excellent fodder for a documentary, or–better yet—a feature film.

In the meantime, TCM (Turner Classic Movies) debuted this month a comprehensive new documentary about Garbo by director and film historian Kevin Brownlow. Narrated by Julie Christie, the film offers rare input from family and friends and depicts an earthy, funny Garbo that her legend belies. It even touches on the taboo subject of Garbo’s sexuality.

Brownlow told The Orlando Sentinel last week, "The family wanted us to put in that she wasn't lesbian, but nobody we spoke to was that definitive. . . . It's one of those things you can't be definitive about. All you can do is touch on it." As a result, The Sentinel reports, "The family doesn't like the film's take on the actress' sexuality. Friends say Garbo enjoyed describing herself in masculine terms and amusing people with the gender confusion.”

But some of the biggest hints about her true sexuality were dropped by Garbo herself. Quotes like, “Being feminine is a lovely quality which I may not have enough of” and, “You don't have to be married to have a good friend as your partner for life,” were simply not the standard sound bytes for women seeking fame in her era.

Whatever secrets she kept, she lived out loud as an original, independent spirit who attained international success without ever being defined by her relationship with a man. It’s a feat still rare for actresses in the 21st century.

In honor of Greta Garbo’s 100th birthday this month, Warner Home Video has released Garbo: The Signature Collection, a comprehensive 10-disc set of DVDs spanning some of her best films, including Anna Christie, Mata Hari, Grand Hotel, Queen Christina, Anna Karenina, Camille, and Ninotchka. The set also includes some exclusive extras, such as nine rare minutes of footage from her 1928 lost silent film, The Divine Woman, an alternate ending on The Temptress, and the exclusive feature-length documentary, TCM Archives: Garbo (directed by Kevin Brownlow).