The Divine Woman
The Divine Woman (1928) is an American silent film directed by Victor Sjöström and starring Greta Garbo. Produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Only a single nine-minute reel[3] and an additional 45-second excerpt[4][5] are currently known to exist of this otherwise lost film, the only whole copy of which was destroyed in the 1965 MGM vault fire.[6][7][8]
| The Divine Woman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Victor Sjöström |
| Produced by | Richard A. Rowland |
| Written by | John Colton (titles) Dorothy Farnum (writer) |
| Based on | Starlight by Gladys Unger |
| Starring | Greta Garbo Lars Hanson |
| Cinematography | Oliver T. Marsh |
| Edited by | Conrad A. Nervig |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent film English intertitles |
| Budget | $266,817.14[1] |
| Box office | $931,000 (worldwide rental)[2] |
Origin
The film is adapted from the 1925 Broadway play Starlight by Gladys Unger, which starred Doris Keane. The plot is loosely based on stories of the early life of the French actress Sarah Bernhardt.
Plot
Marianne (Greta Garbo) is a poor French country girl who goes to Paris in the 1860s to seek her fortune as an actress. As she rises to success in the theatre, she must choose between the romantic attentions of two men. The first is Lucien (Lars Hanson), a poor but passionate young soldier who deserts the army to be with Marianne and goes to jail after stealing a dress to give her. Her other suitor is Henry Legrand (Lowell Sherman), a wealthy middle-aged Paris producer who offers her fame and fortune.
Cast
- Greta Garbo as Marianne
- Lars Hanson as Lucien
- Lowell Sherman as Henry Legrand
- Polly Moran as Mme. Pigonier
- Dorothy Cumming as Mme. Zizi Rouck, Marianne's Mother
- Johnny Mack Brown as Jean Lery
- Cesare Gravina as Gigi
- Paulette Duval as Paulette
- Jean De Briac as Stage Director
Existing reel
Only one reel from the film is known to exist. It runs nine minutes and was discovered in 1993 at the Gosfilmofond, a film archive in Moscow. This film fragment has been released on DVD with a collection of Garbo films and has been broadcast on Turner Classic Movies. Its Russian intertitles have been translated into English. In this section of the film, Marianne is seen living in Paris in modest rooms. After a playful interchange with the landlady Mme. Pigionier, Marianne is joined by Lucien. The two lovers share a few poignant minutes together as the time approaches for him to return to the army.
References
- Alexander Walker; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (October 1980). Garbo: a portrait. Macmillan. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-02-622950-0. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles, California: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
- The Divine Woman at silentera.com
- Greta's Lost and Found at Mikaelas filmblogg
- Svenska Filminstitutet - Resultatredovisning 2011 Pg. 17 (Swedish)
- The Divine Woman at The GreatStars.com; Lost Films Wanted(Wayback Machine)
- The Divine Woman at Arne Andersen's Lost Film Files:lost MGM films - 1928
- The Library of Congress/FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog:The Divine Woman
External links
- The Divine Woman on IMDb
- The Divine Woman synopsis at AllMovie
- portrait of Garbo and Lowell Sherman from the film(archived)