1969, BBC Got a coup. The network lost none other than Joan Crawfordone of the largest (or greater than life) film Legends to tell a documentary – as Britain’s BBC Four now discovers on August 14 and 15 – about the greatest legend of them all: Greta Garbo. Both stars had been under contracts at MGM as early as the 20th and 30s, under the heights of the studio system and the patrikular studio. However, the two icons barely crossed paths.
Garbo – a notorious individual until her dying day – does not spend time with her co -actors. Personal performances were off the table and although she was participated with Crawford 1932’s Oscar-winning “Grand Hotel”, the two did not share any scenes. MGM actually had to assemble a role photo for it to look like Garbo was ever in the room with more people than absolutely necessary:
Crawford talked about Garbo a few timesHowever, and her description of their short meetings made it seem that Crawford rarely received more than one greeting. Nevertheless, Crawford remained in reverence for Garbo’s famous magnetism.
So I guess it’s meaningful that BBC -Doc “Garbo, by Joan Crawford” is available as an incredible cultural rarity. Its exact broadcasting history is a bit hazy, although BBC List it like premiere November 11, 1969. (Imdb Says it was broadcast three days earlier in the United States, although 154 users have somehow incorrectly rated it as only 2.7/10 so I’m not sure what to trust over there.)
Thank goodness, Youtube page The closing chapter in Crawford Somehow received and uploaded a copy of the rarely screened documentary eight years ago, listed below. It is in rough form and the time code is visible. But what a time capsule. Think of Crawford’s characteristic posh introduction, which is spoken directly to the camera because Crawford himself is spectacular coiffed and bejeweled:
“When a queen gives up her throne, she becomes a private person,” she says. “She relieves herself from all myths and legends that burden Majesty, she gradually goes into history.”
(The drama And its metatority makes it seem like she predicts her own transition to the myth just a few years later.) Crawford continues:
“But a movie star that Greta Garbo finds that her star will not let people forget that even though Garbo still turns deaf ears to the millions of people who ask her to return to the screen, she has more substance than a memory. Garbo herself is aging. The great romantic films she made is one of a new generation as such a woman as such a woman.
In classic film circles, this strict description is not unlike how others discuss Garbo. Among the old Hollywood set, Garbo was often talked about in such terms – including by Crawford’s adopted Nemesis Bette DavisWho said about the “Camille” actress, “her instinct, her mastery over the machine, was pure sorcery. I can’t analyze this woman’s spectacle. I just know that no one else worked so effectively in front of a camera.”
The Swedish Garbo, who only learned English after securing a contract with MGM and moving to Hollywood in 1925, was really a mystery. After a series of silences, often opposite her temporary real lover John Gilbert, Garbo successfully switched to sound with his indelible, Husky Accent, and became synonymous with his line, “I want to be alone”, first spoken in “Grand Hotel” and then often referred to his successful work-incriminating memorial in its first comed.
When she retired in 1941, Garbo settled in New York City and despite sometimes flirting, never returned to Hollywood. Discovering her on her long daily walks through Manhattan became such a sport that a 1984 film made The Pursuit into its central plot: “Garbo is talking.”
Garbo wrote many letters throughout her lifetime, of which many were Auctioned in 2019. A special from 1937 painted an isolated portrait of the star: “It is difficult and sad to be alone, but sometimes it is even harder to be with someone … When we are here on earth it would be so much more friendly if we would be forever and young for the short time.”
Crawford himself, ironically, would end his life as a NYC -special. After discovering a press photo in a newspaper she found flattering 1974Crawford stopped making performances. She died in 1977. Her own legend would forever be mixed with her daughter Christina’s story “Mommie Dearest” and Faye Duna’s unlimited portrayal in the following 1981 Film fit – Although there has been recently attempted (like Ryan Murphys “Feud”) to better contextualize the Oscar -winning “Mildred Pierce” star.
That these legends would almost cross roads on film in “Grand Hotel” is an exciting enough historical anomaly. That a whole hour’s long documentary exists where one grows on the other? It is simply divine.
“Garbo, by Joan Crawford” will be broadcast on August 14 and August 15 BBC four Let’s in the UK hope that this will help to facilitate a streaming copy of higher quality, but at present, enjoy their glory here:
