The Divine Woman

The Divine Woman
Directed byVictor Sjöström
Written byJohn Colton (titles)
Dorothy Farnum (writer)
Based onStarlight
by Gladys Unger
Produced byRichard A. Rowland
StarringGreta Garbo
Lars Hanson
CinematographyOliver T. Marsh
Edited byConrad A. Nervig
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • January 14, 1928 (1928-01-14)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesSilent film
English intertitles
Budget$266,817.14[1]
Box office$931,000 (worldwide rental)[2]
Lantern slide for the film

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 complete copy of which was destroyed in the 1965 MGM vault fire.[6][7][8]

The film grossed $541,000 in the USA and $390,000 internationally; its worldwide gross was $931,000 and generated MGM a profit of $354,000.[9]

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

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.

See also

References

  1. ^ Alexander Walker; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (October 1980). Garbo: a portrait. Macmillan. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-02-622950-0. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  2. ^ The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles, California: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  3. ^ The Divine Woman at silentera.com
  4. ^ Greta's Lost and Found at Mikaelas filmblogg
  5. ^ Svenska Filminstitutet - Resultatredovisning 2011 Pg. 17 (Swedish)
  6. ^ The Divine Woman at The GreatStars.com; Lost Films Wanted(Wayback Machine)
  7. ^ The Divine Woman at Arne Andersen's Lost Film Files:lost MGM films - 1928
  8. ^ The Library of Congress/FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog:The Divine Woman
  9. ^ "The Divine Woman".