The Divine Woman
7.4 /10 1 Votes7.4
Director Victor Sjostrom Country United States | 7.2/10 IMDb Genre Drama, Romance Duration | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cast (Marianne), (Lucien), (Henry Legrand), (Mme. Pigonier), (Mmme. Zizi Rouck, Marianne's Mother), (Jean Lery) Language Silent filmEnglish intertitles Release date January 14, 1928 (1928-01-14) Based on Starlight by Gladys Unger Similar movies Greta Garbo appears in The Divine Woman and Wild Orchids | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Divine Woman (1928) is an American silent film directed by Victor Sjostrom and starring Greta Garbo. Produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Only a single nine-minute reel and an additional 45 second excerpt are currently known to exist of this otherwise lost film.
Contents
[For 9 minute surviving fragment] Lucian, a soldier in Paris, is to ship out for Algiers at 9 that evening. He stops by for a last meal with his love, Marianne. He may be worried that when he leaves she will find another soldier to love. They argue then embrace and, when the clock strikes midnight, he is still in her arms. Is desertion in the cards? Can the relationship survive the military demands and a soldier's obligations?
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
Similar Movies
Greta Garbo appears in The Divine Woman and Wild Orchids. Greta Garbo appears in The Divine Woman and The Mysterious Lady. Greta Garbo appears in The Divine Woman and The Single Standard. Greta Garbo appears in The Divine Woman and A Woman of Affairs. Greta Garbo and Lars Hanson appear in The Divine Woman and The Saga of Gosta Berling.
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 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
The Divine Woman WikipediaThe Divine Woman IMDb The Divine Woman themoviedb.org