Two Faced Woman

Plot

Fashion magazine editor Larry Blake (Douglas) marries ski instructor Karin Borg (Garbo) on impulse, but she soon learns he expects her to be a dutiful wife, and not the independent woman she was when they met. They separate and Larry returns to New York City, where he takes up again with playwright Griselda Vaughn (Bennett), with whom he was involved prior to his marriage.

Karin comes to New York to thwart the romance and get her husband back, playing her mythical twin sister Katherine Borg, a wild, amoral "modern" woman. Karin, in the guise of Katherine, fascinates Larry until he realizes the truth. He plays along, almost seducing his wife's purported twin sister, but stopping short each time. Karin and Larry eventually reunite on the ski slopes and all is forgiven.

Cast

Production

Pleased with the financial and critical success of Ninotchka (1939), MGM decided to pair Garbo and Douglas in another romantic comedy. George Cukor had previously directed Garbo in Camille (1936), which is generally regarded as her best film. Constance Bennett, a major leading lady during the 1930s whose career was fading, was cast in the supporting role of Griselda through the efforts of her friend Cukor. The screenplay by S. N. Behrman, Salka Viertel, and George Oppenheimer was based on a 1925 Constance Talmadge silent film, Her Sister From Paris, which in turn was based on a play by German playwright Ludwig Fulda.

The studio also used the film to promote a new image of Garbo as a down-to-earth sporting type in hopes of increasing her appeal to United States audiences. Garbo's previous image had attracted large European audiences, which were now dwindling due to World War II. Garbo reportedly was unhappy during the making of Two-Faced Woman, and uncomfortable with the filmmakers' attempts to portray her as a casual "American" type. In addition to scenes where Garbo is seen skiing and swimming, the studio planned to have her dance in a film for the first time in a ballroom rhumba scene. Garbo, who was not a natural dancer, was forced to take lessons and once hid from her dance instructor in a tree at her home. She later said that the film "was not good and it could never be made good."

The film was produced by Gottfried Reinhardt, with music by Bronislau Kaper, cinematography by Joseph Ruttenberg, art direction by Cedric Gibbons, and costume design by Adrian.

Censorship controversy and changes to original version

Two-Faced Woman was initially set for release in late November 1941. However, although the film received a Production Code seal of approval, the National Legion of Decency rated the film as "C" for condemned — unusual at that time for a major Hollywood release — citing its alleged "immoral and un-Christian attitude toward marriage and its obligations: impudently suggestive scenes, dialogue, and situations: suggestive costumes." The film was also condemned by the Archbishop of New York, the first time a particular film had been singled out. These condemnations strongly discouraged Catholics from seeing the film. Two-Faced Woman was also banned in several cities, including Boston and Providence, and other cities including Omaha, Chicago, and Milwaukee ordered that scenes be cut before the film could play there.

The studio responded by reshooting certain scenes before the film's official release, although George Cukor refused to participate. In particular, a scene was added in which Larry Blake discovers early on that "Katherine" is actually his estranged wife Karin under an assumed identity, and chooses to play along with her pretense, rather than actually considering an affair with his wife's twin sister. The Legion of Decency changed its rating for the amended film from "C", meaning condemned, to "B", meaning morally objectionable in part.

In addition to censorship-related changes, the studio also cut a number of Constance Bennett's scenes and changed the ending, due to reports that Bennett had upstaged Garbo in many of their scenes together. Even with the cuts, Leonard Maltin wrote in 2014 that Bennett "steal[s] the film with her hilarious performance."

The revamped version of Two-Faced Woman was released in early January 1942. The original uncensored version of the film still exists, and was shown in 2004 at a George Cukor retrospective at the National Film Theatre in London, but has not been released on DVD.

Reception

Upon the amended film's release in January 1942, Garbo received the worst reviews of her career. John Mosher of The New Yorker wrote of Garbo that "one can feel only that the archbishop who opposed the showing of the film was her one true friend. Of Garbo's folly there is little really to say. Just condolences might be enough." Theodore Strauss of The New York Times wrote: "It is hardly necessary to sit in judgment upon such delicate matters of public interest, inasmuch as the film decisively condemns itself by shoddy workmanship. Miss Garbo's current attempt to trip the light fantastic is one of the awkward exhibitions of the season, George Cukor's direction is static and labored, and the script is a stale joke, repeated at length. Considering the several talents that have combined to create this dismal jape, put down 'Two-Faced Woman' as one of the more costly disappointments of the year." A review in Time called the film "almost as shocking as seeing your mother drunk."

Even those reviews that praised Garbo's performance still panned the overall film. Variety wrote: "That the experiment of converting Miss Garbo into a comedienne is not entirely successful is no fault of hers. Had the script writers and the director, George Cukor, entered into the same spirit of the thing with as much enthusiasm, lack of self-consciousness and abandon as the star, the result would have been a smash hit ... Just how some of the lines of dialog escaped the scissors is as much of a mystery as how the screen writers ... so completely flopped in providing a reasonably satisfactory finale." Harrison's Reports called Garbo's performance "brilliant ... Yet if it were not for her charms and fine acting ability there would be little to recommend, for the story is weak and somewhat silly." Film Daily declared Garbo "a delightful comedienne" but called it "unfortunate that the combined talents" of the scriptwriters "do not measure up to those of Miss Garbo's. George Cukor's direction is not as keen as it could be and tends to let the film ramble."

Most sources have said that the film also did poorly at the box office. According to MGM records, it earned $875,000 in the United States and Canada, and $925,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $62,000. Despite the previous success of Ninotchka, audiences had difficulty accepting Garbo as a comedian. Attendance was also impacted by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which occurred three weeks before the film was released. A few sources have challenged the general perception that the film was a flop, with at least one saying that it made back five times its budget.

Later in 1942, Garbo's MGM contract was terminated, probably by mutual agreement. She intended to return to films after World War II, but post-war projects did not come to fruition, leaving Two-Faced Woman as her final film.

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