A film can have one of the least imaginative titles in history and, despite that, become a big hit. This happened with Love, 1927 silent romantic drama directed by Edmund Goulding. The film represents an adaptation of Anna Karenina, famous novel by Leo Tolstoy. The plot takes place in Czarist Russia and the title protagonist, played by Greta Garbo, is wife of middle-aged Senator Karenin (played by Brandon Hurst) and mother of young son Serezha (played by Philippe De Lacy). One night, while travelling to St. Peterburg in sleigh, she gets caught in a blizzard, but receives help from dashing Captain Alexei Vronsky (played by John Gilbert), aide-de-camp of Grand Duke Michael (played by George Fawcett). She takes her to an inn where she rejects his attempts of seduction. Later they encounter each other in St. Petersburg where Vronsky apologises for his inappropriate behaviour. Yet both Anna and Vronsky keep encountering each other and after a while both can’t deny the romantic feelings they have for each other. But in relatively small upper class circles of Russian capital their romance is difficult to hide and when Anna makes her feelings for Vronsky obvious during horse race her husband decides that he had enough and casts adulterous wife from his home. Anna at first goes to Italy with Vronsky, but her happiness is short-lived and she begins missing her son.
“Love” as the title of the film might have infuriated Tolstoy purists, but it actually made perfect sense in the context of 1920s Hollywood. The film was less an adaptation of one of the best known works of world’s literature and more a clever way to exploit enormous popularity of its two stars – Greta Garbo and John Gilbert – who recently co-starred in another big hit Flesh and the Devil and filled newspaper and magazine headlines with their passionate off-screen romance. MGM, which was at the time emerging as the prime Hollywood studio, tried to exploit Garbo’s and Gilbert’s chemistry by originally using the title Heat. Irving Thalberg, MGM studio executive, however, realised that “Greta Garbo and John Gilbert in Heat” wouldn’t sound too appropriate, so he opted for “Love” instead.
Just as the title of the film is simple, so is the plot. Script has reduced Tolstoy’s book to the most basic plot about passion, adultery, morality and social norms. Yet, even under such limitations Love works mainly to excellent work by 22-year old Garbo, who was recently promoted into grand Hollywood diva, and 30-year old Gilbert, who was at the time one of the most popular American film actors. Two of them have great chemistry and give otherwise banal scenes touch of implicit, but very notable eroticism. Goulding as director handles the film well and keep the running time very short, while relying much on the work of noted cinematographer William H. Daniels whose soft focus turns Love into one of the most stylish works of silent Hollywood. Love was very expensive production, partly because Thalberg was initially unhappy with original version directed by Dmitri Buchowetzki and starring Ricardo Cortez as Vronsky, so he had entire film reshot under Goulding’s direction and with Gilbert. The risk paid off, because Love became one of the most popular films of its time. Much of its box office success had to do with MGM decision to shoot two version with alternative endings - one of European markets, which preserved the bleak conclusion of Tolstoy’s novel and for (mostly rural) American markets, which provided happy ending. Although admirers of Tolstoy are unlikely to be pleased with the latter, Love is well-made melodrama that represents silent Hollywood in all of its glory. However, the film had misfortune to be made near the very end of silent era and screen idol Gilbert, unlike Garbo, failed to properly adapt to sound technology. In 1935 Garbo again played Anna Karenina in sound film directed by Clarence Brown and much more faithful to Tolstoy’s novel.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
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