The most enigmatic, mysterious and enduring screen legend of them all, Greta Garbo transfixed audiences with her radiant beauty and devastating screen presence.  Her off-screen avoidance of publicity and her torrid affairs only enhanced the air of mystery which surrounded her, and which MGM used to full advantage, coupling her with real-life lover John Gilbert in Flesh and the Devil (1927), Love (1927) and A Woman of Affairs (1928).

In 1930 Metro gave Garbo her first talking role, in Anna Christie, which carried the publicity tag, “Garbo talks!”  She became MGM’s biggest star of the thirties and her other notable films of the era were Grand Hotel (1931) – in which her character says Garbo’s own catchphrase, “I want to be alone” – Anna Karenina (1935), Camille (1937), and Ninotchka (1939) – which had the tagline “Garbo laughs!”.

She retired from the screen after the disastrous Two Faced Woman in 1941, and became a reclusive figure.  She received a special Academy Award in 1954 for ‘her unforgettable screen performances’ but did not attend the ceremony.
Halliwell cited Queen Christina as the most representative work of Garbo’s career and gave her this dedication in the Filmgoer’s Companion:

‘For stretching a mystery over twelve splendid years and for knowing when to quit’

 

Year: 1933