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Post by JOHN on Oct 5, 2004 7:27:47 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]IMDb user comments for CAMILLE[/glow]
This film further proves that the assembly-line system of Hollywood studios back then should also be taken seriously in terms of artistry. Just because movies were produced run-of-the-mill doesn't mean that they weren't paid critical attention to by their makers. The usual impression on studio-era Hollywood is: take a formulaic narrative style, maybe adapt a stage play for the screen, blend in a handful of stars from the stable and the films rake in the profit at the box office. Not quite, that's the easy perception. George Cukor, another of those versatile directors, made it apparent with Camille that filmmaking as an art may still flourish despite (and even within) certain parameters. Camille is beautiful, in so many respects. And it's not just because of Greta Garbo.
Sure, the acting is amazing, the casting is perfect. Garbo is luminous, mysterious, cruel, and weak at the same time. Robert Taylor surrenders himself to be the heartbreakingly young and vulnerable Armand. Henry Daniell's coldness and sadism is utterly human and familiar. The others are just plain wonderful. The writing contains so much wit and humor, devotion and pain - but it never overstates anything. The rapport and tensions between lovers, friends, and enemies are palpable and consistent. The actions flow so naturally, just like every scene, that checking for historical inconsistencies seem far beside the point.
There is so much that I love about Camille that it's hard to enumerate them all, but with every little discovery comes the realization that this is "but" a studio production, so it makes the experience more exquisite. Camille is a gentle, poignant romantic movie that, like Garbo, takes its place delicately and self-effacingly in the history of American cinema, but makes itself indelible in the heart and mind of the lovelorn individual viewer.
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The luminous Greta Garbo in one of her best remembered roles. In this she is the tragic heroine who is dabbling with fate with Robert Taylor (who seems to be wearing more make-up than Greta!) while moving towards the inevitable weepie conclusion.
Certainly Garbo was best in these kind of other-worldly roles, in another place and time, than she was in the few contemporary features she attempted. Not a great actress, but a beautiful woman and a true star who the camera clearly loved. Taylor would move out of romances and musicals into more typically heroic roles by the end of the 1930s, but he's a good romantic lead here.
And I mustn't forget the pleasure of seeing Henry Daniell, one of Hollywood's greatest villains.
Filmed with the commonplace MGM gloss of the time, ‘Camille' delivers on all levels - if you're looking for an escapist, teary, film with lots of close-ups and a nice slow pace. It belongs square in that first decade of the talkies and this sort of thing fell out of fashion after the Second World War.
there are more.have a look;)
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Post by JOHN on Oct 5, 2004 7:31:18 GMT -5
M-G-M
San Diego, CA
Date: 28 March 2004
Summary: Just magnficent
I first came across this film when I got into Garbo. I do recalled that I didn't like it at first but after what happen to me at college, I began to appreciated this movie a lot.
Camille is one of those rare film that can stand the time and it's just great piece of art. Greta Garbo is at her peak when she made this film and it's unlikely that she would have role of this caliber again.
It's about Armand Duval (Robert Taylor) fall in love with Marguerite (Garbo) but was met under harsh circumstances. This film has never fail to move me to tears everytime. It's just wonderful film.
I recommend it to you. ****/****
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bronxmom
Date: 13 August 2003
Summary: One of the greats..
This is the movie that started it all for me..my love of a great movie. I was 14 years old in 1974 and living miserably poor in Harlem. My 15 year old sister had just eloped, and I was lonely & bored one night when this film came on and I watched it all the way thru. Good lord, I never saw such a beautiful woman! and such a beautiful man! they couldn't be real! The story held me, and it was heartbreaking. Garbo became my all time favorite actress, and I developed an insatiable love for black & white movies that I have to this day. I've seen it many times over the years and again last night on AMC. I'm now 44, and I still cry at the end. She was fantastic, and definitely deserving of he Academy Award, for the life of me, Luise Rainer WAS in no way, shape or form, more deserving that year than Garbo...
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stimpy-13
amherst ohio
Date: 22 March 2003
Summary: this movie was terrible!
i don't see how anyone liked this movie. Greta Garbo has done only one movie so far that i've liked an that's Mata Hari i know it's spelled wrong. anyway this movie was so bad that i had to force to watch the rest of it. this is just my opinion of course but for me the movie was so slow the only reason i wanted to see it was for the great Lionel Barrymore an even he's hardly in it! i love old movies an i tried to like this one i really did. i don't think Greta Garbo is THAT great of an actress. i don't mean to sound so negative about her but that's just how i feel. i love actor's an actress from 1930's. Joan Crawford did some films when she started out in Talkies an even her acting was just plain terrible an she even admitted to that in interviews she did in the 1970's before her death. but she got better my guess is if Greta Garbo would have been around longer in the movies she would have done the same.
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Post by JOHN on Oct 5, 2004 7:32:09 GMT -5
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Heath McEwan
Stonehaven, Scotland
Date: 25 February 2003
Summary: Garbo's Best Performance
In my opinion, Garbo deserved an AA for her playing of the doomed courtesan Marguerite Gautier in this 1936 masterpiece which was brilliantly directed by George Cukor. Few "classic" films can hold up to their reputation after 65+ years: this one does. The period detail is nigh flawless, Cukor's direction is carefully inspired and Garbo gives a magically eloquent performance which is only rivalled by her playing of QUEEN CHRISTINA. 25 year-old Robert Taylor plays the ridiculously handsome & naive Armand with surprising restraint: certainly his portrayal isn't guilty of callowness. As Marguerite's fair weather friend, the greedy, well-dressed bawd Prudence Duvernoy, Laura Hope Crews is amusing, while the rarely-seen-in-films stage star Lenore Ulric, playing the rather eclectic role of Olympe, comes off brilliantly. Henry Danielle is sauve perfection as the wealthy but cynical & middle-aged Baron de Varville. Unfortunately, Lionel Barrymore is somewhat miscast as Monsieur Duvall: too histrionically American. No matter. CAMILLE is a timeless romantic film of the highest order, the final reel containing some of the most unforgettable scenes in the history of film, solely due to Garbo's magnetic and believable performance as the tragic "Lady of the Camellias".
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Brigid O Sullivan (wisewebwoman)
Toronto, Canada
Date: 22 February 2003
Summary: The best of Garbo performances
Garbo just shines here and is so believable as the wonderful Camille and reflects all sides of her character, even the vulnerable. The death bed scene would take tears from a stone, it is so wonderfully rendered with Garbo hanging on to the thought that she could still live, that she is not dying.Robert Taylor is dashing and convincing as the man in love with her and also the scene with Lionel Barrymore who plays his father is truly touching where Garbo gives up the man she loves. 9 out of 10. Garbo deserved an Oscar for this, it is her best.
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kayebtoyz (kayebtoyz@hotmail.com)
usa
Date: 28 September 2002
Summary: this movie is so great it can make me cry.
This is one of my 10 favorite movies, and I usually hate to admit it. It has no business being up there with the hard-talking, gory, gross, gangster, or shoot 'em up action movies which otherwise monopolize my fave movie list. Although, "Casablanca" is high on the top 50 list, Bergman and Bogie doesn't even compare to the sobbing wreak that Garbo, Taylor, and Barrymore can make of me in this movie. I love old black and whites which is probably why I happened to see this wonderfully magic movie. But I'm a hard-core action fan. Still I guess that "Camille" hits me because there is death, deception, and denial in it. I think that much of our past is conveyed in our films, and if there was ever an American love story - oh yeah, this is awfully French - that could have inspired (in another time) a tragedy classic like Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" (which like his other tragedies I love because everyone dies) this is it.
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Neil Doyle (Doylenf@msn.com)
Elmhurst, NY
Date: 28 June 2002
Summary: Typical Garbo vehicle...richly detailed romantic drama...
Most Greta Garbo fans rank this as her finest work--and it probably is. Not only is she highly competent in the title role, but the supporting cast shines just as brightly--everyone from Laura Hope Crewes to Henry Daniell to Lionel Barrymore. And Robert Taylor is the ideal romantic hero at the peak of his darkly handsome good looks. He and Garbo make a wonderful pair.
George Cukor's direction is full of richly observed details of behavior, never flinching from the occasional coarseness of the characters. All of the technical work is above reproach and those familiar with the story of the Lady of the Camelias will not be disappointed. Lionel Barrymore makes a brief but effective appearance midway through the film. His scene with Garbo is delicately played and gives added credence to Garbo's nobility in letting her lover go.
Biggest drawback is the film's pace--some editing may have helped--but the final result is still impressive.
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blu_cu
Houston
Date: 13 December 2001
Summary: Tearjerker
Garbo is so beautiful in Camille...so touching...so timeless... The film is enchanting and Garbo and Taylor are perfect. Garbo's Maurgerite is lovely and certainly, her performance is the best of 1937 (with Irene Dunne's Awful Truth as runner up). One has to watch Camille, cry, and then wonder why, oh why, did the Academy choose Luise Rainer's Good Earth over such a...masterpiece?
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Arne Andersen (aandersen@landmarkcollege.org)
Putney, VT
Date: 12 July 2001
Summary: Garbo's finest performance in a classic film romance
This is arguably the finest romantic film ever made and it contains Garbo's finest performance (resulting in her third Oscar nom - she should have won - and a NY Film Critics Best Actress Award). She is luminous, able to suggest great inner strength while projecting a fragility that is touching. Her death scene alone is the finest in the history of the cinema - one can feel the weakness, the tentative holding on to life only to see her beloved once again. The film is full of small moments of flawless acting, in her glances, in the tone and inflection of her voice, and in her delicate movements. Great Greta!!!
MGM has lavishly produced the film. The cinematography, art direction and costume design are lavish and exceptionally beautiful. The supporting performances from Lionel Barrymore (touchingly noble) and Laura Hope Crewes (lewd and coarse - a revelation to those who only know her Aunt Pittypat in GWTW) to Maureen O'Sullivan (sweet and virginal) are exemplary. Only Robert Taylor is not up to the job - he is a poor actor here - but he IS gorgeous and we can forgive Garbo her mad infatuation with his Armand.
A classic film if there ever was one. Don't miss it.
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Bengt Sjöberg (bengt_historiska)
Stockholm, Sweden
Date: 21 February 2001
Summary: Camille is THE Garbo-film of them all.
Camille is the Garbo-film of them all. It may not be the best, but it is certainly the most Garboish. Never did she look more beautiful than in this movie and never was her acting better. George Cukor has handled the script,which is based on the Alexander Dumas novel, with care. Giuseppe Verdi also found it so captivating that he made an opera out of it. A young Robert Taylor as Armand Duval is acting very well too; displaying his eagerness and love for Marguerite. This is indeed a fascinating movie.
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gardenia
Long Island, New York
Date: 9 September 1999
Summary: The saddest tearjerker of all time
This is the first movie that ever made me cry. Garbo and Taylor are under-rated for their performances in this one. Barrymore is the so realistic when he pleads to Garbo to give up his son (Taylor). His performance puts the entire story in perspective.
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FANatic-10
Las Vegas
Date: 4 June 1999
Summary: Garbo at her most beautiful
Greta Garbo was at her peak when she took on the famous role of Marguerite Gautier, the Lady of the Camelias, in "Camille". It ranks with "Queen Christina" , "Anna Karenina" and "Ninotchka" as her finest screen work. There were only rare films where she appeared in roles truly worthy of her talent. This was the first film I saw of hers, and frankly it took me a while to relate to her - she seemed to be mumbling with that deep, throaty voice, and she and Taylor did not seem to click. What got to me finally, and what I think makes her a great actress, was her unique capacity for expressing tenderness. There are moments when her worldly-wise, sophisticated mien just seems to melt away with a softness and almost childlike gentleness that is very disarming, and quite rare in the Hollywood stratosphere of superstar actresses, most of whom come across as hard as brass. Plus she is radiantly beautiful here and looks great in the costumes of mid-1800's France. And she and Taylor do eventually make the crucial connection to enable some genuine tears to be shed at the famous finale. Its also a treat to see that great scenery chomping character actress Laura Hope Crews in a departure from Aunt Pittypat as the using, hateful "friend" Prudence.
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Post by JOHN on Oct 5, 2004 7:32:45 GMT -5
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Doug Phillips (janabro@aol.com)
Seattle, WA
Date: 5 February 1999
Summary: Garbo's highest rated film
This film has everything for the Garbo fanatic.
Top notch acting by Ms. Garbo, beautiful costumes and incredible cinematography by her favorite -- William Daniels.
The story is an old one -- but handled beautifully in this film.
The young idealist lover smitten with a woman of ill repute that lives only for fun.
The only serious lapse is the phoned-in performance by Barrymore. It is almost embarrassing at times.
Laura Hope Crews (Aunt Pittypat Hamilton from "Gone With the Wind") provides a very entertaining character study in greed.
Robert Taylor is amazingly handsome as the stricken young man in love with Marguerite Gautier.
Henry Daniell is everything a screen villain should be -- cold, calculating and oblivous to anyone's needs but his own.
Though Garbo never won an Academy Award this is the film she should have.
There are many films of this Dumas novel -- but this is the best.
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