Duas Vezes Meu

The legends surrounding Geta Garbo were like so many deifications, partly true, partly fiction. When Garbo was good, she was very, very good, but when she was bad, she was only average. In "Two-Faced Woman," Garbo assays comedy one more time following her success in Ernst Lubitsch's classic farce, "Ninotchka." This time she nearly falls flat. Garbo's one redeeming feature in the film is the outlandish dance she performs midway through the show. It is indeed a marvel to behold and worth the price of admission.

Almost all the other Thespians in "Two-Faced Woman" out shine the star, especially Constance Bennett, giving a wonderful personification of an acerbic bitch determined to keep her hooks in fresh meat. The gifted actor Melvyn Douglas shows his flare for comedy in a Cary Grant-type role, fun to watch in a slap-stick finale down a ski slope. The indomitable Ruth Gordon makes the most in a small role as Douglas' secretary. Bennett's former "Topper" colleague, Roland Young, is perfect as, again, a lecherous old man. Future TV "Topper" star Robert Sterling shows why he was chosen to portray George Kerby over a decade later.

Another problem with "Two-Faced Woman" is the hackneyed story and script. Director George Cukor hoped to strike pay dirt a second time with a screwball comedy along the lines of his brilliant "The Philadelphia Story," utilizing a title similar to his recently successful "A Woman's Face." Unfortunately, he was let down by the writers, who gave him a theme already old hat. Bedroom farces involving mistaken identities, twins and lookalikes, etc., were passé by 1941. The popular Fred Astair, Ginger Rogers musicals of the 1930's employed such gimmicks in a fresh and original manner. The twins ploy of "Two-Faced Woman" just doesn't work.

Karin Borg (Garbo), a ski instructor, meets and falls in love with Larry Blake (Douglas), a magazine writer. Following a whirlwind courtship that lasts only a few days, the two decide to tie the knot. Once married, however, their varied lifestyles clash. Larry spends most of his time in New York City away from Karin, who refuses to follow him, enjoying the life she already has. Distraught by visions of being two-timed and having her marriage canned, Karin heads for New York City, ending up incognito as her non-existing twin sister, Katherine. That Larry tends to be a philander becomes more evident as Karin sees her husband with other women, one in particular, Griselda Vaughn (Bennett). Katherine finds herself in the dubious position of competing not only against Griselda but against her own alter ego, Karin.

Perhaps the shortcomings of "Two-Faced Woman" helped Garbo in deciding to retire from motion pictures. She never made another film. Though "Two-Faced Woman" is not a dud, it is below standards Garbo had set for herself.

Screen icon Greta Garbo was nearing the age of 36 when she began filming "Two-Faced Woman," a comedy also starring Melvyn Douglas, Constance Bennett, Roland Young, and Ruth Gordon. The world was changing, and it was time for her to come off of her queenly throne, get out of those huge Adrian costumes, and join the land of the common people. Back in those days, when an actress hit the 30-35 range, she was considered over the hill. Crawford was shown the door by Louis B., Norma Shearer smartly retired, and Garbo's costar in this movie, Constance Bennett, at 37 was playing supporting roles after years of stardom.

So in fact, Garbo's days at MGM were probably numbered as the studio sought to find her a new image. Unfortunately, her new image - in a light, fluffy comedy - coincided with the entrance of the U.S. into World War II. Everyone was too distracted to care, including Garbo, who wanted to go home to Sweden.

I come at this film with a slightly different perspective, having transcribed hundreds of hours of Garbo's phone conversations with art dealer Sam Greene for the book "Garbo" by Barry Paris. Any exposure to Garbo the woman is enough to realize that she was a remarkable artist. Though a neurotic, passive, and frightened woman, her beauty and vivid imagination, born of isolation, made her a tremendous star and a great, expressive actress.

In "Two-Faced Woman," Garbo plays a dual role, that of a nature-loving ski instructor, Karin, who marries a guest (Melvyn Douglas) at the lodge where she works, and the twin sister whose existence she fakes, the globe-trotting party girl Katherine. Katherine is invented when Karin comes to New York and sees her new husband with his former girlfriend (Bennett).

"Two-Faced Woman" isn't a great movie - it's pleasant enough, and the cast is terrific, but it suffers from bad timing and the fact that this was such a departure for Garbo. Many people didn't feel it was a particularly successful one. She actually is quite good, particularly in the nightclub scene when she dances the chica-choca, a dance Katherine makes up when her shoe catches in the hem of her dress. In real life, whenever the dance instructor arrived at Garbo's house to give her lessons, the curtains were drawn. Knocking at the door, he would hear Garbo yell, "Go away, rumba! Go away!" Nevertheless, she acquits herself delightfully throughout the scene, culminating with the dance. The other thing that is marvelous in the film is the wild skiing scene at the end - absolutely tremendous, and I'm surprised it didn't kill the stunt double.

The film was controversial because the character of Larry seduces a woman he thinks is his sister-in-law, so the script was changed to be more acceptable. A scene was inserted where Larry calls the ski lodge and learns that Karin is out of town. Realizing Katherine is Karin, he plays along, turning the tables on her. It seems like a silly change now.

"Two-Faced Woman" was not the flop the years have built it up to be; in fact, it made back 5 times its budget. And it's highly unlikely it ended Greta Garbo's career. Had things worked out, she would have returned to films after the war - in fact, she almost did. But when the funding for the proposed film fell through, she was embarrassed, humiliated, and being the kind of woman she was, never took a chance to be put in such a position again. Garbo was part of a world that ended when the bombs started dropping, and she didn't find her place in the one that emerged.

Two Faced Woman became the unexpected swan song for screen legend Greta Garbo. Though her reasons for retirement had to do with the umbrage she took at getting less than stellar reviews for this comedy, still I've always respected that she made her retirement stick for 49 years and kept her legend and image intact.

Garbo's a Swedish ski instructor who lands magazine executive Melvyn Douglas on a skiing vacation. But away from the winter wonderland, Garbo's not being quite the wife Douglas expected.

Catching Douglas in a compromising position with former flame Constance Bennett, sends Greta on the warpath. She concocts a plan to masquerade as her twin sister, her more glamorous and sexy twin. Suffice it to say, she confuses the rest of the cast for almost the rest of the film.

Garbo's playing a role better suited to such comedy veterans as Myrna Loy or Irene Dunne. Still she gets a few laughs in, getting plastered and doing a mean rumba. And she certainly puts Constance Bennett down quite nicely.

Still Greta was miscast and the film gets less than stellar reviews from the critics at the time and from me. But the legend lives on.

... and that is what both Greta Garbo and Constance Bennett are doing here - playing against type. I actually liked this one when I expected to dislike it. I don't think this one was an attempt to turn Garbo into a pin-up sweater girl as much as it was the Americanization of an old soul, and an old soul that people had become accustomed to seeing in a certain type of role for the previous 16 years.

It was great fun to see Greta's character improvising a woman of the world with no real knowledge of exactly what that meant, and it was also great fun to see Constance Bennett's Griselda, a rival for the affection of Larry (Melvyn Douglas), doing what I thought she should have done in all of those precodes where she was so mistreated and yet suffered in such silence - going off in private when things weren't going her way and yelling, throwing things, and having a bit of a temper tantrum, then readjusting her clothes and hair, regaining her poise, and walking right back into the thick of things as though nothing ever happened.

The thing that struck me as odd in this film even in the production code era - Karin (Greta Garbo) and Larry have just married after a whirlwind courtship. It is their wedding night. Both just put on their pajamas, and Larry promptly announces he is tired and lies down to go to sleep like they've been married for ten years and just returned from Black Friday shopping???? And this isn't what bothers Karin at all - it's that he admits being swept up in the moment about saying he wanted to live a simple life, and he now wants to go back to New York and his job as magazine publisher. Otherwise she would have laid down and gone to sleep too??? If this was close to realistic it would be the end of the human race.

But that's the point. The whole thing is a farce from beginning to end and a delightful surprise at that. Highly recommended for the fun of it all.

Every time someone mentions this film, they say something bad about it. It wasn't the best movie but I enjoyed it thoroughly. She had my attention through the whole film. I thought Garbo was way more interesting in this film than both Constance Bennett & Melvyn Douglas. Good film. I wish I still owned it and I would watch it right now!!! I love how radical she becomes when she pretends to be her "twin" sister. Melvyn Douglas was an alright character and so too Bennett, but I thought Garbo's last performance was great and I would like for this movie to get more credit. If anyone enjoys Garbo they should enjoy this film or you are just simply not that big of a Garbo fan. That's how i see it. The mysterious lady treats us with a few funny laughs. Like when she gets drunk. Not as funny as she was in Ninotchka though. Long Live Garbo!