Mata Hari

As the notorious "Mata Hari", Greta Garbo makes both the role and the character her own, providing a portrayal that is much deeper and more complex than the historical character probably was. The rest of the cast and production work well enough, but they are mostly there only to provide Garbo the backdrop and the foils that she uses to develop the main character.

The story focuses Mata Hari's liaisons with two Russian officers, an older general played by Lionel Barrymore, and a young aviator played by Ramon Novarro, with an implacable Secret Service man (played by C. Henry Gordon) trying to stop her. Each of the three plays his part well, while allowing Garbo to take the spotlight. Lewis Stone also makes good use of his limited screen time, and Karen Morley has some memorable moments as another spy.

The story probably has little in common with the historical facts, and while the historical character is an interesting one, it seems certain that Garbo's character is more so, combining her obvious appeal with a depth of feeling and a complicated set of priorities, as few other actresses could have done. Designing the story and characters with her in mind works well, making for good drama and one of Garbo's many effective performances.

German spy Mata Hari works in Paris during World War 1 under cover as an exotic dancer, and falls in love with a young Russian officer while she is taking advantage of him.

The script is rubbish, dialogue trite at best, and the treatment doesn't hold together well. Adrian's costumes are ridiculously improbable, but in a sinfully pleasurable MGM kinda way. You simply sit there and gape at Adrian's inventiveness and sense of kitsch. And William Daniels photographs them beautifully.

As he does his favorite subject, Greta Garbo. There is no way anyone could call Mata Hari one of the better Garbo roles, although she looks gorgeous at every turn, even in her slightly awkward Balinese dance in the beginning, all arms and legs. And still Garbo manages to be sexy! Notice the glance she sends Ramon Novarro as she draws the curtain of her bed. This was a short period in the history of Hollywood, when there was no functioning censorship, and it is always titillating to see what cinematographers, directors and stars made of it. And here they exploit it to the full.

Not a great film, not even in the Garbo canon, but still worth a watch, absolutely.

She is not the first to play Mata Hari, the alluring spy of World War I. But Greta Garbo is very memorable as the temptress; the seducer; the beguiling not-so-secret agent. Garbo's exotic dance is quite lethal for the early 1930s. Ramon Novarro plays the young lover willing to give his life for hers. Lionel Barrymore is the older lover that dies by her hand. This classic does not claim to be factual to history, but makes a great melodrama not to be missed. Supporting cast features Lewis Stone, C. Henry Gordon and Karen Morley. Viva la France.

In 1917, in Paris, the famous dancer Mata Hari (Greta Garbo) has a double life as a German spy, obtaining secrets from French and Russian officers in bed. The chief of the French Secret Service Dubois (C. Henry Gordon) is unsuccessfully in her tail trying to find proofs to incriminate Mata Hari. The Russian general Serge Shubin (Lionel Barrymore) has a crush on Mata Hari, but when she meets the young Russian pilot lieutenant Alexis Rosanoff (Ramon Novarro), she sleeps with him to photograph secret documents in his possession. But they fall in love for each other, and the jealousy of her lover Shubin provides the evidences to Dubois to arrest her.

This fictional and naive romance based on the life and death "Mata Hari" is an enjoyable melodramatic love story. Of course it is not a historic event, but this pleasant romantic fantasy is supported by an extremely beautiful Great Garbo performing a charismatic role in a great production. In spite of not being a masterpiece, I totally disagree with the unfair reviews in IMDb. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Mata Hari"

Loosely based, as the phrase goes, on the life and death of the exotic dancer who was convicted and executed for spying by the French in World War I, in truth this movie isn't much more than an excuse for the Divine Garbo to wear glamorous gowns (by Adrian), emote to the heavens and of course twist almost every man in the movie around her little finger. Of course, this time, even Greta can't get away from her real-life counterparts's fate and so pays the ultimate price for her actions in the final scene.

It's a strange movie that seeks to encourage the viewer's sympathies for a traitor who betrayed the Allied War effort for reasons which are never exactly made clear. She's also responsible for the death of her old admirer John Barrymore's bewitched, middle-aged Russian general as well as tricking the handsome young Russian pilot, Ramon Navarro, into revealing his secret mission to her.

It's a credit to Garbo's star-power and charisma that she just about pulls it off. Occasionally you see her lapse into some of the Garbo-isms she carries over from her silent movies but she undoubtedly has a great face and a feline grace about her which definitely set her apart from any other Hollywood leading lady of the day. It's also a great pity that cuts were made by the censor to the movie including her sexy opening dance and her later bedroom scene with Navarro.

Barrymore and Navarro chew what scenery Garbo has left them in parts which don't require much of themselves, other than to show puppy-dog like infatuation and devotion to their enchantress.

In short, the movie has star-vehicle written all over it and as such it serves Garbo well. I would have thought that the film's proximity to Mata Hari's true story might have seen it adhere more to the actual events but certainly not for the last time, Hollywood prints its own legend and not the facts, as much to make its stars look good as for such trivial reasons such as sticking to the actual truth.