Camille

Garbo owns the screen, but it's a bit disappointing for a Cukor/Garbo collaboration. Pretty typical and ultimately not very special melodrama, but it's well done.

83.50

It's no Farewell to Arms

Garbo: +++ Everything else: meh

Between Cukor and Garbo there's a lot of talent on display, but none of it really comes together to make anything great. It's a boring, schmaltzy, lavishly produced Hollywood romance that's pretty typical for it's era. Garbo is pretty good, but at the end of the day, I left the film feeling mostly unaffected and unmoved by this film.

82.500

Of all the soppy love stories, the one called Camille is probable the one that's most effective on me. I cried during the 1921 version with Alla Nazimova & Rudolph Valentino and I cried during this '36 Greta Garbo & Robert Taylor version! Garbo manages to channel the soul of a damaged woman and express exactly the right emotions to make this story work. And Taylor gives her a handsome man to shine off. This role is a true credit to her talent! Just watch her and see what I'm talking about!

This classic Dumas story somehow manages to escape the cliches and stands as one of the most telling monuments to Garbo's unique magic and presence on film.

Garbo is awesome, and there are some parts I liked, but I became more and more tired of it. Just for starters, this is one of many stories that have given countless millions of young people silly and unrealistic ideas about romantic love. On top of that, Robert Taylor is a mook, the dialogue often sucks, and this entire movie is filled with characters I've always wanted to not be like. Couldn't they have made a movie in 1848 Europe instead of 1847, when Europe was SO much more interesting?

A fine romance, although one that doesn't stray too far from a certain template. It's a lavish production, with lots of poofy costumes and grand sets and such. Maybe too lavish, and perhaps that's part of the reason it never feels very genuine. The main reason to see this is Garbo, who is quite captivating and compelling. The film certainly is very romantic, just not in a way that rings my particular bells.

Dated story of doomed love that's been told many times and with better craftsmanship, but it's still enjoyable if you like this kind of thing. Garbo does well and the sets and costumes are really good.

970

*cough*

The movie itself is a little creaky, but Garbo and Danielle are magnificent and Robert Taylor isn't bad either. Even Lionel Barrymore keeps the ham acting to a minimum.

935

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