Camille

[EleanorPowellFan]

Has anyone seen the version of Camille with Robert Taylor and Greta Garbo. I really think the two actors look great together. Between them there's real chemistry and love.

[Dawtrina]

Yeah, I've seen this one and while I'm hardly the target audience I thought it was an absolute gem. Along with Flesh and the Devil and Queen Christina, I think it's her best work.

In fact in a book I'm writing on the IMDb Top 250, I use it as a huge contrast to Gone with the Wind. The relevant paragraph is this one:

Admittedly by no stretch of the imagination could I claim to be a romance fan. I know little about the genre and don't pretend to understand it. However I have seen some blatant tearjerkers and I've even surprised myself by thoroughly enjoying some of them, including such unashamed chick flicks as The Bridges of Madison County. One in particular that I enjoyed recently is almost the polar opposite of this film. Camille was made only two years earlier, in 1937, but it avoided Technicolor, sweeping grandeur and the whole epic scale that Gone with the Wind thrived on. The most important difference is that, while it may not have jerked my tears, it certainly succeeded in catching my emotions and I just plain cared what happened to the petulant heroine Marguerite, who begins the film as a spoiled brat just like Scarlett but eventually finds redemption in love. The why of it is half Greta Garbo's powerhouse performance and half the script that paints her far more vividly in black and white than Scarlett ever managed in colour, but the end result is that it's a joy and Gone with the Wind is almost an endurance test.

[EleanorPowellFan]

Wow I had never thought Gone with The Wind had some kind of connection to Camille. I think it's wonderful

[rainingviolets21]

It is the perfect movie, the direction by Cukor is perfect, in the way he steard the movie away from the back-lot...Cukor gave us PARIS,
Garbo plays the role she was born for and Robert Taylor is the perfect Armand, interesting note, the slight bump on Taylors nose was sugicaly erased after this film...I always wished this was shot in Technicolor so we could see Garbo's matchless blue eyes..

[charliechaplinfan]

I watched this only last week. I had watched it once before but I enjoyed it more this time around. Garbo is peerless. She is a brilliant Camille. I thought this was her best talkie along with Queen Christina. It's difficult to judge Robert Taylor. Armand isn't a flattering character but he does leave the viewer feeling sympathetic towards him. Lionel Barrymore is perfect, as always.

Interestingly, I bought this disc off Amazon and as an extra you get the fully restored version with Nazimova and Rudolph Valentino. It looks great and it's a fascinating look at Rudy at the beginning of his career. Nazimova one of the great characters of the silent era is worth watching. it is a very different version of Camille. There is no Armand at the death bed. Nazimova knew that her Armand might divery eyes from her and cut him out of the final scenes.

Two films for the price of one

[knitwit45]

I'll probably get shot for saying this, but I think the Nazimova version is better. her death scene is so moving, while I always get the giggles when Garbo dies....Taylor clutches her, and it looks like she passes out from being held too tightly...when her eyes roll back, I lose it!

[charliechaplinfan]

It's great to have the two films to compare. I prefer Rudolph Valentino's Armand and I'm not a big fan of Garbo's death scene, whereas I think Nazimova over eggs the custard, so to speak. Garbo inhabits the role of Marguerite Gautier better than Nazimova but this is partly down to dialogue. The sets for Nazimova's film are beautiful and designed by Natacha Rambova.

I don't have a preference, they are both very good.

BTW I couldn't imagine Nazimova wearing carpet slippers under her gowns.

[EleanorPowellFan]

Yes I have always like Natacha's designs, they were very Art Deco. I am also a big silent film fan and have too also watched the Rudolph Valentino version but I prefer the 1936 version simply of the dialogue and more portrayal of the characters.