There are a lot of good things about
The Single Standard (Garbo, for instance), but overall, I think the promising plot eventually deteriorates into what had become the Garbo staple: a choice between her husband and lover. But, in this case, "Packy" is a rich, handsome dolt (who is both an accomplished artist and boxer! And you're right, Phil, these names are something. But then again, Griffith called his characters things like "the Dear One", so Packy isn't so bad, I suppose.) Packy and Arden sail away together and are perfect in their love, so, of course Packy calls it quits. It seems so arbitrary. Director Robertson would have done better if he provided even the slightest motivation for Packy's change of heart. Boredom, perhaps? (As if anyone could get bored with Garbo, especially as she looked on the yacht!) It doesn't help matters that Asther and Garbo have a good chemistry together. Their playful antics, and Garbo's slight romantic caresses and nestling (especially after their swim), make Packy's breakup all the more confounding.
I think the deck is stacked, too, later, when Garbo is again "forced to choose". As a husband, who not only truly loves Arden, but "saved" Arden by making an honest woman of her, John Mack Brown is almost too good to be true. (Brown's performance is so honest, though, that you believe he is that good.) But it's Garbo's acting that allows the "choice" to be so dramatic.
For me, Garbo's acting is what makes this such a good film. I love the "comedic" scene in the rain, where Arden is being bothered by the man who insists on holding her umbrella over both of their heads, and she simply lets him have the umbrella and walks off in the rain. Better though, as she showed in
Love, Garbo has a natural instinct when acting with children. There's no question that her smiles and laughs are sincere, and one wonders what Garbo might have been like as a mother (okay, maybe an aunt).
I have a full essay on the film
here, but this pretty much sums it up.
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"Let's be independent together." Dr. Hermey DDS