Queen Christina (1933)

A Great Vehicle for Garbo

Garbo is Garbo here, and that's really all that needs to happen. She is splendid and it's worth sitting through this otherwise rather silly film to see her. Historically, it's not at all accurate but if you are more interestd in Hollywood glamour than reality, then this shouldn't bother you.

John Gilbert really does look awful, and it's very hard to imagine that anyone would fall instantly in love with him. But then it's even more difficult to believe that Garbo as Christina, dressed in man's clothes could convince anyone that she was a man. Maybe if they had removed her lipstick and eyeliner...but that's show business.

It's a great film for die hard Garbo fans who overlook all these flaws just to see her. Others, beware. January 27, 2008

Maybe Garbo's best

Many of the films of the great Greta Garbo are a trial because so often she was the luminous centre in absurd stories with unworthy costars. "Queen Christina" is one of the handful of films which rise to her level.

The films tells of the abdication of Christina of Sweden when she fell in love with a Spanish nobleman. The film starts slowly and not very well establishing Christina's persona as a peace maker surrounded by a court of ambitious war mongers. When it shifts into romance and the usual problem of royalty in films, loyalty and responsibility to country versus personal needs, it improves immeasurably. Garbo is subjected to a barrage of close ups by the director Rouben Mamoulian but they are carefully placed and she survives magnificently, superbly conveying her changing emotions. The object of her love is John Gilbert, a giant silent screen star and ex-lover of Garbo, but here towards the end of his career. He is not completely convincing as a worthy object of her desires. He looks popeyed and weedy. The film has 2 very famous scenes - when Garbo "remembers", filmed to the rhythm of a metronome, the room where she and Gilbert slept together and the ending at the bow of the ship when her blank face is scrutinised and the audience fill in the blanks. The film is sumptuously made in the MGM manner and there is an excellent supporting cast, particularly C Aubrey Smith.

The film's print is dirty and obviously unrestored. There are no extras except the original trailer so if you want to learn more, you will have to purchase it in one of the Garbo Collections which contain documentaries. June 23, 2007

Queen Christina

Mamoulian's film creaks a bit with some broad playing from secondary actors, but Garbo's luminosity more than makes up for it. She is not only ravishing, but her persona is tailor-made for the strong, mannish role of Christina. Former fiancé Gilbert is also fine as Antonio, which places the subsequent demise of this actor's career squarely at the feet of studio boss L.B. Mayer, who didn't like him. Ian Keith, Lewis Stone, and C. Aubrey Smith lend skilled support in this, one of the screen's crowning early biopics. June 21, 2007

Heavy Hangs Garbo's Head

As I continued my quest through Greta Garbo's career I came across this film, a big sweeping historical romance that has a pure heart but a very dry tongue. The story involves the Queen of Sweden (Garbo) who rules over a people that are not too bright and advisors that are constantly clamoring for war. Early on Christina calls off the war in the name of the peasants which leaves the warmongers frothing at the mouth. Decisions like this serve to make her character more likeable and little else as the political landscape she presides over has no real consequences. The romantic part of the story kicks in one night when Christian is out and about and gets marooned inside a cabin thanks to a massive snowfall. Also in the cabin are a bunch of drunken Spaniards, and one, Don Antonio (John Gilbert) who is especially attractive. The catch is that this guy believes she is a he, and since he believes it she seems to magically morph into a male. I know that if you need a she to play a he Garbo is your girl, but she makes no effort to hide her femininity so I found this scene to be extremely unlikely. But no matter. Once they are alone she is outed as a female but not as a queen, they fall in love and then must separate.

The thing about historical romances is that it is always the history driving the wedge between the lovebirds, be it a sinking ship or King Charles. So of course Don Antonio is the advisor to King Charles, and of course he has his royal eye on Christina. This all comes to pass when Don Antonio pays a visit to Christina's castle not knowing that she is queen. His presence has negative effects almost immediately. The masses, never known for their smarts, start riots outside over the thought of their queen doing it with a foreigner (who even knew Swedish nationalism existed?). Then, like now, the people were only able to take an interest in politics if it involved a sex scandal that they could be outraged (!) about. Her other lover around the castle gets jealous and we see lots of squabbling, an aspect that was reminiscent of the "Elizabeth I" movie from earlier this year. The ending of the film is actually quite refreshing. For once we see a person look around and realize that the cost of her position is more than she is interested in paying. We humans love to sell out without thinking, here Christina does the opposite. It was not enough to save the film for me. The dealings for castle politics got to be a drag fairly quickly. I also simply don't believe Garbo in this role. She always seems mysterious and haunting, not powerful and appealing. So while the film is perfectly enjoyable I'm giving it a mild thumbs down. I didn't believe the filmmakers when they told me that Christina rose above her position, but I did believe them when they told me she was leaving it. The sad thing is that there is a good movie in here somewhere, just director Rouben Mamoulian couldn't get the story engine humming fast enough to find it. ***
November 25, 2006

Garbo's Gift to Us

In my view Garbo's greatest film, and her most personal. Among my other favorites are Camille and Ninotchka, but Queen Christina is her stand-out classic above all others. I have read that Garbo was personally exicted by and involved in this production to an extent unparalled for her, motivated by the Swedish (her homeland) history and the opportunity to play one of history's most enigmatic figures, the queen who "abdicated her throne for love" (though this portrayal is, of course, largely "Hollywoodized"--you can probably throw most expectations of historical accuracy out the window, just set back and behold).
Here is every aspect of the legendary Garbo in one film: the breathtakingly beautiful woman, the amibiguous sexuality, the great tragienne, the aloofness, the boyish playfulness, the restless longing to escape any enforced tableaux or expectations of others and live her own life by her own terms, all things she had in common with Queen Christina. Here also is her warm, memorable final pairing with her former real-life amor and frequent co-star John Gilbert.
Two legendary scenes stand out: Garbo walking about, as if in a daze, memorizing the inn room in which she and Gilbert have just spent the night (a scene almost lost due to censors), and of course the final, unforgettable closeup, the greatest closeup in the history of cinema--simply stunning, as is the heartbreaking farewell to the dying Gilbert moments before. Not to be missed scenes also are Garbo running out of the castle into the bitter cold, rubbing snow in her face like a child, and the warm relationship with her elderly attendant, C. Aubrey Smith, who dotes on her like a daughter, combing her hair, tending to her every need with tender love and protectiveness. --One of the overlooked subtexts in the film is the parentless Christina's relationships with two major father figures, Lewis Milestone (another frequent co-star) as a palace official, who vehemently protests Christina's decision to step down from the throne, along with the personal attendant, C. Aubrey Smith, with his benevolent, Mark Twain face, caring for Christina in a motherly fashion, wanting only her happiness, wherever that takes her....
In life Garbo indeed appeared reclusive and aloof, though I suspect she was simply a very shy person who perhaps never fully comprehended what it was we all wanted from her. But here, in Queen Christina, actress and woman merge. Garbo opened up for us in a way she had never before and would never again, fully showing us both her great strength and acute vulnerability, and the result is spellbinding, a treasure forever, Garbo's gift to us all, and we are all the beneficiaries. July 1, 2006

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