the eternally fading flower

'Without her eloquent acting the picture would go to pieces.'- from 'variety' 1929.

i saw 'a woman of affairs' for the first time just last night. i knew nothing about it other than it did not have nils asther opposite her. i love the guy. however, it did have her playing with her many times leading man, john gilbert. forgive me, all you gilbert lovers. i am going to assume that he was a lovely human being, that he helped her immensely in her early years in hollywood, and that they did indeed love one another. i just don't feel for him onscreen. maybe this is why he was so good for her. perhaps he provided a perfectly blank canvas on which she could project her emotions. that in itself is a very important role.

she is luminous in this. it was a very successful film and even though the talkies had already been in production, i am glad she continued for a bit to make silents. i love her voice but nothing can touch the emotional range of these silent films.

douglas fairbanks jr. does not have a large part but he is astonishingly gorgeous in a timeless way, a borderline leonardo dicaprio.

photo: Passport photo, 1930/siblings in strife: garbo with douglas fairbanks. jr.