Evening star., 1939-11-19
Greta GarbO's Life Has Had
Its Tribulations, Too

Ulll &C Sdt dU d SluCWdlh Sd4C, SSOhS
to Greta of her name. TOO diff
cult for foreigners to pronounce"
he said. Nov I have thought of
two from which you must choose.
The first is Greta Garbo. That is
short. 1t is easy to say. 1t will be
pronounced the same in every Ian
guage. The other I also like. It is
Gussie Berger. Let me know your
answer in the morning."
Greta did not wait until morning.
Already she had chosen; she could
not reconcile herself to being called
GusSie.
Came new experiences, new peo-
pie, a new film with scenario by
Greta Carlo, story youth had
told her in Sweden of his sister
and a tragic life that moved from
Russia to Constantinople. Hallway
through that came heartbreak for
the three-Garbo, Stiller and Han
sen. Letters stopped coming. The
German company backing them had
gone broke.
But the fame of Costa Berung"
had spread across the Atlantic.
Shortly Louis B. Mayer, then in
Europe, sought Stiller for an inter-
view. The story of that is familiar.
too. Stiller would come to America
only II Greta and Hansen accom-
panied him. Mayer wanted a direc-
tor; this seemed not too great a
price to pay. He accepted Stiller's
terms.
So in July, 1925, the buckingham
sailed from the harbor of Gothen-
berg and one of its passengers was
not happy as it pointed it's bow to-
ward the dim horizon and the new
world. But for an order from Maui
ritz Stiller, she would have been
somewhere else Depression took
full possession of Greta Garbo as
her beloved homeland faded into
the distance. BY the time the steam
er docked, however, it was carrying
a Greta Carlo alive with excite
ment and anticipation.
Excitement and anticipation fled
IN this strange Hollywood in a land
OF which any other part would have
oeen strange enough to a shy and
retiring young lady from Sweden.
Her tall. statuesque, different type
OF beauty was not appreciated in the
middle OF those roaring tWenties.
Aloofness and that undefinable
quality were a far cry from the
more easily understood 'It," which
was Hollywood's guide.
So Greta Garbo's first test was a
routine affair and the studio was
properly unimpressed in the rou-
tine way film studio has. Unim-
pressed. that is, until Stiller ey-
ploded for the first time on Ameri-
can soil. He made a test and re-
versed all studio opinions, showed
them how to put that evasive. strange
lure that is Carlo on the screen
The Torrent" was chosen to in
troduce the new star to American
audiences and she went to work.
But she was not happy. Mauritz
Stiller was not directing her film.
Greta found herself surrounded by
the unfamiliar-the faces of those
around her were unfamiliar, the
tongue they spoke was a jargon that
had no meaning, the source of their
humor was unfamiliar. That last
was one of the worst features. Greta
heard laughter, knew not its source,
and Greta, the introvert, leaped i'm
mediately to the conclusion the
laughter was at her.
But Stiller ordered her to STAY in
Hollywood and Stiller was the head
man.
When 'The Torrent" reached the
screen it was the Costa Berling"
reaction all over again, only in the
more hysterical manner this land
has with its cinema stars. The STU
dio, suspecting no doubt that this
was just a passing fancy on the part
of the public, rushed Greta into a
second film, THE Temptress.'
Came then Flesh and the Devil -
with John Gilbert as Garbos CO.
star, and then came one of the most
publicized rorhances of flmdom s
history. Followed Love" THE
Divine Woman" mysterious Lady"
"A Woman of Affairs" a vacation
in Sweden, which was not as happy
as it might have been. Stiller had
died and Carlo found crowds in
Stockholm quite as pressing as those
in America.
Then the return and wild Or
chids," THE Single Standard" and
John Gilbert's marriage to Ina
Claire.
Somewhere during this period in
her career it was that Garbo adopted
her silence. 1t may have been due
to an innate shyness, a tendency
to draw within, away from people,
or it may have been something else.
It is suggested that Lon Chaney
may have started what has made
Garbo a synonym for aloofness. In
the beginning she complained not
when asked to pose with track stars
or with pets from Gays Lion Farm.
But Lon CLANCY once said to her,
according to the story, 1T is wrong
to destroy illusions. Never be pho
tographed out of character. Go
home at S o'clock and keep your
private life to yourself"
After THE Single Standard" came
"The Kiss" and then came the time
when Garbo must face another
crisis. A new demon called the
microphone was sending foreign
stars home and domestic stars to
the extra ranks. Anna Christie"
was announced. and "Garbo Talks"
was soon to be shouted from the
sign boards.
She faced that first morning with
her usual calm. When the mo-
ment came she entered the water
Z