Flesh and the Devil

The chemistry between Greta Garbo and John Gilbert is the highlight of this film and the main reason to watch it. Their loving caresses, deep open mouthed kisses, and the eye contact they make when they're with the other guy in this love triangle (Lars Hanson, who may as well be nameless) all reflect the feelings they had off the screen as well. Garbo is a master at mesmerizing little gestures, such as the way she holds the cigarette in her mouth in the scene that includes the line "You know... when you blow out the match... that's an invitation to kiss you...?" Gilbert is strong as well, and shows more range here than usual (among other things, I loved how he acted during that duel). Lastly, while all eyes are on Garbo, I was drawn to diminutive Barbara Kent (4'11"), whose character is also certainly more endearing.

Unfortunately, the film is saddled with the whole woman as satanic temptress thing, punctuated by a fire and brimstone sermon that quotes scripture in case we don't get it. If you look closely, you'll notice that the pastor has a cigarette holder that features a figurine of reclining woman showing off her shapely legs, a small moment that shows his hypocrisy in an otherwise very moralistic tale. The film also needed editing - it spends too much time on silly scenes early on (e.g. showing long nonsensical words in "German", military formations, weak jokes with a pair of twins, etc), and overall should have been about a half hour shorter. Lastly, the story is a little hokey even for a melodrama, for example, it seemed odd that the blood brothers wouldn't communicate better while one of them went away, and the ending is silly too. All of this takes away from the magic of Garbo/Gilbert, but there's enough of that to make it worth watching nonetheless.