Greta Garbo

Acting

Greta Garbo

Born — Died

1905-09-18 — 1990-04-15

Place of birth

Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Known for

Acting

Credits

66 titles

Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; September 18, 1905 – April 15, 1990) was a Swedish-American actress, widely regarded as one of the greatest stars of classic Hollywood cinema. Known for her melancholic and enigmatic screen presence, she starred in iconic films such as Anna Karenina, Queen Christina, Camille, and Ninotchka. Throughout her career, she was celebrated for her subtle and understated performances, earning three Academy Award nominations and an honorary Oscar in 1954. Garbo was famously private, avoiding the Hollywood social scene and retiring from acting at the age of 35. Her personal life has long been the subject of speculation, particularly regarding her sexuality. S…

Known for

The South Bank Show poster
5.6

The South Bank Show is a television arts magazine show produced by ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new series began on Sky Arts from 27 May 2012. Presented by Melvyn Bragg, the show aims to bring both high art and popular culture to a mass audience.

The South Bank Show

1978

Spécial cinéma poster
9.5

Marcello Mastroianni, Isabelle Adjani, Alain Delon, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen... the biggest stars in cinema were welcomed by Christian Defaye on his show Spécial cinéma. Between intimate confessions from actors and immersion in the world of the greatest filmmakers, Christian Defaye took viewers on a journey into the fascinating world of cinema for nearly thirty years.

Spécial cinéma

1974

MGM Parade poster
7.5

The original concept of the show was to allow the viewer to see the inner workings of a movie studio and featured interviews with MGM stars and explanations of how movies were made. Later, the format changed to show edited versions of MGM films.

MGM Parade

1955

Queen Christina poster
6.9

Popular monarch Queen Christina of Sweden must choose between love and loyalty to her nation when she unexpectedly falls for a Spanish envoy.

Queen Christina

1934

Marlowe poster
6.1

Mysterious Orfamay Quest hires Los Angeles private investigator Philip Marlowe to find her missing brother. Though the job seems simple enough, it leads Marlowe into the underbelly of the city, turning up leads who are murdered with ice picks, exotic dancers, blackmailed television stars, and self-preserving gangsters. Soon, Marlowe's life is on the line right along with his case.

Marlowe

1969

Camille poster
7.0

Life in 1847 Paris is as spirited as champagne and as unforgiving as the gray morning after. In gambling dens and lavish soirees, men of means exert their wills and women turned courtesans exult in pleasure. One such woman is Marguerite Gautier, who begins a sumptuous romance with Armand Duval.

Camille

1936

Film credits

2010s · 5 titles

2000s · 8 titles

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year poster
7.5

This documentary focuses on 1939, considered to be Hollywood's greatest year, with film clips and insight into what made the year so special.

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year

2009

Complicated Women poster
6.9

Looks at the stereotype-breaking films of the period from 1929, when movies entered the sound era, until 1934 when the Hays Code virtually neutered film content. No longer portrayed as virgins or vamps, the liberated female of the pre-code films had dimensions. Good girls had lovers and babies and held down jobs, while the bad girls were cast in a sympathetic light. And they did it all without apology.

Complicated Women

2003

Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood poster
6.1

A look at the forces that shaped Pre-Code Hollywood and brought about the strict enforcement of the Hays Code in 1934.

Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood

2008

No artwork available
7.0

Until 1932's Grand Hotel, never had there existed an all-star ensemble cast on film. Conceived by MGM's production genius Irving Thalberg, the film boasted names like Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery and John and Lionel Barrymore and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. This short documentary takes a look at the making of the classic film.

Checking Out: Grand Hotel

2004

Garbo poster
6.9

An original documentary from Turner Classic Movies, Garbo offers an intimate look at the life and career of the movies' most luminous, reclusive and mystifying star. A portrait of Garbo the woman is drawn through interviews with biographers and admirers, plus many of the friends, relatives and associates who came closest to penetrating the lonely star's veil of solitude.

Garbo

2005

Greta Garbo: A Lone Star poster
7.0

Runs through Greta Garbo's life and films in chronological order in an attempt to reveal the 'real' Garbo.

Greta Garbo: A Lone Star

2001

Cole Porter in Hollywood: Satin and Silk poster
7.0

This documentary short subject details the making of the 1957 MGM musical, "Silk Stockings". Hosted by its star Cyd Charisse, the film gives behind-the-scenes glimpses of how this film was made with interviews by musical director Andre Previn and supporting actress Janis Paige.

Cole Porter in Hollywood: Satin and Silk

2003

Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema poster
4.3

Before the G, PG and R ratings system there was the Production Code, and before that there was, well, nothing. This eye-opening documentary examines the rampant sexuality of early Hollywood through movie clips and reminiscences by stars of the era. Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, Marlene Dietrich and others relate tales of the artistic freedom that led to the draconian Production Code, which governed content from 1934 to 1968. Diane Lane narrates.

Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema

2007

1990s · 4 titles

1960s · 6 titles

1930s · 16 titles

Queen Christina poster
6.9

Popular monarch Queen Christina of Sweden must choose between love and loyalty to her nation when she unexpectedly falls for a Spanish envoy.

Queen Christina

1934

Camille poster
7.0

Life in 1847 Paris is as spirited as champagne and as unforgiving as the gray morning after. In gambling dens and lavish soirees, men of means exert their wills and women turned courtesans exult in pleasure. One such woman is Marguerite Gautier, who begins a sumptuous romance with Armand Duval.

Camille

1936

Ninotchka poster
7.5

A stern Russian woman sent to Paris on official business finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.

Ninotchka

1939

Susan Lenox poster
6.1

A young woman runs away from an abusive home and pre-arranged marriage only to be frustrated in her attempts to find happiness with a handsome engineer.

Susan Lenox

1931

Mata Hari poster
6.2

A semi-fictionalized account of the life of Mata Hari, an exotic dancer who was accused of spying for Germany during World War I.

Mata Hari

1931

Grand Hotel poster
7.0

Guests at a posh Berlin hotel struggle through worry, scandal, and heartache.

Grand Hotel

1932

Anna Karenina poster
6.6

In Imperial Russia, Anna, wife of the officer Karenin, goes to Moscow to visit her brother. On the way, she meets charming cavalry officer Vronsky, to whom she's immediately attracted. But in St. Petersburg’s high society, a relationship like this could destroy a woman’s reputation.

Anna Karenina

1935

Conquest poster
6.6

A Polish countess is dispatched by her country to become Napoleon Bonaparte's mistress at the urging of Polish leaders, who feel she might influence him to support Polish independence.

Conquest

1937

Anna Christie poster
7.8

A young woman reunites with the father she's not seen since early childhood, also falls in love with a sailor who wishes to marry her, and eventually is forced to reveal to each man about her dark past. (NOTE: This is the German language version.)

Anna Christie

1930

The Painted Veil poster
6.4

The wife of a doctor in China falls in love with a diplomat.

The Painted Veil

1934

Anna Christie poster
6.0

Old sailor Chris Christofferson eagerly awaits the arrival of his grown daughter Anna, whom he sent at five years old to live with relatives in Minnesota. He has not seen her since, but believes her to be a decent and respectably employed young woman. When Anna arrives, however, it is clear that she has lived a hard life in the dregs of society, and that much of spirit has been extinguished. She falls in love with a young sailor rescued at sea by her father, but dreads to reveal to him the truth of her past. Both father and young man are deluded about her background, yet Anna cannot quite bring herself to allow them to remain deluded.

Anna Christie

1930

The Romance of Celluloid poster
7.0

Several behind the scenes aspects of the movie-making business, which results in the enjoyment the movie going public has in going to the theater, are presented. They include: the production of celluloid aka film stock, the materials used in the production of which include cotton and silver; construction crews who build sets including those to look like cities, towns and villages around the world; a visit with Jack Dawn who demonstrates the process of creating a makeup design; the screen testing process, where many an acting hopeful gets his/her start; the work of the candid camera man, the prying eyes behind the movie camera; a visit with Adrian, who designs the clothes worn by many of the stars on screen; and a visit with Herbert Stothart as he conducts his musical score for Conquest (1937). These behind the scenes looks provide the opportunity to get acquainted with the cavalcade of MGM stars and their productions that will grace the silver screen in the 1937/38 movie season.

The Romance of Celluloid

1937

Romance poster
6.5

A beautiful opera star kept by a rich older man falls in love with a young clergyman.

Romance

1930

Inspiration poster
5.9

Yvonne is a beautiful model who loves frequenting the Parisian bohemian life, because she loves hobnobbing with artists.

Inspiration

1931

As You Desire Me poster
6.4

Bar entertainer Zara is a discontented alcoholic who is pursued by many men but lives with novelist Carl Salter. One day, Tony shows up on Salter's estate claiming that Zara is actually Maria, the wife of his close friend Bruno, claiming that her memory was destroyed during World War I. Zara doesn't remember but leaves with Tony to Salter's dismay. Bruno, now an officer in the Italian Army, tries to coax Maria's memory back on his large estate. No one is really sure if Zara is Maria, and when Salter shows up with a mental case from Trieste that he claims is the real Maria, everyone on Bruno's estate is desperately searching for the truth.

As You Desire Me

1932

From the Ends of the Earth poster
5.0

An MGM short showing how materials are shipped by boat 'From the Ends of the Earth' to Hollywood. Featuring footage from the MGM films being made at the time. Such as The Women, Thunder Afloat, Siren of the Tropics, Ninotchka, Northwest Passage, and At the Circus.

From the Ends of the Earth

1939

1920s · 13 titles

Flesh and the Devil poster
7.2

When lifelong best friends Leo and Ulrich return home after completing their military training, Leo meets the stunning Felicitas at a railway station and is mesmerized by her beauty. A scandal follows, for which Leo is sent away. Returning home three years later, he discovers that much has changed.

Flesh and the Devil

1926

The Mysterious Lady poster
7.3

A beautiful Russian spy seduces an Austrian military officer in order to obtain secret plans. When she falls in love with him, both are placed in danger.

The Mysterious Lady

1928

Torrent poster
6.7

A young girl and her father are kicked out of their house by a cruel noblewoman, and the girl's heart is broken when her sweetheart, the noblewoman's son, won't go to Paris with them. After becoming an opera star in Paris, the girl returns to her homeland and finds her romance with the nobleman rekindled.

Torrent

1926

Joyless Street poster
6.8

In 1921, we follow two women - Marie and Grete - from the same poor Viennese neighborhood, as they try to better the lives of themselves and their families during the period of Austrian postwar hyperinflation.

Joyless Street

1925

Peter the Tramp poster
6.0

Greta Garbo in her first feature "Luffar-Petter" (Petter The Tramp) 1922. Only a 10-minute fragment of the film has survived. She plays one of the three daughters of a fireman who is robbed by the vagrant Peter. The two leading male roles—the fireman and the vagrant—are played by Eric Petschler, who is also the film's director and screenwriter.

Peter the Tramp

1922

The Single Standard poster
5.8

A bored socialite finds fleeting romance with an artist.

The Single Standard

1929

No artwork available
NR

The Swedish Crown Prince and Crown Princess visit the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios.

Vårt kronprinspar i Hollywood

1926

Love poster
5.7

In Imperial Russia, Anna Karenina falls in love with the dashing military officer Count Vronsky and abandons her husband and child to become his mistress.

Love

1927

The Kiss poster
6.4

An unhappily married woman is caught up in scandal and murder when her affection toward a young man is misinterpreted.

The Kiss

1929

The Temptress poster
6.7

A seductive woman forsakes her husband and lover to pursue a young engineer.

The Temptress

1926

Wild Orchids poster
6.3

A prince in Java tries to seduce his visitor's wife, but he's discovered.

Wild Orchids

1929

Our Daily Bread poster
5.3

In another early advertisement of her's, Greta and a group of friends have tea on the rooftop terrace of the Strand Hôtel and later have a picnic in the park.

Our Daily Bread

1921

A Man's Man poster
8.0

An aspiring actress goes to Hollywood to make movies and marries a soda jerk.

A Man's Man

1929

Series credits

The South Bank Show poster
5.6

The South Bank Show is a television arts magazine show produced by ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new series began on Sky Arts from 27 May 2012. Presented by Melvyn Bragg, the show aims to bring both high art and popular culture to a mass audience.

The South Bank Show

1978

Spécial cinéma poster
9.5

Marcello Mastroianni, Isabelle Adjani, Alain Delon, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen... the biggest stars in cinema were welcomed by Christian Defaye on his show Spécial cinéma. Between intimate confessions from actors and immersion in the world of the greatest filmmakers, Christian Defaye took viewers on a journey into the fascinating world of cinema for nearly thirty years.

Spécial cinéma

1974

MGM Parade poster
7.5

The original concept of the show was to allow the viewer to see the inner workings of a movie studio and featured interviews with MGM stars and explanations of how movies were made. Later, the format changed to show edited versions of MGM films.

MGM Parade

1955

MGM Parade poster
7.5

The original concept of the show was to allow the viewer to see the inner workings of a movie studio and featured interviews with MGM stars and explanations of how movies were made. Later, the format changed to show edited versions of MGM films.

MGM Parade

1955

MGM Parade poster
7.5

The original concept of the show was to allow the viewer to see the inner workings of a movie studio and featured interviews with MGM stars and explanations of how movies were made. Later, the format changed to show edited versions of MGM films.

MGM Parade

1955

1939: Secrets of Hollywood's Golden Year poster
5.7

This two-part documentary series explores 1939, the greatest year in Hollywood history, telling the behind-the-scenes stories of films like Gone With The Wind, Wuthering Heights, Stagecoach and The Wizard of Oz.

1939: Secrets of Hollywood's Golden Year

2023