Film Review
It was with
Torrent that
Greta Garbo made her Hollywood debut, elevating a fairly mundane
sentimental melodrama with her extraordinary presence and acting
skill. MGM chief executive Louis B. Meyer had taken a massive
personal gamble in hiring the Swedish actress who, when he met her,
could not speak a word of English and was badly in need of a makeover,
but the gamble paid of handsomely.
Torrent was a worldwide hit and
secured Garbo's standing as one of the most exciting new film stars of
her day. Still only twenty, Garbo was already on her way to
eclipsing all of the other iconic divas in Hollywood, such was her
unsurpassed classic beauty and a rare ability to communicate genuine
human emotion.
Garbo's role in
Torrent - a
Spanish girl who finds fame and fortune at the price of true love -
hardly stretches her acting skill but it is one that seems appropriate
for her. If someone were to write a film script based on Garbo's
own life it would not be that far removed from the script of
Torrent. Her character's
trajectory, from sweet Miss Nobody to international star, mirrors her
own, and her tragic failure to find lasting love in her life is
poignantly echoed in the film. By no means a masterpiece,
Torrent is an engaging
crowdpleaser, competently directed by Monta Bell and with strong
contributions from the entire supporting cast. Whilst Garbo's
co-star Ricardo Cortez turns in a respectable performance there
is no disguising his discomfort in the film; he considered Garbo a non-entity
and openly resented having to work with her. Consequently,
there is nothing like the chemistry that ignites Garbo's subsequent films with
her real-life lover John Gilbert. For audiences of the time,
Torrent was an
hors d'oeuvre for the meatier
course that was to come.
© James Travers 2014
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Under the warm skies of Valencia, Leonora Moreno enjoys an idyllic
existence on her father's orange plantation. She is in love with
Don Rafael, the only son of the rich matriarch Dona Bernarda
Brull. One fateful day, Dona Bernarda evicts the Morenos from
their farmhouse, allowing Leonora's mother to stay on as a
housekeeper. Leonora heads for Paris with her father, determined
to make a name for herself as a singer. Some years later, Leonora
has become a singing sensation under her adopted name, La Brunna.
She returns to her hometown, just as her former lover Don Rafael is
about to marry another woman. One night, as a raging flood
threatens to sweep away Leonora's old homestead, Don Rafael comes to
her aid, needlessly as it turns out. It is just the proof of love
that Leonora had been hoping for. She persuades Don Rafael that
he must come away with her and start a new life in America, but before
they go Don Rafael has a change of heart. He must choose between
the woman he loves and the mother who will surely die if he abandons
her...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.