The Torrent was Garbo's first Us film, and her first film for MGM. MGM didn't know what to do with their Swedish import, and cast her as a Spanish vamp. Garbo hated the vampy roles. She preffered playing tragic heroines, and comedy. Garbo hardly spoke a word of English when filming "The torrent". It came as a shock to both garbo and Mauritz Stiller that Stiller wasn't gonna direct Garbo's US debut. Garbo and Ricardo Cortez didn't get along very well. She called him "a pumpkin". Garbo did get along with the cameraman, William Daniels. They made 19 movies together. "Motion Picture wrote this about Garbo: "She suggests a composite picture of a dozen of our best- known stars" |
PHOTOS FROM THE TORRENT >> |
Greta Garbo: Leonora Moreno Ricardo Cortez: Don Rafael Brull Gertrude Olmstead: Remedios Edward Connelly: Pedro Moreno Lucien Littlefield: Cupido |
Director:
Monta Bell |
Written by:
Dorethy Farnum Blasco Ibanez |
Leonora is a Spanish Farmer- girl, who makes a carrer as an opera- singer in Paris.
She meets two young men there, and throughout the movie,we follow their tempered
relationships. |
It seems the critics liked Garbos performance in "The torrent" more than the movie
itself. Her skill as an silent- actress is remarkably good, and it is hard to
belive that "The torrent" was her debut movie. Still, this is a silent movie about
an opera- singer, and you have to use your imagination to fill in the gaps
of the plot. But Garbo is simply wonderful, and steals each scene from Mr Cortez. |