Main Cast: Greta Garbo, Herbert Marshall, George Brent, Warner Oland, Jean Hersholt
Release Year: 1934
Country: US
Run Time: 83 minutes
Plot
A W. Somerset Maugham novel was the source for the fair-to-middling Greta Garbo vehicle The Painted Veil. In a situation comparable to the plotlines of most of her silent films, Garbo is lovelessly married to Herbert Marshall, but carries a flaming torch for George Brent. (Also harking back to Garbo's silent days is the fact that neither one of the men in her life is particularly interesting!) Marshall, a brilliant physician, is compelled to go into the interior regions of China to quell a cholera epidemic. He knows that Garbo has been having an affair with politician Brent, and chivalrously gives her the choice of remaining with Brent or accompanying him. Fearing a scandal, Brent bids farewell to Garbo. Once they're in the midst of the epidemic, Garbo tirelessly works by her husband's side; eventually she falls in love with him for the first time. Seriously injured in a peasant uprising, Marshall hovers near death. Brent reappears, offering to take Garbo back with him. She refuses, electing to stay with her husband no matter what the future brings. Among the supporting players in The Painted Veil are Warner Oland and Keye Luke, one year away from their memorable pairing in Fox's Charlie Chan films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Proof of Greta Garbo's incredible, irreplaceable star quality can be found in The Painted Veil, a film that she singlehandedly makes worth watching. It's not that Garbo is absolutely the only thing of any worth in Veil. For example, Herbert Marshall does very well indeed as the great star's husband, a dedicated, self-sacrificing doctor who nevertheless lets us see how stung he can be by his wife's inattention. Marshall provides an excellent, if lesser, partner for Garbo and his contribution shouldn't be downplayed. But he still essentially exists so that Garbo has something to play off of, to play against, to play with -- and play she does. It's amazing the volumes that the actress can convey with a mere hunched shoulder, demonstrating in one move the tremendous, unbearable weight that she feels upon her. Her performance in the dinner scene, in which she worries over how much her husband suspects or, God forbid, knows, is mesmerizing. Granted, her work in some way could be scene as showboating, but that's what this material calls for, and no one showboats like Garbo. The screenplay is so much nonsense, even substituting a tacked-on happy ending for the "downer" that W. Somerset Maugham originally penned. But Garbo, aided by a lush production and attentive photography from William H. Daniels, makes it very palatable indeed. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
