Main Cast: Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Constance Bennett, Ruth Gordon, Robert Sterling, Roland Young
Release Year: 1941
Country: US
Run Time: 90 minutes
Plot
Attempting to Americanize Greta Garbo to appeal to American audiences (since most of the foreign markets for Hollywood product had been cut off due to World War II), M.G.M.'s Two-Faced Woman succeeded in making Garbo angry enough to announce her retirement from the screen. Two-Faced Woman was Garbo's final screen appearance, as the legendary actress slipped into a reclusive existence that lasted until her death. This George Cukor romantic comedy casts Garbo as ski instructor Karin Borg Blake. She gives lessons to wealthy American playboy Larry Blake (Melvyn Douglas), and the two fall in love and marry even though Larry has a girlfriend named Griselda Vaughn (Constance Bennett) waiting for him back in New York. Returning to New York, Karin fears that Griselda will win Larry back. In an effort to foil Larry's imagined dalliance, Karin poses as her own twin sister, Katherine, hoping to get Larry to fall in love with her instead of Griselda. Larry is onto the scheme and plays along with her, pretending to fall in love with Katherine. But this infuriates Karin, who can't believe that her husband would fall in love with her sister, and she storms back to her ski resort. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
Condemned through the years as the film that caused the legendary Greta Garbo to flee from the screen, Two-Faced Woman is actually not a bad film, and certainly not the disaster that legend would have it. Wrong-headed, yes, for it attempts to recast the inimitable Garbo as a standard-issue romantic comedy heroine, perhaps because she had revealed such an unexpected flair for humor in Ninotchka. But that earlier success had very wisely been tailored to highlight what was amusing in Garbo herself; Woman asks her to pretend she is a cross between Irene Dunne and Ginger Rogers. The film never recovers from this basic mistake, nor does Garbo's performance, although she's certainly game and gives it her all. Even with a more appropriate leading lady, however, Woman would still be nothing more than an average 1940s comedy. There's nothing original in the plot and even the witty S.N. Behrmann isn't able to give the dialogue the consistent sparkle and punch it needs. Woman does benefit from Melvyn Douglas' customarily smooth and engaging performance; the actor handles the material with just the right light touch and works well with Garbo. Even better is Constance Bennett, who grabs every scene she's in and runs away with it. George Cukor's direction is adequate, but it lacks the difficult combination of energy and restraint that this kind of film demands. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Daniel B. Cathcart - Art Director, Cedric Gibbons - Art Director, Robert Alton - Choreography, Adrian - Costume Designer, George Cukor - Director, George Boemler - Editor, Bronislau Kaper - Composer (Music Score), Leo Arnaud - Musical Direction/Supervision, Joseph Ruttenberg - Cinematographer, Gottfried Reinhardt - Producer, Daniel B. Cathcart - Set Designer, Edwin B. Willis - Set Designer, Warren Newcombe - Special Effects, S.N. Behrmann - Screenwriter, George Oppenheimer - Screenwriter, Salka Viertel - Screenwriter, Ludwig Fulda - Play Author
