CinemaSerf

It is quite risky to make a silent film about an opera star - so much of the passion and power of the piece must surely come from the singing? Well Greta Garbo gives it a damn good try here - and pretty much pulls it off as "Leonora", the young girl in love with the son of the local landed gentry "Don Rafael" (Ricardo Cortez). His rather imperious mother "Doña Bernarda" (Martha Mattox) is having none of it - and soon arranges for the young woman and her family to be turfed from their home. With her father, she heads to Paris where her singing talents reap huge rewards - and she returns to Spain where "Rafael" tries to rekindle their affections... The story is quite straight forward, she the strong determined woman, he the hen-pecked shrimp of a man; and there is a chemistry between them with Garbo on super form. Her gestures, both subtle and grand, as well as her inimitable smile add a richness to the beautifully staged sets and costumes. It's got the odd plot hole - the wealthy chanteuse seems content to let her mother prevail in abject poverty, and her affection for the weak and feeble - though dashing Cortez - beggars belief at times too. Ibañez' story is a rousing one, full of vim and vigour, and despite the lack of "performances" from Garbo's "La Brunna" this isn't an half bad screen adaptation.