FlushingCaps This was Greta Garbo's last film, released in early 1942, co-starring Melvin Douglas. I viewed it this afternoon on DVD from a recent airing on TCM.We open with Douglas as Larry Blake, magazine publisher, vacationing at an Idaho ski lodge, telling the lodge manager that he has no interest at all in skiing. Seeing, Garbo, as Karin Borg, skiing expertly right outside the window, he decides, upon hearing she is a ski instructor, to pay for private lessons, taking her immediately away from a class of several she was teaching. He annoys her by immediately suggesting they go someplace private—letting it be clear that he is interested in anything other than skiing.Karin's response is to take him to the top of the mountain, which is something I believe few ski instructors would do because a novice on a really steep slope would be extremely dangerous. After getting off the chair lift, he almost immediately starts going down backwards and falls over a ridge and we see skis and legs sticking out from a pile of snow beneath the edge of the ridge.The next scene has two of Larry's colleagues, O.O. Miller (Roland Young) and Miss Ruth Ellis (Ruth Gordon) rushing to the lodge, worried about their missing boss. Then we see Larry entering a private cabin with Karin and learn they are newly married. Larry says he plans to immediately retire and stay there with Karin, living a simple life. By morning, he's changed his mind no fewer than three times, and leaves his new wife to return to work. She resisted his orders to go with him, as that isn't what they agreed to. To me, this proves why it is unwise to marry someone you don't even know.After many weeks of broken plans for him to come back to her she decides to go to New York and surprise him. But on seeing him friendly with an old girlfriend, Griselda (Constance Bennett) Karin decides to go back to Idaho without seeing him. Spotted by O.O., she goes along with Miss Ellis' concoction and pretends to be her own twin sister, Katherine, a fictional person.She decides her husband needs to be spied on and maneuvers herself to be with him, as she is "dating" O.O. in the role of Katherine Borg. Almost immediately, we see that Larry is at least 90% sure that this is really his wife. Whether he is just flirting with Griselda or having an affair is left uncertain. It is certain that Griselda has romantic plans for Larry.Most of the film settles into this deception mode. Karin, as Katherine, in scenes we never saw, apparently got two suitors, including O.O. believing she they were engaged to her. Mostly she tries to make a play for Larry, wanting him to dislike her "city" ways so he'll go back to Karin. At one point she directly tells him to go to Karin, but he insists he is more interested in her.They wind up back in Idaho and Larry has a terrible time skiing down the mountain, falling and getting up over and over (something only an expert skier could do), as Karin skis down trying to help him stop. He winds up in a lake and suddenly their problems are over as the movie ends.If the review sounds ridiculous, that's the way the movie was. There were few scenes supposed to be funny, but it was too lighthearted to be a good drama. Even a supposed screwball comedy has to have some measure of believability in the script. We were never given anything other than lust to explain why these two got together—they had absolutely nothing in common and we never got any scene, like most "romantic" films where they dated and did something together that made them both laugh together happily. Just—BAM—these strangers are married. And Larry is more interested in his magazine than his wife on his wedding night? For him to go back to New York for a few days to fix a problem is fine. But as shown, it was many weeks he stayed there ignoring her. Annulment time in the real world. No need for a divorce here.What Karin sought to accomplish with her deception is rather dumb as well. She is supposed to make him want to go back to Karin by being a city girl who parties too much and drinks and such. But his world has been the big city and it makes no sense that he would yearn for the new life he, sort of, planned to have with his new bride.This might have worked better if the couple had been married for a few years and she finally talked him into giving up his magazine to retire to the ski lodge, and to help out in a crisis, he went back to the city to rescue the magazine and left her for days or a week, not a couple of months. I know, I'd be changing most of the script, but it needed drastic changing to make a good film. A "4" is a generous score.

jarrodmcdonald-1 Garbo deserved a better script, and her fans deserved a better Garbo send off. So what exactly is the problem with this film?For starters, the premise would have worked better for someone like Lucille Ball. As screwball comedies go, this one is especially absurd, though humorous in spots-- about mistaken identities involving a case of dual role-itis. Certainly not something that should have been attempted with Garbo, who is out of her element here. The supporting cast is well chosen, notably Constance Bennett. The picture has the usual high-gloss MGM production values. But overall, it is a mediocre script that seems more like a typical studio programmer that has been over valued and oversold because of its star. Again, it's funny in spots, and it's worth watching. But it most definitely is not a befitting motion picture swan song for a legend.

dglink Rarely seen and oft-maligned, Greta Garbo's final film, "Two-Faced Woman," is an unexpected delight. Re-teamed with "Ninotchka" co-star Melvyn Douglas, Garbo plays a ski-instructor who literally overnight marries magazine publisher Douglas, only to wake up and discover some stark differences in their approach to life. Don't ask why or how, but the frothy, often quite funny, plot finds Garbo impersonating a fictitious twin sister to test Douglas's fidelity. While the role may have been better suited for Irene Dunne, Garbo nevertheless throws herself into the part and again proves her versatility. While Karin, her ski-instructor personality, has shades of Ninotchka, Katherine, the flirtatious gold digger twin, allows Garbo to shamelessly vamp, saucily dance, and bitchily spar with a hilarious Constance Bennett.Although Garbo as Katherine rivets viewers' attention, Bennett shines and more than holds her own in the few scenes they share. Douglas is excellent as always, and the Garbo-Douglas duo should have made more films. Ruth Gordon underplays a small role, but both Roland Young and Robert Sterling have fun as Katherine's admirers. George Cukor's direction is fine, and the screwball-like screenplay, based on a play by Ludwig Fulda, may not hold up under scrutiny, but has enough hilarious moments to cover any gaps in logic.The reasons behind Garbo's exit from the screen are many; but neither the quality of her final film nor her final delicious performance could be among them. Watching "Two-Faced Woman," one can only wistfully reflect on what film history lost by her departure. Garbo as Mrs. Paradine in "The Paradine Case" or as Mama in "I Remember Mama" would have been memorable, and, although Gloria Swanson was magnificent, Garbo as Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard" would have been sublime. Unfortunately, Garbo turned down all three roles. While Karin/Katherine may not rank among the screen goddess's greatest roles or the movie among her greatest films, any Garbo film is a treasure, and, despite an undeservedly poor reputation, "Two-Faced Woman" is not just for Garbo devotees. Fine direction and humorous script, excellent supporting performances, particularly from Bennett, and a flamboyant star turn by Garbo deserve a much wider audience than the film has had.

ReelCheese TWO-FACED WOMAN is a harmless but forgettable comedy. Greta Garbo stars as a sexy ski instructor who falls for big shot magazine editor Melvyn Douglas. With the charm of their young marriage fading (along with her faith in her hubby's faithfulness), she pretends to be her own (nonexistent) twin sister to see how he will react. But hubby knows the truth and is just playing along.TWO-FACED WOMAN plays a bit like an old variety show skit that doesn't quite know when to quit. Don't get me wrong. The fairly well-scripted film does have its moments, and Garbo is as cute and charming as ever. But there really isn't enough movie here for the 90 minutes filled. Several scenes, particularly when the alleged twin sister first meets her hubby, drag on far too long. And Douglas is a poorly cast leading man, exuding arrogance in an unfunny-from-the-start role.Garbo fans are understandably intrigued by this picture because it was the starlet's final film. The fact that she retired at a relatively young age only adds to her allure. For everyone else, however, TWO-FACED WOMAN is nothing too special.