Allowing for the Hollywoodization of history, this is an effective drama about the 17th century daughter of Gustavus Adolphus who as a child ascended the throne of Sweden, then dominant in Europe, and twenty years later abdicated rather than accept a political marriage. Her probable lesbianism is obscured by a fabricated romance with a Spanish ambassador and her conversion to Catholicism unmentioned, but Greta Garbo makes her into a fascinating character nonetheless. Rouben Mamoulian’s direction is lush and smooth, and John Gilbert is not bad at all in a brief reunion with Garbo, after the advent of sound had destroyed his career. (Her stardom was such that she got to pick her entire cast and crew, but her first choice as love interest, the pre-Heathcliff Laurence Olivier, did not work out and was replaced by her old familiar.) If you are immune to the Garbo magic, this film may strike you as silly and false, but if you have fallen under her spell, you will find it witty and moving, a fitting vessel for a monarch of the silver screen. (1933, dvd, n.) *7+*
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