Celebrating the centenary of Greta Garbo’s birth, these screenings feature restored prints of the Swedish actress’s earliest European films. The eternal luminosity and emotional power that defined Garbo were evident from the start, particularly in the films she made with Mauritz Stiller and G. W. Pabst in the 1920s. These supporting roles exemplify the pre-Hollywood, pre-stardom Swedish actress in all her ingénue splendor, burnishing the screen with the rare intensity that would make her a screen legend. Garbo’s appearances as an extra in silent Swedish features (under the name Greta Gustafson) as well as a 1948 Hollywood screen test are added attractions in this centennial tribute.
Organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film and Media, as part of a Greta Garbo centennial celebration supported by the Consulate General of Sweden in New York, in association with Scandinavia House.
Special thanks to the Swedish Film Institute and the Munich Film Archives.