Greta Garbo, an Enduring Image

Greta Garbo still sells, some 80 years on. By my calculations, her movies earn approximately $200,000 annually on Amazon, Borders and Barnes&Noble. What is more, her items have a high response rate showing resonance with the audience (see Signature Series ) In EBSCOHOST, there are 12,152 articles about her or that reference her, with 4,816 written in the past five years. The mystique is as much about her lifestyle as her films.

Greta Garbo had the resolute spirit that Ayn Rand, who admired Garbo, tried to capture in the fictional character John Galt. Unlike Galt, however, who ran away to work apart from the system, Garbo turned the system inside out and made it work for her. This is all the more remarkable when you consider that the other major stars of the era were overwhelmed by the system.

Three of the biggest were Clara Bow (the It girl), Rudolf Valentino and John Gilbert. Rhodes (1999, p 197) notes that both Valentino and Bow, stars of first rank, had no control whatsoever over their movies or the public presentation of their image. Garbo, on the other hand, ended up with complete control over all production – choice of director, writers, script, co-stars, schedule, all aspects of production, including release of image building communications (see for example, Vieira, 2005, pp 164,167, 173).

Hollywood was having difficulty establishing a continuing female role type that was attractive to women of that day. The virgins like Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish, the vamps like Gloria Swanson and the flappers like Clara Bow were losing traction at the box office (Paris,1994, p 112). Garbo did not play into stale role types but instead became the embodiment, as she is now characterized by feminists, of the “new woman” (See Fischer, 2001, p 90).

I have seen most of her movies and there is a triangle, a brand formula or theme in them all – she is married to an older, overbearing man and having an affair with a younger man (see for example Vieira,2005, p 8). When discovered in the act, she is neither embarrassed nor repentant but instead is contemptuous, weary or angry with her older husband. Conveniently for her character and to the relief of the audience, he is killed or dies off, leaving her to her virile suitor.

After her first films proved extremely popular and profitable, she challenged the MGM power structure. She ignored studio dictates, refused to participate in staged publicity and premiers, did not wear traditional foundational garments beneath her clothes, and was in general insubordinate, all of which created a growing tension. It reached the tipping point when she demanded seven times her salary to become the highest paid actress in the business and refused to do the film Women Love Diamonds because she thought it foolish (see Paris, 1994, pp127-8).

MGM finally detonated, finding her in breach of contract, and issued her a cease and desist letter. She went over their heads to Loews Inc., the parent company, and focused on the factual errors in the letter (see Vieira, 2005, pp 45-8). It was also observed that had MGM listened to her they would not have lost $30,000 with Women Love Diamonds (MGM went on with it using a different actress). Loews agreed, and MGM was forced to capitulate to the 21 year old girl. The humiliation of the best brains in a place like MGM rocked Hollywood (see Paris, 1994, pp 129-30). She was given the salary and creative license and for the next decade produced a series of extremely profitable films.

Eleanor Boardman who suffered the one-sided nature of Garbo's friendship, summed up the enduring interest: "You gave, Garbo took, she never said thanks, but she was fascinating."

References

Corbis (2008). Mysterious Woman Photo displayed under arrangement with http://www.corbis.com/ the copyright holder.

Fischer, Lucy (2001) . Greta Garbo and Silent Cinema: The Actress As Art Deco Icon. Camera Obscura 48, Volume 16, Number 3.

Fischer, Lucy, et al (2002). The Feminist Reader in Early Cinema. Duke University Press.

Gaines, Jane (1989). The Queen Christina Tie-Ups: Convergence of Show Window and Screen. Quar. Rev. of Film & Video. Retrieved on October 22, 2008 from EBSCOHOST.

Noir Dame (2008). Down to the Sea in Ships (1922) - Clara Bow, Marguerite Courtot. Retrieved on October 27, 2008 from http://www.noirdame.com/index.php?crn=206&rn=609&action=show_detail

Paris, Barry (1994). Garbo. University of Minnesota Press.

Rhodes, Chip (1999). The Star System and Modernist Identity Formation in the Silent Film Era. Strategies, Vol 12, Number 2. Retrieved from EBSCOHOST on October 27, 2008.

Vieira, Mark (2005). Greta Garbo: A Cinematic Legacy. Henry A. Abrams, Inc.

Greta Garbo Image Elements

This is the second of three postings on Greta Garbo Image Elements.
Name
Keller gives naming guidelines (p 147) that include being easy to spell and pronounce, being familiar, different and distinctive. Greta Garbo as a name is all of these as well as an alliteration, has consonance, is a slant rhyme and is composed of the plosives b,g,t, which according to Keller (p 152) makes names more easily recognized. Finally, I contend that her name taps into “existing knowledge systems.” Keller believes (p 149) this makes them easier to recognize and remember.

The word Garbo is what I call a compositional homonym. Greta Gustafson (her birth name) and Mimi Pollak (her college friend) derived the name Garbo based on first and last name elements they researched. I have no reference that they intentionally based it on Clara Bow, but the word Garbo would tap into knowledge already existing for Clara Bow. In Sweden, Clara would be pronounced KLAR-a. Garbo would be distinct from Clara Bow but is close enough phonetically to have a familiar ring to a world that already knew Clara Bow. Clara Bow was a talented and rising star in the film world in the early to mid-20s.

Style
Keller (p 143) lists four aspects of style. For Garbo, the complexity aspect of her style is minimal rather than ornamental. Her representation is realistic not abstract. Her acting is subtle, and understated when everyone else of that era used exaggeration in movement and gesture. She acted from inside out (see Paris, 1994, p 33), realistic but not the stark social realism that is as equally contrived as the vaudeville drama of the American studios and more pretentious. Her perceived movement was still, while her potency, to juxtapose Keller, was soft and strong.

Theme
Her theme was an application of her style to a formula and look. Her formula was the new woman in an love triangle. This woman was ahead of the other two in the triangle and ultimately drove its resolution. Greta Garbo refused helpless or dizzy female roles. Anymore, the interest in her today is the independence and acumen of her female characters. The theme has proved adaptable over time.

An additional thematic element is her look: languorous eyes, outdoorsy physique, graceful and athletic movement, and the Rembrandt lighting. Her wardrobe on set was done by top designers of her choice and created expressly for the film and the times, elegant in the 20s and plainer in the depression of the 30s. The Rembrandt lighting technique (see Guardian) was distinctive from the North-Lite approach used for her competition (see Cinematographers )

Slogans
A set of slogans, such as The Swedish Sphinx underscored her need for privacy, her avoidance of Hollywood parties, premiers and other events, and her mysterious power of attraction. According to Keller (pp 159-60), slogans reinforce brand positioning through descriptive or persuasive information about the star, and the desired points of difference. Unlike most of Hollywood, she was not a party animal who burned brightly then burned out.

References
Keller, K (2008). Strategic Brand Management. Pearson/Prentice-Hall.
Paris, Barry (1994). Garbo. University of Minnesota Press.