Queen Christina (1933)

This is the story of the cross-dressing queen who gave up the throne for love. But fate has a way of playing tricks and it works its trickery, even as Christina abdicates her rule, to frustrate her happiness.

Greta Garbo, of course, is the entire show here, as she often was in her more romantic roles - she specialized in the doomed lover - and what could be more romantic than a ruler who gave up her throne for love?

Christina was thrust into the limelight when she was only five, on the untimely death of her father King Gustavus Adolphus. She was crowned queen and ruled from that early age.

We join Christina as a young woman who decides she would rather get away from the pomp of the court where they continually pester her to marry and give them an heir. She disguises herself as a man (uh-huh) and leaves with her faithful counselor, played by C. Aubrey Smith. Away from the court she stays overnight in an inn and has to share the only available bed with "another" man (John Gilbert). She spends the next several days in bed with the curtains drawn with Gilbert.

Queen Christina has a couple of unique aspects that should be mentioned. First, the movie was released in 1933, just before the infamous Production Code came into play so it contains quite a bit of sexuality that would have been left out of a later film. This sexuality mirrors Garbo's own ambiguous sexual nature that lent her that overpowering mystique that still captivates seventy years later.

The screenplay plays with homosexuality, heterosexuality, and bisexuality, as well as cross dressing and guys reacting to Garbo supposedly as a man - so basically fake homoeroticism, I guess. I know that's a stretch, especially since Garbo is dragged out in breeches and large floppy D'Artagnan hat, with her voice lowered, yet still has the false eyelashes and lipstick of the Hollywood star. You just have to suspend your disbelief - (nudge). She plants a big lesbian kiss smack on the lips of her handmaiden, also, contributing to rumors that would dog her until her death in 1990.

Secondly, the movie was an early talkie and exhibits the stagebound action of those early movies like Dracula where the players had to stay in close proximity to the microphone. This is somewhat alleviated by the frequent close ups of Garbo's limpid features, particularly her eyes. The camera loved Garbo and she would only work with a few photographers, in this case, William Daniels who gave us some haunting footage. Garbo was the MGM "it" girl with loads of publicity that has probably not been equaled since. In her fairly small talkie oeuvre, she still stacks up at number 5 on the AFI list of all time greatest female actors.

I think the movie is a bit slow moving for my tastes but director Rouben Mamoulian did a fine job of exhibiting the Great Garbo and the final scene leaves you with a haunting image to ponder.

The Warner Bros DVD is presented in 4x3 theatrical format and the 97 minute movie is of course in black and white. The only extras are the theatrical trailer and subtitles.

More Garbo -

Anna Karenina

Ninotchka



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV