The unfulfilled happiness of the Gioconda of world cinema and the lonely "star" Greta Garbo

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Mysterious and cold, like the Snow Queen from Andersen's fairy tale, she penetrated the soul with the witching power of blue eyes and stayed there forever. So it happened with Moritz Stiller when he first saw Greta Gustavson. He found her and made her a star - Greta Garbo. And she simply idolized him, and assured that if she did marry, then only Stiller.

Born of a star

The third child in the Swedish family Gustavson was born in September 1905. The girl was named Greta-Lovisa. The baby looked at everyone with bright blue eyes, like stars, and no one then imagined that she would one day be called the most beautiful woman in the world. The family was not rich, his father worked in a low-paid job and, when Greta was in school, fell ill with tuberculosis.

The girl was forced to look for work. What professions she just did not master: dishwasher, salesman, hairdresser. In her free time, she posed for advertising. Once she was offered to star in a commercial. He was accidentally seen by a little-known director and invited the girl to his picture for a cameo role.

This was the first, albeit small, creative victory for Greta, which paved her way to the theater school. There, the girl met many celebrities, including a pop performer, in the past - a failed boxer Karl Brisson. The young man was a mediocre vocalist, but his appearance made Karl the idol of all the girls in Stockholm.

Among them was the young Gustavson. Once she gave Brisson her photo with a dedication and a bouquet of violets. The flowers have withered, and the picture has replenished the collection of enthusiastic fans. But he was destined to play an important role in the fate of the girl.

Towards cinematography

Moishe was born when the Lumière brothers had not yet created a new kind of art. In the summer of 1883, another child was born to the large Stiller family. Mother was an ordinary Finnish housewife, and my father served in a military band. Life was measured and quiet, as in any Scandinavian city, until the head of the family died.

After some time, Moishe's mother, who could not cope with the loss, committed suicide. The boy was taken up by his father's friends. Moishe, now called Moritz, helped his adoptive parents trade in the shop, but devoted all his free time to the theater. The young man was handsome and handsome, and as a teenager he tried his hand on the stage.

New parents supported his endeavors, noticing in the young man extraordinary abilities to reincarnate. Moritz was already playing in the theater when the Russo-Japanese War began. Drafting into the army could disrupt all of Stiller's creative plans, and he fled from mobilization to Stockholm. In the capital, with his last money, he bought a luxurious suit and rented a luxury room in a hotel.

To all new acquaintances, he introduced himself as a popular film director in Germany. Moritz fantasized so skillfully that he himself believed in his legend, and people even more so. He was invited to work in a silent film studio. He put the production of paintings on stream, and they were all successful.

And Moritz himself often starred. Stiller's friend Shester lived and worked in the same city. Together they made several high-grossing films using new techniques in cinematography. Starting to play the role of a director, Moritz turned out to be him, and even how talented!

A meeting

Love always comes unexpectedly. So it happened in the life of Moritz Stiller. Once, looking through photos of familiar beauties of Carl Brisson, he stopped his gaze on a picture of a girl with extraordinary eyes. It seemed to the director that this was not a photograph, but a living person nearby, so dear, so sensual. Moritz asked a friend to invite Greta to come to the shooting tests.

A few days later, the girl met with a silent film director already well-known in the country. Eye to eye - and like a spark ran between a man and a woman. Then Greta decided that she would definitely marry this man. And after her departure, the master thought that an extraordinary potential was hidden in this girl. And since then, he began to sculpt his Galatea out of it.

The first shooting was given to Greta (now her pseudonym was Garbo) very difficult. The director sometimes brought her to tears, was rude, but immediately apologized. He sculpted perfection out of her. That which nature had laid in her - an unquenchable fire - had to be kindled, extracted from behind a mask of coldness. And Stiller did it.

And she idolized him and said that he creates people, subjecting them to his own will. Stiller made Greta a movie star on a European scale, revealing her talent in his "Saga …" and "Joyless Lane." Now she was spoken of as a “Swedish Sphinx” for her unwillingness to cooperate with journalists and participate in social events.

The Scandinavian nature made itself felt. It seemed that she was real only in the frame. But in reality, Greta Garbo passionately loved her teacher and mentor, and he did not offer her to become his wife, because he was afraid to ruin her career. Besides, Moritz had read that he was too old for a nineteen-year-old star. Actress Irma Stoklassa once asked the director directly why he wasn't marrying Garbo. He replied:

Parting

Soon Stiller's tapes found an enthusiastic response overseas. He was invited to the United States to work for Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Moritz agreed on the condition that Garbo would go with him and participate in all of his projects. Mr. Mayer gladly signed a contract with Garbo. Thus began the American stage in the lives of two Swedish stars.

But in the States, their partnership did not have to last for several years. Stiller was constantly in conflict with the co-founders of the studio, did not want to learn English and did not make any compromises. Greta, on the other hand, felt quite comfortable at MGM, got along with the management and even made changes in the contract, which brought her huge fees for each film.

She was engaged in the production of several tapes every year, and offers of new roles for her poured in as if from a cornucopia. Soon she was officially recognized as the main star of the Dream Factory. And the quarrelsome and principled Moritz Stiller left the studio and decided to return home. Moreover, his tuberculosis left almost no chance.

Saying goodbye, Greta tenderly called him by the name that her mother used to call him in childhood: "See you soon, Moishe!" And in response: "Goodbye!" He already knew that he was going to die, and they would never again feel each other's warmth …

Greta Garbo received a telegram about Stiller's death on the set of Wild Orchid. She turned deathly pale, stepped aside and stood for several minutes by the wall, pressing her palms to her eyes. Then she pulled herself together and continued shooting.

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