} Crítica Retrô: Garbo, Gilbert & MGM: um triângulo amoroso

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Thursday, June 26, 2014

Garbo, Gilbert & MGM: um triângulo amoroso

Quando ela chegou à América, ele JÁ era um astro do cinema. Quando ele morreu, ela AINDA era uma estrela das telas. Os caminhos de John Gilbert e Greta Garbo se cruzaram nos primeiros tempos do maior estúdio de Hollywood. Garbo e Gilbert estavam lá para presenciar a MGM engatinhar e chegar ao topo. Eles também chegaram ao topo, como o casal mais famoso do mundo, isso logo depois de Douglas Fairbanks e Mary Pickford.

When she arrived in America, he was ALREADY a movie star. When he died, she was STILL a movie star. John Gilbert’s and Greta Garbo’s paths crossed in the first years of the biggest Hollywood studio. Garbo and Gilbert were there to see MGM crawl and reach the top. They also reached the top, as the most famous couple in the world, right after Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford.

 

John Cecil Pringle nasceu no estado de Utah em 1897. De família simples, ele começou no cinema como extra, às vezes creditado como Jack Gilbert, mas sem muita empolgação. Trabalhou com o diretor Maurice Tourneur tanto atuando como escrevendo roteiros. Foi então que ele decidiu se tornar diretor. Sua beleza atrapalhou o caminho e a carreira de John como galã explodiu. Ele dirigiria apenas “Love’s Penalty” (1921) e algumas cenas de “Love” (1927), já com Garbo.

John Cecil Pringle was born in Utah in 1897. From a simple family, he started in movies as an extra, sometimes credited as Jack Gilbert, but not making a big fuss. He worked with director Maurice Tourneur both as an actor and as a scriptwriter. It was then that he decided to become a director. His handsomeness got in the way and John’s career as a leading man skyrocketed. He would go on to direct only “Love’s Penalty” (1921) and a few scenes of “Love” (1927), already with Garbo.

                   

Gilbert foi contratado pela MGM no ano em que o estúdio começou suas atividades. Seu primeiro grande sucesso foi “Lágrimas de Palhaço” (1924), com Norma Shearer e Lon Chaney. A coroação viria no ano seguinte, com “A viúva alegre” e, em especial, “O grande desfile”, que rendeu 15 milhões de dólares nas bilheterias.

Gilbert was hired by MGM the same year the studio opened. His first big hit was “He Who Gets Slapped” (1924), with Norma Shearer and Lon Chaney. The crowning would come the following year, with “The Merry Widow” and, especially, “The Big Parade”, a film that made 15 million dollars in the box office.

Greta Lovisa Gustafsson nasceu em 1905 em Estocolmo, Suécia. Também de origem humilde, foi vendedora e apareceu em pequenos filmes de propaganda antes de começar para valer na carreira de atriz. Acumulou elogios em filmes suecos e também na Alemanha, onde fez apenas “Rua das Lágrimas / Die freudlose Gasse” (1925). Mas foi “A saga de Gösta Berling”, de 1924, que chamou a atenção de Louis B. Mayer, e ele contratou Garbo e o diretor Mauritz Stiller para seu novo estúdio. Seu terceiro filme na MGM seria “O Diabo e a Carne”, e por pouco ele nunca foi feito: Garbo queria voltar para a Europa após a morte prematura de sua irmã. O advogado da estrela a convenceu a continuar na América.

Greta Lovisa Gustafson was Born in 1905 in Stockholm, Sweden. Also from a simple family, she was a sales clerk and appeared in small advertising movies before she became a real actress. She received many compliments from her Swedish movies and also in Germany, where she only made “Joyless Street / Die freudlose Gasse” (1925). But it was with “Gösta Berling’s Saga”, from 1924, that she called the attention of Louis B. Mayer, who hired Garbo and the director Mauritz Stiller for his new studio. Her third film at MGM would be “Flesh and the Devil”, and it was almost never done: Garbo wanted to go back to Sweden following her sister’s premature death. Her lawyer convinced her to remain in America.

O dia era 17 de agosto de 1926. Garbo e Gilbert se apaixonam. Amor à primeira vista. Algumas versões dizem que Gilbert só conheceu a companheira na hora de rodar a primeira cena, em que a personagem de Garbo, Felicitas, desce de uma carruagem. A expressão de encantamento no rosto de Gilbert, imortalizada em película, seria verdadeira. Outra versão diz que Garbo esnobou Gilbert (Gilbert: “Hello, Greta!” Garbo: “It’s Miss Garbo!”) quando foram apresentados, mas depois não resistiu aos encantos do ator. Talvez haja um pouco de verdade em ambas as histórias. Mas o que importa é que há uma rara explosão de paixão em “O Diabo e a Carne”.

It was August 17th, 1926. Garbo and Gilbert fall in love. It’s love at first sight. Some versions say that Gilbert only met his mate when they shot their first scene together, a scene in which Garbo’s character, Felicitas, emerges from a carriage. The astonishment expression in Gilbert’s face, immortalized in the film, was true. Another version tells that Garbo was a little rude with Gilbert (Gilbert: “Hello, Greta!” Garbo: “It’s Miss Garbo!”) when they were introduced to each other, but then she fell in love. Maybe there is a little bit of truth in both versions. Nut what matters is that there is a rare love explosion in “Flesh and the Devil”.


Naquela época Gilbert chamava Garbo de “Flicka” (“svensk flicka” = garota sueca) e Garbo chamava Gilbert de “Yacky” (= Jack). O próximo filme deles seria “Love” (“Garbo and Gilbert in Love”, entendeu?), uma adaptação de Anna Karenina. A este se seguiu “A Woman of Affairs” (1928) e vários pedidos de casamento. Talvez não vários, mas pelo menos dois. Quando ela aceitou, foi preparado um casamento duplo em 8 de setembro de 1927, que contava também com os noivos King Vidor e Eleanor Boardman, mas Garbo não apareceu. Louis B. Mayer comentou: “Por que se casar com a garota se você pode dormir com ela e esquecer o que aconteceu?” (Mayer usou o verbo pejorativo “screw”). Gilbert, frustrado e furioso, atacou Mayer. Era o começo do fim.

At that time Gilbert called Garbo “flicka” (“Svensk flicka” = Swedish girl) and Garbo called Gilbert Yacky (= Jack). Their next picture would be “Love” (“Garbo and Gilbert in Love”, do you get it?), an adaptation of Anna Karenina. What followed was “A Woman of Affairs” (1928) and several marriage proposals. Maybe not several, but at least two. When she said yes, the plans were made for a double wedding on September 8th, 1927, with the other bride and groom being Eleanor Boardman and King Vidor, but Garbo didn’t show up. Louis B. Mayer said: “Why marry the girl when you can screw her and forget what happened?”. Gilbert, frustrated and furious, attacked Mayer. It was the beginning of the end.


O cinema sonoro havia chegado. Como transportar os astros da tela muda para essa nova realidade? Gilbert o fez em 1929, e se engana quem diz que a voz dele era horrorosa: dono de uma voz perfeitamente normal, ele foi sabotado por Mayer. Pouco a pouco foram diminuindo as ofertas de trabalho, e os papéis eram cada vez piores. A frustração era combatida com álcool, o que piorava a situação de Gilbert. Garbo, por sua vez, teve sua estreia com som adiada até 1930, e ficou para sempre estereotipada como a mulher inatingível, graças a seu sotaque peculiar.

Talkies had arrived. How could they transport the stars of the silent screen to this new reality? Gilbert did it in 1929, and whoever says his voice was terrible is wrong: with a perfectly normal voice, he was sabotaged by Mayer. Little by little the job offers were diminishing, and the roles were worsening. Frustration was fought with alcohol, something that complicated Gilbert’s situation. Garbo, on the other hand, had her talkie debuted postponed until 1930, and was forever stereotyped as the unachievable woman, thanks to her peculiar accent.

Garbo e Gilbert fizeram mais um filme juntos, “Rainha Cristina” (1933), e foi Greta que insistiu que John fosse contratado para o papel de Antonio. Antes disso, Gilbert havia sido considerado para dois papéis em filmes sonoros de Garbo: o de protagonista em “Susan Lenox” (1931), que ficou com Clark Gable, e o do barão Von Geigern em “Grande Hotel” (1932), interpretado depois por John Barrymore, mas cuja primeira opção era... Buster Keaton. Depois de Garbo, Gilbert se casou mais duas vezes. Em 1936, John Gilbert faleceu de ataque cardíaco.

Garbo and Gilbert made one last film together, “Queen Christina” (1933), and it was Greta who insisted on having John for the role of Antonio.  Before that, he was considered for roles in two of Garbo’s talkies: as the lead in “Susan Lenox” (1931), that went to Clark Gable, and as baron Von Geigern in “Grand Hotel” (1932), later played by John Barrymore but first offered to… buster Keaton. After Garbo, Gilbert married twice. In 1936, John Gilbert died from a heart attack.


O estrelato de Gilbert durou cinco anos. O de Garbo, 16. Se não fosse a MGM, eles talvez jamais tivessem se conhecido. Com Gilbert, Garbo perdia sua timidez e se sentia, pela primeira vez, acolhida na América. Faltam-me palavras para falar sobre este casal que, apesar de não ser perfeito, viveu intensamente, à maneira deles, a vida e o relacionamento.

Gilbert’s stardom lasted five years. Garbo’s, 16. If it wasn’t for MGM, maybe they would have never met. With Gilbert, Garbo was no longer shy and felt, for the first time, welcomed in America. There are not enough words to talk about this couple who, although not perfect, lived fully, in their own ways, their lives and their relationship.


This is my contribution for the MGM Blogathon, hosted by the Metzinger sisters, Constance and Diana, at Silver Scenes, in honor of the studio’s 90 years. Hooray!


11 comments:

  1. hello, my dear! I love the story of Garbo & Gilbert (of GilBo or GarBert as they were dubbed by the press). His life was so tragic and he was so self-destructive, but he had a great time while he was on top. A great part of MGM history!

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  2. Tem coisa mais bonita que uma história de amor real atravessada pelo cinema? *.* Sou suspeita pra falar, mas acho a coisa mais romântica, haha!
    Não conhecia muito a história da Garbo, principalmente essa parte.
    Beijos Lê!

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  3. Para mim Rainha Cristina é um dos melhores filmes de Garbo

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  4. They were absolute magic on the screen. There was something so very likeable about John Gilbert and always so very heartbreaking about Greta Garbo.

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  5. I've been reading about silent film stars recently, including Gilbert, and I didn't realize how big a star he was - or how well liked he was in Hollywood. Garbo tried to keep his career alive after sound, as did Marlene Dietrich, but it didn't happen for him the way it did for Garbo. A shame.

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  6. lindos. vi poucos filmes com eles. beijos, pedrita

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  7. One of my favourite on (and off!) screen pairings. Such chemistry! And my favourite quote (from him): "I would rather spend an hour with Fleka than a lifetime with any other woman."

    (Although I'm not sure why he called her Fleka, I think it might mean 'Swedish girl')

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  8. Such a sad end for John Gilbert, and the story of their ill-fated romance is always a bit depressing. But what a fascinating story, and you've told it so well.

    Thanks for including this in the blogathon. The story of MGM would not be complete without John Gilbert and Greta Garbo.

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  9. Estou encantada com o seu blog, li algumas coisas e você tem um conteúdo bem interessante!

    E essa história é incrível!

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  10. Garbo <3

    vintagepri.blogspot.coom

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  11. A great addition to the MGM blogathon Le. Gilbert and Garbo made such a great pair in their silent films. But it was Dietrich that really loved him, and of course his wife Leatrice Joy.

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