As You Desire Me (1932) - Star of the month... Greta Garbo

“You can only do it by believing in me... Then perhaps I can be as you desire me” - Greta Garbo (as Zara in 'As You Desire Me')

'As You Desire Me' is a 1932 drama directed and produced by George Fitzmaurice and starring Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Erich von Stroheim, Owen Moore and Hedda Hopper.

Co-produced by Irving Thalberg, the film is an adaptation of the play Luigi Pirandello, with costume design by Adrian, art direction by the great Cedric Gibbons and cinematography by William H. Daniels.

After suffering amnesia, nightclub entertainer Zara (played by Garbo) gets a surprise when a member of the audience, Tony (played by Moore) recognizes her as Maria, the wife of his best friend Bruno (played by Douglas), who went missing ten years ago. Maria leaves with Tony to meet her so called "husband", who tries to jog her memory of their lives together. Matters are complicated when Maria's friend Carl Salter, brings a woman he had found whom he claims is the real Maria.

Did you know...

• This was the only film where Greta Garbo appeared as a blonde
• The first of three films Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas made together
• This is the shortest of all Greta Garbo films with a running time of 70 minutes
• Although Erich von Stroheim had been banned from MGM by studio head Louis B. Mayer and production head Irving Thalberg, he was cast in this film at the insistence of Greta Garbo, who threatened to quit
• The character of Carl Salter was loosely based on Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnár

Closing remarks

A cliched plot, bad acting, and not one of Garbo's best films. Although watchable, there's not much more to say.