Flesh and the Devil

Live musical accompaniment by Cliff Retallick.

Flesh and the Devil

U.S., 1926

Greta Garbo made seven films with director Clarence Brown whom she considered her “favorite.” For his part, Brown recognized early on how her performance style required filmmakers to meet her on her terms: “She had something behind the eyes that you couldn’t see until you photographed it in close up … No other screen actress had been able to do that on film.” Their rapport is evident right from their first outing together with Flesh and the Devil, a swooning period melodrama about two boyhood best friends (John Gilbert and Lars Hanson) caught up in a love triangle with Garbo’s noblewoman, establishing her as an international superstar.

35mm, b&w, silent, 109 min. Director: Clarence Brown. Screenwriters: Benjamin F. Glazer, Marian Ainslee. With: Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lars Hanson. From the collection of the George Eastman Museum.