Flesh and the Devil (film)
"Flesh and the Devil" is a landmark silent film from 1926 that showcases the passionate romance between Greta Garbo and John Gilbert, who play Leo and Felicitas, respectively. The plot revolves around Leo, a German soldier who falls in love with Felicitas, the wife of a count. Their affair leads to the count's death in a duel, resulting in Leo's exile to Africa for five years. Upon his return, complications arise as Felicitas has married Leo's childhood friend, Ulrich. The film explores themes of love, betrayal, and remorse, culminating in a tragic ending where Felicitas dies while trying to prevent a duel between the two men. Directed by Clarence Brown, the film is noted for its daringly erotic love scenes, which were groundbreaking for the time, and its poetic portrayal of forbidden love. The chemistry between Garbo and Gilbert, both on and off-screen, contributed to the film's box office success and helped establish Garbo's American film career. "Flesh and the Devil" is recognized as a classic of the silent film era, reflecting the romantic ideals and complexities of relationships during that period.
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Flesh and the Devil (film)
Identification: Silent film adaptation of Hermann Sudermann’s novel The Undying Past (1906)
Director: Clarence Brown
Date: 1927
With daringly erotic love scenes, Flesh and the Devil introduced one of Hollywood’s fabled couples, Greta Garbo and John Gilbert, and helped establish the American film career of the Swedish-born Garbo.
The film’s plot is sentimental and melodramatic. Leo, a German soldier played by Gilbert, falls in love with Felicitas, the wife of a count, played by Garbo. Caught in an adulterous embrace, Leo subsequently kills the count in a duel, for which he is exiled to Africa for five years. In the meantime, Leo’s childhood friend, Ulrich (played by Swedish actor Lars Hanson), marries Felicitas, leading to complications upon Leo’s return from exile. Tormented by the prospect of betraying his best friend and under the disapproving eyes of the local pastor, Leo nevertheless allows himself to be seduced again by Felicitas. Challenged to a second duel, Leo must face his old friend. Full of remorse, Felicitas runs to the dueling ground to stop the violence but drowns in a frozen lake on the way. In the end, “sinful womanhood” is punished, but marital betrayal is forgiven, as Leo and Ulrich reconcile and pledge renewed friendship.
The box office success of Flesh and the Devil was due not only to the chemistry between Garbo and Gilbert (which existed both on and off screen, as the two shared a romance) but also to the cinematic vision of its director, Clarence Brown. During the 1920s, Brown was a leading director at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, noted for the romantic atmosphere he imparted to his pictures. Together with cinematographer William Daniels, Brown brought out the potential of Garbo and her classic beauty, often obscured by her eccentric attire and masculine stride.
Impact
Flesh and the Devil brought together several Hollywood talents of the day. It became the first of seven Clarence Brown films starring Greta Garbo, and the first of four films in which Garbo and John Gilbert appeared together. Although it was Garbo’s third American film, this popular picture ensured that she would become a success for years to come.
Produced prior to the strict film censorship of later decades, Flesh and the Devil made illicit love poetic, echoing the longstanding theme in Western art of forbidden love and securing the film’s place as an enduring classic of the American silent era. Especially memorable in Flesh and the Devil were its splendidly lit love scenes, said to be the first horizontal ones in American cinema, and a sensual communion scene in church during which Garbo turns the chalice so that her lips touch the rim where Gilbert’s lips have.
Bibliography
Paris, Barry. Garbo. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2002.
Vieira, Mark A. Greta Garbo: A Cinematic Legacy. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2005.