Camille
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DVD Cover Information Actor: Elizabeth Allan, Greta Garbo, Jessie Ralph, Lionel Barrymore, Robert Taylor Director: George Cukor Brand: Warner Brothers Producer: Bernard H. Hyman Producer: David Lewis Producer: Irving Thalberg Writer: Alexandre Dumas fils Writer: Frances Marion Writer: James Hilton Writer: Zoe Akins DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Silent, Subtitled Picture Format: 1.33:1 Running Time: 109 minutes DVD Release Date: 2005-09-06 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Studio: Warner Home Video |
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Movie Reviews of Camille
Movie Review: Tear jerker
Summary: 3 Stars
Greta Garbo is a fine actress, and does a wonderful job in this tear jerker of a movie. I divide the movie into three sections.
The first section, taking up most of the movie, develops the plot and characters. It is very good.
The second section is the part that goes downhill, beginning when Armand's father convinces Marguerite to abandon and betray Armand for his own good. Why? Because she has a reputation for being promiscuous. This means that they won't be invited to the best cocktail parties, I guess. And it may stand in the way of Armand reaching the heights of success. What absolute nonsense.
May I make a suggestion. How about if Marguerite leaves that choice to Armand. Perhaps he can do without the cream of society, and perhaps he can find himself a job too.
This part of the movie is melodramatic, overly emotional, foolish, negative, and frustrating. Marguerite comes off as a total idiot. And I get upset with the story for leading me down such a negative and senseless path. When this happens to me, I don't sympathize with the stupid characters. I give up on them and wish them the worst.
The final section of the movie is much better. Armand returns to Marguerite and they have a touching scene together. Get out the tissues.
If I had consulted with the director on this film (and I don't think the director was very good) I would have advised him to make the character of Armand more three dimensional. Armand plays the lovestruck puppy too much. It wears thin. Let him be a human being instead of a lovestruck puppy with a sappy grin. I would also fault Robert Taylor's acting. Greta Garbo was a master of the craft but Robert Taylor's performance is not great.
The original production, from which this is based, plays up the same nonsense about "what people will think" and a young woman's ruined reputation. This doesn't play to a modern audience and it dates the movie terribly. This film does not stand up to the test of time because the stuffy moral values of its day haven't stood the test of time.
A more creative approach to the same type of theme would have been to flesh out the characters of Armand and his wealthy rival Carville instead of having them both play cartoon characters of good boy and bad boy. Armand could have been the kind man who really loved her, but was a bit of a sap and none too intelligent, while Carville could have been a self centered rich jerk who found Marguerite sexually interesting, didn't care enough to marry her, but had a sense of challenge about him, and perhaps intelligence as well. I think this would have made the movie less of a juvenile tear jerker.
To those of you who choose to idolize this movie, enjoy. You are overrating it, but enjoy. Greta Garbo and Lionel Barrymore are the only really excellent things about this film. The rest of the acting, the directing, and the writing are all mediocre.
In addition, you also can watch the original silent film of Camille starring Rudolph Valentino, but I don't think you should unless you have a lot of patience. The first half is entertaining, and the actress who plays Marguerite is fascinating throughout, but the movie is even soppier than the Garbo movie, even more of a tear jerker, and tedious by the end. I was rooting for Marguerite to die a lot sooner than she did, but I did want to see how it ended, so I suffered through all the melodramatic, overly emotional tedium. It wasn't worth it.
One thing I must say. The leading ladies in both films are really worth watching. They are both very magnetic. And the final scene in the Garbo movie really is touching.