BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

judy t The film's theme is honor in its various guises and how concealing the truth to preserve a dead man's honor brings misery to all concerned. The opening subtitles tell us that Garbo/Diana is a gallant lady. The viewer needs to be told this for otherwise we would conclude that her suffering as well as the suffering caused others was needlessly brought about by her foolish error in judgment. Garbo is perfection in her shifting moods - first as a young woman in love, playful and happy with her true love, Gilbert, then when she makes that fateful mistake which she thinks brings honor to herself, and so on right up to her death 10 years later after her self-image of an honorable woman has been taken from her.Gilbert's role is subsidiary, not sympathetic, and of all things, boring. Most surprising, he lacks fire, There's no passion in his scenes with Diana, except in a late scene in his rooms where Diana breaks through his defenses, telling him she never said "I love you" to any of the other men in her life, only to Gilbert, and that makes her virtuous in Gilbert's code of morality. The actor who does exhibit fire is the young Douglas Fairbanks Jr, whose self-loathing is redirected to a passionate hatred of his sister.I liked Garbo's action in the reconciliation scene where she walks over to Gilbert's father with an unlit cigarette and when he strikes a match she takes out her lighter and lights it herself, thereby emphasizing that she will not bow again to his idea of honor. I also liked the director's choice of showing the widow Diana's 7-year exile in Europe through a series of newspaper photos and their captions. This expedient kept the story focused on the interactions of the main characters. And THE main character, Garbo, is so superb that the script problems make no difference to one's enjoyment of this flawed film.

kidboots Michael Arlen's "The Green Hat" was the most sensational novel of its time. In 1924, the year it was published, it was the top selling novel. The story of a wild young widow with a notorious past, it bought London's Mayfair of the 1920s to life with it's rich tapestry of characters. It also shocked readers with allusions to homosexuality and sexually transmitted diseases. When MGM (of all studios) decided to make a movie of the novel - the name of the book or any allusion to it was not to be mentioned, hence the name "A Woman of Affairs". And it was definitely cleaned up.Diana, David and Neville have been friends since childhood, but Diana and Neville had a special bond. Diana Merrick (Greta Garbo) and her dissipated brother Jeffry (Douglas Fairbanks Jnr.) are determined to live their lives in the pursuit of pleasure, earning them a bad reputation. Jeffry worships David (Johnny Mack Brown) and is drinking himself to death because of what he perceives is Diana's offhand treatment of David. Douglas Fairbanks Jnr. gives the performance of his young career as the alcoholic Jeffry (in the book he and Diana were twins). Jeffry has an unhealthy hero-worship of David and Fairbanks seems to really get inside his character.Neville (John Gilbert) is offered a post in Egypt and is eager to take it as it means he and Diana can be married when he returns. Diana believes his father has organised the job to part them as he is very disapproving of her lifestyle. They decide to elope but Neville's father hears of it, hurries him off to Egypt and so prevents the marriage. Years of waiting has Diana turning to David. They marry but Diana does not return his love. He commits suicide on their honeymoon and it is implied that he has found out something horrible about her past. The title says "He died for - decency" and Diana puts up with a lot of allegations and rumour.Years pass and Diana is back in London to visit her critically ill brother, who has never recovered from David's death and is drinking himself into an early grave. Neville is about to marry giddy Constance (pretty Dorothy Sebastian), who proves during the film that she has just as much character and honour as the rest of them. Dr. Hugh Trevelyan (Lewis Stone) has always been Diana's protector and supporter and it is he who informs her of her brother's death (she has spent the night at Nevilles).Diana suffers a nervous breakdown and I think it is this hospital scene in which Greta Garbo lifts this film to it's highest sphere. Neville has sent roses to her room but when Diana awakes and finds them gone she deliriously wanders through the hospital in search of them. "I woke up - and you weren't there" says Diana as she crushes the flowers in her arms. Everyone in the scene (Gilbert, Sebastian, Stone) seems transfixed as Garbo goes through this astonishing performance. The film is not over yet. Sir Morton Holderness (Hobart Bosworth), Neville's father has never held a very high opinion of Diana. He learns the real reason for David's suicide - he was an embezzler and Diana gave up her reputation for his honour - not to mention paying off his debts secretly. For the last time Diana proves she is a "gallant lady" by driving her car into the tree that had always symbolized her and Neville's love and leaving Neville and Constance free to begin their lives together.Greta Garbo is mesmerizing - you can't watch anyone else while she is on the screen. John Gilbert shows none of the personality and passion that characterizes his acting - he definitely takes a backseat to Garbo in this movie. In case you are wondering the exquisite Anita Louise plays Diana as a child. Director Clarence Brown did a wonderful job with a scenario which couldn't be faithful to the book to appease the vigilant censor.Highly, Highly Recommended.

MartinHafer I love silent films but I will be the first to admit that some plots from the early days of film tend to look a bit old fashioned and silly today. While A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS is definitely still watchable, it sure doesn't age well and today many who watch it will find the plot silly--I know I sure did! Despite the presence of the often overrated Greta Garbo, this film lacks believability. Don't believe any reviews that give this film astronomically high ratings simply because they love Garbo--the script is just too flawed to merit scores of 9 or 10.Greta and John Gilbert are in love. However, her family and his are enemies and John's father does his best to keep them apart. John is a bit of a weenie and reluctantly agrees to listen to his dad and take a job in Egypt instead of marrying Garbo. In his mind, he intends to work and make his fortune, then return to marry her. Naturally, though, this absence destroyed their plans and eventually both marry others.She marries a man who turns out to be an embezzler and kills himself on their wedding night. They don't even get a chance to consummate their marriage. However, and this makes no sense at all, Greta spends the rest of the movie being true to her husband--preserving his image as a nice guy. Without telling people, she manages to pay off all his debts and allows everyone to think she drove him to suicide (which, by the way, was really cool to watch)! This was dumb because there was no legitimate reason for this self-sacrifice--especially when Greta's brother (played by a young Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) refuses to ever talk with her or see her again and pretty much everyone else treats her like a leper. Heck, when Gilbert marries, it's AFTER this incident--if he'd known the truth, he and Garbo surely would have married. Garbo could easily have told everyone--thus avoiding LOTS of trouble and such glaring holes can't be ignored. Later, however, Garbo's one true friend tells Gilbert and his nasty father the truth and everyone agrees that she's a living saint and everyone (including the wife) give Gilbert permission to divorce and marry Garbo!!! Talk about contrived and stupid! So if the plot is so bad and tough to believe, why does it still earn a 6? Well, the film is lovely to look at due to nice cinematography. Also, the acting is good and they make the most of a convoluted and dopey plot. Plus, while nowadays you'd laugh at such silly and contrived plotting, for 1928 it wasn't so bad--audiences made allowances for such plot devices.Also, note that because this film came out before the new tougher Production Code it was grittier and had plot elements that would not have been allowed if they film had come out in 1934. Starting that year, Hollywood needed to have permission to show such violent deaths or talk positively about divorce--something that they never would have granted.

Pat-54 A soap opera on the grand scale with the great screen team of John Gilbert and Greta Garbo. Like many "fallen women" of her period, Garbo's not "bad," but "misunderstood."