PodBill Just what I expected

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

JohnHowardReid Two 1929 Garbo features from the same source, in both of which she is supported by Nils Asther, are Wild Orchids and The Single Standard. The first is the better movie and the better print, but both have their magical moments. It's difficult to make an engrossing plot with only three characters, but Willis Goldbeck and company have succeeded where many another scenarist has failed, even though only two of his people (splendidly enacted here by Greta Garbo and Lewis Stone) are what purists would call "rounded characters." The third is straight from stock, but Nils Asther gives his spoiled-rotten Javanese price unexpected depth by playing the villainous seducer with a genuine smile, a heartfelt shrug. One has the impression that he doesn't really care whether he seduces Garbo or not. It's just a game. The movie is stylishly directed by Sidney Franklin who takes full advantage of the many wonderful sets, and beautifully photographed by William Daniels who is pleasingly no slave to consistency. If he wants to vary his lighting in the same set-up from shimmering on Miss Garbo to black-as-pitch on Mr Asther, he does so!

ksf-2 Well, this is an early Garbo, so of course its historically significant. IMDb shows this as "Lanaguage = English"... although, honestly, its a SILENT, with some sound effects and a pre-recorded song added here and there They add in a track of the crowd yelling and waving goodbye as the cruise ship pulls away from the dock. and in several places, they show the actors speaking lines, but we are never shown the cards for what the actor has just said. Was it edited for length, or something?? Garbo, Lewis Stone, and Nils Asther star in a silly little plot where the Prince tries to seduce the wife of his guest. If you do the math, Lewis Stone was 25 years older than Garbo, so the age difference probably explains why, in the story, the Prince is seen as extra attractive, in spite of his cruelty, which Lillie (Garbo) witnessed. Directed by Sidney Franklin, who had a long, prolific career directing and producing. It's important to see Garbo, and Lewis Stone made some great films as well (Grand Hotel !) Catch it on Turner Classics now and then. It's pretty good.

salvidienusorfitus Greta Garbo is great as the neglected wife while Lewis Stone portrays his part of husband too busy with his work to realize he is neglecting his wife. Nils Aster portrays a Javanese Prince who clearly has self control issues. He not only beats his servants but even attempts to seduce Greta Garbo when he realizes she is being neglected by her husband. His repugnant behavior towards her border on attempted rape. The Synchronized Score is pleasing. I especially like the theme song "You Are Like Wild Orchids" which is played and sung several times. The native Javanese song and dance sections however are quite strange and features unpleasant discordant melodies. The removal of that sequence from the film would have improved the picture tremendously.

evening1 This film poignantly depicts loneliness in a marriage that has descended into mere friendship and neighborliness.An evanescent Garbo plays winsome Lillie, the much-younger wife of John (Lewis Stone), a businessman prospecting for tea plantations in Java. By happenstance they meet the fabulously wealthy Prince de Gace (the Danish-born Nils Asther, dubbed "the male Greta Garbo" in his day), who possesses everything in his realm and sets his sights on Lillie, too.Garbo's performance makes this film. She embodies desire and frustration as she tries in vain to re-capture her husband's passion and imagination. Her first, helpless kiss with de Gace, and immediate paroxysm of self-loathing, draw one in. A film like this really captures the range of this beautiful, intelligent screen icon.