Greta Garbo

INSPIRATION

MGM, 1931.  Directed by Clarence Brown.  Camera:  William Daniels.  With Greta Garbo, Robert Montgomery, Lewis Stone, Marjorie Rambeau, Beryl Mercer, John Miljan.

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In Paris, artist's model Yvonne has been immortalized by the painter Jouvet, the sculptor Henry Coutant and Galand, the author of a book of love.  Said to be "as well-known as the Eiffel Tower," the popular and free-spirited Yvonne has served as the inspiration to some of the greatest artists and writers in Europe.

At a party attended by bohemians and artists, Yvonne becomes bored by the pretentious guests, including Coutant, who tries to rekindle his romance with the model, to no avail.  Yvonne sulks in a corner until she meets the handsome André Montell who, to her astonishment, is not an artist, but a student studying at the Consular Service.  Immediately taken by André, Yvonne suggests that they leave the party.  Yvonne neglects to tell her husband Vignaud, whom she does not love, that she is leaving with another man.  She also neglects to tell André that she is married.  A romance between André and the model soon flourishes, and Yvonne shows her willingness to give up the security and comfort of her marriage for André.

Meanwhile, André is visited by his uncle Julian and Madeleine, a childhood playmate of his.  Yvonne instantly becomes jealous of André's attentions to Madeleine.

Later, after Yvonne tells her husband that she does not plan to return to him, she tries to throw him out of his own house.  André, overhearing the fracas, realizes that Yvonne is married and, after apologizing to Vignaud for the affair, leaves.

	Sepia version

While modeling for Coutant, Yvonne tells André that she loves only him, but she is immediately attacked by Odette, a jealous model who insinuates that Yvonne is a wanton woman with a sordid past.  Although Yvonne tries to convince André that the allegations are not true, he does not believe her and tells her that he wants to forget that he ever knew her.  On her way out, Yvonne slaps Odette for driving André away.

Time passes and Yvonne, destitute, walks by André on the street near his school, but he ignores her.  When Yvonne is unable to pay a small bill at a nearby cafe, André sees her distress and pays it for her.  He then takes her to dinner and realizes that she has been living like a pauper.  Before André leaves for Algiers, Yvonne discovers that he is going to marry another woman and calls him a coward and a liar for not telling her earlier.

Tragedy strikes when Yvonne's friend Liane Latour commits suicide after being spurned by playboy Delval.  Shocked by the news, André fears the same fate may befall Yvonne and decides to return to her.  However, since André last saw Yvonne, she has been seeing Mr. Normand, an ex-lover who was imprisoned for writing bad checks.  Intent on preventing her suicide, André pleads with Yvonne to marry him, and she accepts.  Later, though, Yvonne realizes that he came back to her out of sympathy.  After writing André a farewell letter, in which she tells him to forget her and marry the right woman, Yvonne leaves him.

American Film Institute Catalog