Product Description
The never-before-published wardrobe of a timeless star, for lovers of fashion, photography and film history. Greta Garbo’s influence over fashion has transcended time. Her dresses, suits, impeccably-tailored coats with a slightly masculine look and the indispensable accessories (shoes, bags, glasses, foulards) has created a style emulated, imitated, even occasionally reviled, but never fully examined. For the first time a catalogue of great glamour and a travelling exhibition detail this extraordinary wardrobe whose minimalism fits so well with current fashion trends. Edited by Stefania Ricci, the Director of Museo Salvatore Ferragamo in Florence, as the Divine Greta Garbo was a Ferragamo client from the 1920s until her death, and the founder of the Italian maison designed hundreds of original, classical, futuristic, hand-made shoes and sandals exclusively for her, most of them shown here for the first time. A stunning selection of black and white Garbo portraits by celebrated photographers completes the volume. ... Read more

Product Description
Greta Garbo (1905-1990) is as famous for her reclusiveness as for starring in such enduring classics as Flesh and the Devil, Grand Hotel, Queen Christina, and Ninotchka. In this richly illustrated volume, renowned biographer Barry Paris offers the definitive biography of this fascinating and complex woman-from her hardscrabble childhood in Sweden to her arrival in Hollywood at the age of nineteen, from her meteoric rise to stardom to her unintentional retirement from filmmaking at the height of her fame, from the new life she crafted for herself to her surprising, and failed, plans for a comeback. Drawing on hitherto unavailable material, including one hundred hours of tape-recorded conversations, fifty years of correspondence, and interviews with Garbo's surviving friends and family, Paris reveals the real woman behind the enigma.

"Barry Paris has crafted a magnificent, moving biography-a feast of rare, delicious facts, exploded myths, and compassionate observations. Surely it will be the final word on this most-fantasized-about movie idol." Liz Smith, New York Daily News

"A witty, clearheaded correction to all the misinformation that has become part of the Garbo legend." Julie Salamon, Vogue

"Magnificent, literate, detailed, and scrupulous. This is a book that at last solves the riddle of the Sphinx." Hugh Leonard, Sunday Independent (London)

"A substantial work exploring the enigmatic life of one of the twentieth century's most famous icons, a book notable above all for its humanity and compassion." Robert Sklar, Newsday

"This strong, rich biography has sweeping detail, a huge cache of photos, and a satisfying grip on Garbo's character. . . . Paris offers what is likely to be the standard life of Garbo-handsomely made, a gripping must-read." Donald Newlove, Hollywood Reporter

Barry Paris is an award-winning biographer, film and music critic, and journalist who is the author of Louise Brooks (Minnesota, 2001). His articles have appeared in the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, American Film, and numerous other publications. He lives in Pittsburgh. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

KOLA BOOF
After reading this, I think that writer Kola Boof is the new Greta Garbo just as the New York Times wrote she is.What remarkable simularities.

One of the best biographies I've ever read
I have always been a fan of books about movies, film stars and anything related to Holywood Golden Years, the era of the big studios and stellar actors and actresses who still are an essential part of our iconic world today. This Greta Garbo bio has utterly surprised me for its objective point of view, its love for detail without falling into boring accounts, its accurate psychological approach of the woman -yet not forgetting about her magnificent talent as a performer. Throughout its pages you can breath the glamourous life of Holywood's inhabitants in the 1930s and '40s, know the twisted way MGM worked, feel the ordinary worries and vital insatisfaction of Greta Gustafsson.

I recommend this book to all of you willing to know what can be known for sure, to all those who don't like being told a story that only really happened in the author's mind. Take form me -I've read a lot of this sort of bios.

Long and Dull...
Let me start by saying, I bought this book because of all the great reviews it got here.So, I thought I'd better give my opinion too, since it is so different!
This book includes everything you'd ever want to know about Garbo!So, it's great for the fan of hers who wants to know absolutley every detail about her.However, it is not written in an interesting way.It is like reading a "G" encyclopedia that is all about Garbo!It is long, boring, and difficult to read because the facts of her life are just layed out in chronological order.Not very engaging to read.I kept putting it down and reading other books, then going back to it.

A great book about Garbo


The cause that I decided to grab that book written by Barry Paris is quite obvious. I live in Russia and all the information in Russian Garbo is concerned with can be generated to the following: Garbo was born a poor and wretched girl in Sweden, discovered by Maurice Stiller, went with him to Hollywood, made a couple of good pics, had a lot of lesbian affairs with almost everybody who was famous at that time beginning with Marlene Dietrich and ending with Marilyn Monroe, who was I presume a toddler by early 30's, then she made some money and had been living as a riche madame hanging out with the toffs for 50 years. I was totally dissatisfied with such ersatz being a kinda film connoisseur myself. I wanted information from the horse's mouth, so I bought the book. The book arrived in 4 days due to the expedient shipping.

It is not the first bio that I read in English though I was pleasantly surprised. First thing, there's not much that of the author himself. I mean he is not trying to describe, or evaluate, or judge Garbo, like what she had done under such and such circumstances, or how did she act to this or that. He is grounded with facts. No gossip. From time to time he says that yeah, there was that rumor concerning this and that. Speaking in general, I would call him contemplator from afar, though sometimes his insight is marvelous and hard to deny. Secondly, I like the style of the book: easy to read, good English, fabulous metaphors. Thirdly, author has tenacity towards describing any trifle facts. Of course, there are some author's thoughts that you can consider somewhat irrelevant but all in all the reading process is smooth. Last but not the least the book is saturated with great rare pictures of Greta Garbo. Jolly dialogues between Miss Garbo and Sam Green taken from audio tapes are the zest of the book.

As a conclusion, the book is worth reading since it deals with eine Frau, die ein Geheimnis des 20. Jahrhunderts darstellt.

one of the best
I completely enjoyed this book.But then I am a devoted Garbo fan.
It is almost like a game trying to piece her life together to be able to understand her. I have read many books about her and this is one of the best for being able to inform people of her inner thoughts.

Thank You
Cathy ... Read more

Product Description
Famously elusive, Greta Garbo only had her picture taken when a contract required it. She shunned publicity, kept her private life a secret, and rejected the spotlight. Though ambivalent about fame and her public image, Garbo saved all of her favorite portraits, carefully archiving original prints by Clarence Sinclair Bull, Arnold Genthe, Ruth Harriet Louise, Edward Steichen, and Cecil Beaton, among others.
Published here for the first time are these portraits–impeccably reproduced in tritone, one more beautiful than the next. In addition, the book features family pictures, candid photographs, and letters previously viewed only by her closest friends and relatives.
Scott Reisfield provides an intimate portrait of his great aunt, spanning well beyond her career in the public eye–from the earliest days in Sweden when she would sneak through the back door of the theater to see actors rehearse, to her later years in New York when she traveled exclusively through back entrances, side doors, and secret elevators.
Co-author Robert Dance’s essay traces the evolution of the image of Garbo–from the ingénue of her first publicity shots to the icon that she became–while an illustrated film production history documents all the still photography and portraiture of her entire career.
Long treasured by her immediate family alone, this collection of photographs, and the essays that accompany them, form a spectacular tribute to Garbo, the woman and the myth, on the eve of her centennial. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

not all that great
Bottom line: I was disappointed.

I am a huge Garbo fan and looked forward to owning this book as soon as the public announcements came out - over 4000 photographs that Garbo personally kept. What pictures did she think enough to keep for herself?

One publicity blurb touting the book was accompanied by a candid photo of Garbo on the set of 'Two-Faced Woman' peering into a hand mirror while patting her hair into place - if that was an example of what the book had to offer, I DEFINITELY wanted it. That photo is not in the book.

There are over 200 photographs, and all of them except two I have seen before and are in print in other Garbo books I own. All of the photos have been 'antiqued' in burnished duo-tone, that I personally did not care for - I would have preferred the sharp black and white contrast of her MGM films.

Because all but two of the photos are unknown to me (and most likely you) and because they were printed in duo-tone I did not give the book five stars - only because it was Garbo did it get three. As a fan I am glad I own the book; as a general photography book of a classic Hollywood star, I own superior books, with superior photos of Garbo.

Excellent gift for any Garbo fan!!!!
I gave this book as a gift to a good friend.She enjoyed the book's pictures and information very much.The pictures are from one of Garbo's relatives, so these pics are not common.I was looking for a good informative piece with accurate Garbo memories, and I found them in this book.I would suggest this book if you're looking for something for a Garbo fan.

Photos nice, personal insights disappointing.
As a Garbo fan or really a Ms. G. fan. As she would say there is all the difference. With the thousands of pictures available this selection was o.k., not great. Good quality. Seems they could have been more creative, personal. Got the impression of a clever quick buck. The so called writing? Disappointing. Fluff, lacking detail, personal depth. Makes an attractive decorative addition to book collection.

Anatomy of Illusion
Garbo - Portraits from her Private Collection

Anatomy is the operative theme in Garbo's story. It has been said she had the ideal facial structure. To me, the most important thing to know about her is her will to excel. And her will to resist being dominated by the male chauvinist pigs who ran the studios of her era. Her story, then, is the anatomy of a woman who left her mark on a generation. Show business chews up those who aren't strong, then spits them out after sucking out their lifeblood. Women get terrible roles in films. Stereotypes. Vamps. Dumb. Home wreckers. Greta Garbo had, within the first few years of starting her career in America, effectively taken control of her films, getting the leading men she wanted, the cinematographers, directors, still photographers, costume designers.

Her films grossed two to three times as much revenue as the average film of her day. She represented about fifteen percent of MGM's revenue at one point. She was unique. She projected a sultry sexuality, an hauteur, a weltschmerz, an intelligence, an ability to resist love - then give in to all its pain. She represented everything men thought they wanted in a women, and represented for women everything they wished they were.

Some of the early still photos from the late 1920's are striking in their revelation of how captivating a woman's face can be. And for years after her film career effectively ended in 1941, the public was occasionally treated to photos which revealed how gracefully she aged from 1950 onward to her death in 1990 at age eighty-five in New York. She is buried in Stockholm, her home. A credit to two nations, she helped British intelligence during world war two by identifying NAZI sympathizers in Sweden.

Her grand-nephew knew her as Kata. The world knew her as Mata Hari, or Queen Christina. It was said she had no enemies in Hollywood. A bold statement about that venomous town. She was professional, dependable. Mayer, the head of MGM, said her word was better than any contract. The last forty years of her life she llived in the anonymity of New York, respected and liked by neighbors, shopkeepers, and her circle of friends.

She was frugal. She invested her money wisely. A good idea for a woman who, around 1935, had the highest salary of anyone in America. She lived her retirement years in comfort. She traveled, hobnobbed with Aristotle Onassis, Jackie Kennedy, John F. Kennedy - who gave her a piece of scrimshaw from his collection as a spontaneous act of appreciation of her. Within ten days, he was dead in Dallas. It was November, 1963, don't you know.

Frankly, most of the photos in the book don't do her justice. But then, she was a living woman. Only cinema could begin to show to advantage the characters she played. Only those who knew her personally could know what a fine, principled, truly lovely individual she was - that's true beauty. That's the real anatomy of a successful life. To be an inspiration to those who love you. Rest in peace, Kata.

Garbo : Portraits from her Private Collections
What a beautiful book this is, when I realised that they were releasing yet another 2 coffeee table books on Greta Garbo (GG.), I was a little apprehensive about buying them as I already own most of the published books on her and most have been rather overall a let down, full of the same quotes and background stuff, I thought that her life story before, during, and after her acting career was over had been fully explored. But I ordered them anyway, and I have to say this is a keeper.Its not too heavy on the bio side but has been published by the Reisfields ( her family) so it is the nearest to the real GG were ever going to find. And the rest of the book is simply STUNNING is full off quality photos of GG throughout her life, nearly all never released before, and some are quite breathtaking, I have been collecting GG stuff for years and have to say that this is the best book I have ever seen on her.BUY THIS BOOK YOU WONT BE DISAPPOINTED, its massive and very heavy ( God, Ilove super-saver as would have cost a fortune for this to be delivered from U.S.)and is now the gem of my collection.I am away to buy a spare as, no doubt this will be out of print soon, and will have to remorgage to buy it again, trust me its that good. ... Read more

Product Description
With her astounding beauty and enigmatic persona, Greta Garbo is the ultimate Hollywood icon. Though many books have tried to unlock the mystique of the "Swedish Sphinx" by focusing primarily on her personal life, Greta Garbo: A Cinematic Legacy is the first to pay serious attention to what made her an icon-her 24 Hollywood films.

Celebrating the centenary of her birth, the book draws extensively on interviews, letters, and newly accessible M-G-M production files to chronicle Garbo's career from her American debut in 1926 to her self-imposed retirement in 1941 at the height of her popularity. A wealth of film stills, production photographs, and portraits-many previously unpublished, all beautifully reproduced from pristine prints-combine with Mark Vieira's engrossing text to bring vividly to life the actress who inspired the critic Kenneth Tynan to declare: "What, when drunk, one sees in other women, one sees in Garbo sober."AUTHOR BIO: Mark A. Vieira is a photographer, film historian, and the author of Abrams' acclaimed Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits, Sin in Soft Focus: Pre-Code Hollywood, and Hollywood Horror: From Gothic to Cosmic. He lives in Los Angeles. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

FIRST READ IT 2 YRS. AGO AND JUST READ IT AGAIN
Mark Vieira's "Greta Garbo: A Cinematic Legacy" is an excellent book.Great research.Very informative of all her films and the great legacy they are.Also, he has told facts in her personal life that were not known until recently.(I agree 100% re the Oct. 1926 to Apr. 1927 "strike" and two months again after;honestly, I thought the same a long time ago)!
I also agree 100% w/his saying that Karen Swenson's biography, "Greta Garbo-A Life Apart", is the definitive one (read this book twice too).
If there is any fault at all that I find w/Mr. Vieira's excellent work, it is as follows: The constant references to M. Dietrich. Furthermore, I certainly don't believe any kind of info that Dietrich's daughter Maria Riva has related.
Another pet peeve is the non-mentioning of the way John Gilbert, who loved Greta passionately and vice versa (they really were star-crossed lovers), was really destroyed with glee by Mayer.
All in all, though, I thoroughly enjoyed it!!

lovely.
this book is the best book i bought.

a lot of excelent pictures of greta and great text also. i don't regret buying it.

superb tribute
U nusually informative survey of Garbo's career with background material on her artistry rather than just her personal life
wonderful pictures

Garbo Fans will want to be "alone" with this beautiful book!
The Swedish Sphinx Greta Garbo (1905-1990 was "an enigma wrapped up in mystery" to most people. However, in this out-
standing book you will come to know her for what she is best
remembered for: her movies!
Viera analyses each of Garbo's films from her first silent
feature "Torrent" through to her last talkie "Two Faced Woman."
In between these two films you will:
a. Have a in-depth analysis of each of the films
b. See the secrets revealed of such masters of photography as
William Daniels, Hurrell and Bull who lit Garbo to perfection.
c. Learn of Garbo's torrid and tortured affair with John Gilber
d. Learn about her great director Stiller and her work with such American directors as Clarence Brown and others.
e. Explore the business side of her relationship with MGM
as she dealt with moguls such as LB Meyer and boy wonder Irving
Grant Thalberg,
Viera is a photographer and film historian who makes the life
and career of Garbo come alive after all these years. I have enjoyed his earlier: "Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits" and "Sin in
Sof-Focus" always profiting from the enjoyable hours spent in his
company.
This is an essential book for any Garbo or movie fan of the golden era of Hollywood! A true delight!

Buy it!
Any book put out by Abrams has my vote and a place on my book shelf. This book on Garbo is no exception. Without reading a word her story is told through the fabulous photographs. A must for fans of classic film, Garbo (obviously!) and photography buffs!

Amazing! ... Read more

Product Description
Making use of unprecedented access to materials and close associates of the late star, and complemented by rare photographs, a biography conveys new insights into the star's struggles with movie executives at MGM and her bisexuality. 25,000 first printing."Amazon.com Review
A Life Apart is the apt subtitle of this scrupulouslyresearched biography of the star as legendary for her fiercely guardedprivacy as for her haunting beauty and luminous acting in such filmsas Camille and Ninotchka. Entertainment writer KarenSwenson delineates a unique personality considerably earthier thanGreta Garbo's screen image: shy yet blunt, devoted to her craft butindifferent to fame, sexually magnetic to both men and women, a loyalfriend who mercilessly punished disloyalty. The author meticulouslyfact-checked the often unreliable memories of companions and loverssuch as Cecil Beaton and Mercedes de Acosta to comprehensivelydocument Garbo's long life (1905-90). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

GARBO STANDS ALONE

.....A Greta Garbo comes along once in a lifetime and cannot be duplicated ....while other Hollywood Stars spent money faster than they made it, Hedy Lamarr for instance, Garbo was very frugal.When she came to Hollywood on a six hundred a week salary she bought a second hand Packard.Years later when she was an International star and worth millions she was still driving the same Packard.

.....She was one of the few stars under contract to Louis B. Mayer who stood up to and got the best of him.Mayer hated John Gilbert and vowed to destroy him if it cost him a million dollars but when Garbo wanted Gilbert for her co-star in Queen Christina she got Mayer to back down.Very few actors under the thumb of The LIon of Hollywood ever got to do that.

.....Garbo had an etheral beauty that transcended the screen and stuck in the mind of the audience.She had Star Power and when she felt that she was coming to the end she walked away at the height of her popularity.John Gilbert was the only man that got her close to marriage but her inner demons prevented her from taking that step and she died as she had lived ...alone.

.....I thought the book was much too long and wordy and I think it could have been edited down to about half its size without sacrificing the basic story.

Although interesting but...
Although the book is interesting taking into consideration its factographic side, it is written in a very pretentious manner trying unnecessarily to colorize the biography and therefore making it trivial and sometimes even pathetic. Just to mention: usage of such expression like "Turkey's great metropolis" in order not to call it Istanbul or Canstantinople seems to be quoted from an essay composed by some sixth-grade pupil.
I still consider "Garbo" by Barry Paris the best Garbo's biography.

A Bio Apart
Swenson conveys an understanding of and respect for her subject as few biographers have.Not that anyone can know too much about Garbo, Swenson dug deep and this bio is full of pictures and information to make any Garbo fan's heart flutter into cardiac arrest! The Best!

Read Swenson if you want to be alone with Greta Garbo!
Karen Swenson is to be commended for a fine biography of Greta Garbo. Garbo is an enigmatic star more closely resembling a lonely sphinx camping out in the Sahara than a glitzy glamorous star in Hollywood's Golden Era.
Swenson delineates the Garbo career from the Swede's girlhood in a poverty stricken home in Stockholm to the extremely wealthy recluse she became in New York following her 1942 retiriement from the silver screen. (Her last flick was a bomb called "Two Faced Woman."Garbo had at least two faces in real life. The athletic outdoor woman she was could be kind and cruel as her moods were quicksilver in the soul of this Viking child of the North.
Barry Paris's book on Garbo contains more pictures and is, on the whole, better written.I did, however, enjoy Swenson's work
on the screen legend devouring the biography in huge portions of time.
Garbo was a great talent who lit up the screen with her peerless beauty and style.Costumes by Adrian and the magic of MGM camermen aided her in the climb to the top but she was herself unique for her aura of lonely beauty.
I appreciate the work of Karen Swenson.I hope you the reader do as well.If you read only one book on Greta Garbo you could do worse than selecting this excellent biography to fillyou in on the Swedish queen of film.

Garbo: A Life Apart
Garbo: A Life Apart is a modern biographical masterpiece. I got started and could barely put it down. It was filled with great information. I have been following the life of Greta Garbo for about 7 years and have a collection of memorabillia to show for it! I have to say this is a MUST for any fan or collector of Garbo material!!! BRAVO Karen Swenson!! ... Read more

Product Description
In an extended interview--complemented by stunning black-and-white photographs--the legendary actress speaks candidly about her childhood in Sweden, her first roles, her rise in Hollywood, and the reason for her retreat from the screen. 25,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo. ... Read more

Product Description
Greta Garbo's uniquely photogenic beauty belies her great talent as an actress, as her performances in "Queen Christina" and "Camille" prove. A hint of a Garbo smile, touch, or glance conveyed volumes. She was languid, distant, and melancholy, yet in her love scenes she conveyed a passion and hunger that startled audiences and overturned American notions of eroticism and sexuality. Part of her fascination, too, is the mystery of her private lives and loves: "I want to be alone," she insisted, but she remains the world's divine woman. "The Movie Icon" series: People talk about Hollywood glamour, about studios that had more stars than there are in heaven, about actors who weren't actors but were icons. Other people talk about these things, TASCHEN shows you. "Movie Icons" is a series of photo books that feature the most famous personalities in the history of cinema. These 192-page books are visual biographies of the stars. For each title, series editor Paul Duncan has painstaking selected approximately 150 high quality enigmatic and sumptuous portraits, colorful posters and lobby cards, rare film stills, and previously unpublished candid photos showing the stars as they really are.These images are accompanied by concise introductory essays by leading film writers; each book also includes a chronology, a filmography, and a bibliography, and is peppered with apposite quotes from the movies and from life. All the icons in the first 20 books of the series were voted for by over 7500 TASCHEN readers in a special online poll! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Cinema Classic Favorites
Just finished reading "Greta Garbo: Divine(movie Icons)(French and German Edition)and being a long time fan of Greta Garbo and her films, and having bought several books on Garbo throughout the years, I still was surprised to find more information about her and her early American movies in this smaller book that I did'nt know about. Like the fact that her co-star Ricardo Cortez did'nt like her in their first movie together, "The Torrent", and he really gave her a hard time because he wanted her part to be portrayed by a fellow actress girlfriend of his instead. Also just looking at the filming techniques from those early films of Garbo's, like carring the camera hoisted way on up in the air in a basket in order to film high over head shots really looked and probably was dangerous but it must have worked because it sure helped them in filming the beautiful, exotic Garbo movie "Wild Orchids" to perfection. Oh Garbo'sbeauty was just so rare. It was in a way good that she retired early in the forties because her acting style was too stylish and dare I say it "old fashion" for the war-time forties and never mind the more realistic, cynical modern second half of the 20th century. Still we the fans of really vintage, classic movies, are very lucky to still be able to view Garbo's and other-like master pieces of early cinema, over and over again to our hearts content. Hooray to all those early film makers. Thanks Amazon. Sincerely, Rosario Elaine TorresSan Antonio, Texas

Tiny Garbo bible
I purchased this small book on Greta Garbo because Greta is my favorite actor. She radiated a quality unlike any other actor, past or present. I've seen all of her movies, except for "Torrent" and "Love" and this little book is like a perfect summation of her cinematic career. The photos are amazing. I've purchased other Garbo books and personally speaking, this one beats them all because it contains such amazing collection of photos from her movies or behind the scenes production shots. Garbo, more than any other star, was extremely photogenic and this kind of book was made just for a star like her. It's like a little pocket bible on the career of Garbo.

My favorite photos are on page 37 from Torrent; page 62 beautiful candid shot of Garbo and John Gilbert at a piano; page 77 from A Woman of Affairs, 92-93 Garbo with Lew Ayres; all the photos from Anna Christie: page 112-113 from Inspiration; pages 116 and 118-119 from Susan Lenox; all the photos from Mata Hari, certainly the one on page 125; page 140-141 from Queen Christina, which perfectly captures the tone of the movie. The photo on the back cover is also great. I wish I had a poster of it. The book is chock full of beautiful photos that it's difficult to say which one is the best.

What's surprising is that some of the text was more informative than big wordy biographies on her. With quotes from actors who worked with her or even reprints of a couple of movie magazine articles, I learned a few extra things about Garbo and her films that I never knew about.

Anyway, I actually carry this book around with me and whenever I'm bored or have time to kill, I just look at it and I'm swept away. ... Read more

Product Description
COVER HAS HAS A LOT WEAR ON IT CHIPED EDGES AND ON FIRST PAGE INSIDE IS VERY GOOD,COPYRIGHT 1968, 7TH PAPERBOUND PRINTING, 1980 ... Read more

Product Description
Beautiful auction catalog in slip case. Many illustrations in color. Includes index. ... Read more

Product Description
Accepting the role of Joan of Arc, Hollywood star Greta Garbo finds herself in the middle of a picture involving German expatriates and a cast of spies. By the author of The Tallulah Bankhead Murder Case. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Very Poor!
Up to now I've been enjoying Baxt's Hollywood mysteries, but this particular one was written extremely poorly.It was disjointed and made no sense.And Garbo seemed like a cardboard cutout - there was no life to her at all.The premise was a good one - espionage in Hollywood after the bombing of Pearl Harbour, but it went absolutely nowhere.It was so unmemorable that I don't even remember the names of the lead characters who were at the heart of the conspiracy.I do hope that the others remaining in the series get back to the old format that the first four books had.

ridiculous rubbish
I have never understood why some authors choose to write about historical figures and time periods without doing extensive research beforehand.Although this is supposed to be a historical mystery novel it reads morelike a confusing, ridiculous piece of fantasy.Why must author George Baxtinclude Peter Lorre and Erich von Stroheim as characters in his novel ifhe's not in the least interested in finding out what these men were reallylike?Baxt's description of Mr. Lorre and Mr. Von Stroheim is degradingand offensive. It's too bad the author doesn't have more respect for thesecharming and extremely talented men, who incidentally were both AustrianJews, not Germans.As for the whole Nazi spy plot -- well, I've readplenty of better-written, more realistic, WWII-era mystery novels.Pass onthis one.

another oddie but goodie
This is another George Baxt mystery that, perhaps, is a bit too full of spies.It was the very first I read, and I may have a soft spot for it, but I would recommend it to almost anyone.This is a very good book forsomeone who is willing to pay close attention to all the characters andplot details, not for a person that just sees the confusing mess (and itgets a bit messy at times, I'll confess).Still, it is quite a ride, andit makes one wish they'd actually met these people.Still more hurrays forBaxt- and, of course, Greta Garbo. ... Read more

Product Description
The author of the biography, Gertrude and Alice, discusses the relationship between the enigmatic and elusive Hollywood actress and the celebrated Hollywood photographer, discussing Garbo's loves, Cecil Beaton's flamboyance, and more. 15,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

BEATON'S TRUE COLORS REVEALED
I BOUGHT THIS BOOK TO ADD TO MY GRETA GARBO BOOK COLLECTION & WAS SATISFIED WITH ITS REVELATIONS. I DON'T ALWAYS BELIEVE WHAT I READ FROM SECONDHAND SOURCES BUT THIS BOOK SEEMS TO BE ACCURATE IN ITS TELLING OF THE LIFE OF CECIL BEATON AS IT RELATED TO GARBO. I WAS PLEASED TO LEARN DETAILS OF GARBO'S PRIVATE LIFE AS A RECLUSE SINCE SUCH INFORMATION IS SCARCE. THE BOOK IS CERTAINLY A GREAT READ AS MR. BEATON WAS QUITE INTERESTING HIMSELF & HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE GARBO IN FIRST PERSON. ... Read more

Product Description
The screen's most enigmatic personality as she appeared in the twenty-seven films of her career. A unique picture album, fully documented with casts, credits, synopses & contemporary reviews. ... Read more