This is a very good, albeit quite static, early-talkie Greta Garbo feature. Garbo is outstanding, Gavin Gordon excellent, and Lewis Stone his usual wonderfully reliable self; the performances of each are completely believable and entirely human, conveying real emotional truth.

This movie won't really be for everyone, but is definitely a must for any Garbo fan, and lovers of early talkies. Garbo is at her most timelessly beautiful here, exquisitely portraying a character who's much more decent than was typical for her usual Silent film and early-talkies characters, who normally were (if not wretchedly unhappy, and/or doomed to soon die tragically) serious trouble and the downfall of the man/men who loved them. In this film, although her character has a past, she's not at all a femme fatale type or home-wrecker, instead is basically a nice, well-meaning woman of the world who doesn't want to cause the man she loves any problems.

I consider Garbo's performance in this to be one of her greatest. As previously mentioned, she's outstanding - receiving a well-deserved Academy Award nomination for this lovely finely shaded portrayal. Her accent is heavier here than it was by later films. Some of her mispronunciations are charming to take note of.

The movie is heavy on talk, but with no real action beyond people conversing and emoting (always entirely naturalistically) while standing, walking slowly, sitting, or reclining. Still, that's not to say it's boring or what I'd call stagy, as I really don't consider it to be either thing. Rather, the focus is all on the relationships and the feelings and emotions at play.

This being a Garbo feature, it's of course top-notch. Despite the limitations of it being a 1930 film, it's a very good one.

Some Garbo movies that have TMDb discussion threads

List your top films of 1930