a night in open air

Garbo distinguished herself from other actors in the silent era whose gesticulations gave the term “silent opera” to the craft. Unlike some of her grimacing, eye-popping colleagues on screen, Garbo was a master of deep, subtle expressions. As Arnold Genthe had, the men in Hollywood who worked with Garbo most declared that her extraordinary power on film emanated from the eyes:

Clarence Brown: “She had something behind the eyes that you couldn’t see until you photographed it in close-up. If she had to look at one person with jealousy, and another with love, she didn’t have to change her expression. You could see it in her eyes. Nobody else has been able to do that on the screen.” 

Clarence Bull: “You could read her through her eyes. That’s why we made so many big pictures of her, to see what she was thinking.”

William Daniels: “I didn’t create a ‘Garbo face,’ but I always did try to make the camera peer into her eyes, to see what was there. She has the most beautiful eyes I ever saw.”

Midnight, the Stars and You playing from another room

Lauren Bacall_1940's_Photo Portrait

Moonlight Serenade playing from another room