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 THE TORRENT |
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(USA 1926)
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| ALTERNATE TITLE | ||
Ibáñez' Torrent (USA)
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| FILM SCENES | ||
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| COMPANY | ||
Cosmopolitan Pictures (Production)
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| CREDITS | ||
Directed by Monta Bell.
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| TECHNICAL SPECS | ||
87 Minutes
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| CAST | ||
Ricardo Cortez, Greta Garbo, Gertrude Olmstead, Edward Connelly, Lucien Littlefield, Martha Maddox, Lucy Beaumont, Tully Marshall Mack Swain, Arthur Edmund, Carew Lillian Leighton, Mario Carillo...
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| GARBO'S CHARACTER | ||
Leonora Moreno aka La Brunna
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| FILM POSTER | ||
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| SYNOPSIS | ||
Leonora Moreno (Greta Garbo) and Rafael Brull (Ricardo Cortez) have grown up together. They lived in the same Spanish village. Although they are in love, he is from an aristocratic family. He is dominated by his mother (Martha Mattox). His mother talks over the matter with Leonora's mother (Lucy Beaumont). Then they decide to break up the two lovers. Leonora is sent to Paris. Rafael becomes engaged to Remedios (Gertrude Olmstead), his mother's choice. Leonora becomes a famous prima donna and returns to visit her home. She and Rafael meet again and their love is rekindled. His mother separates them again, and he marries Remedios. Years later, they meet and part. She is still beautiful, but he has become middle-aged. He returns to his wife and family, while Leonora goes on with her career.
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| PREMIERED/RELEASED | ||
Premiere Date: February 8, 1926 (Capitol Theatre in New York & Loew's State Theatre in Los Angeles)
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| PRODUCTION | ||
| Filming Dates: November - December 1925.
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| MOVIE STILLS | ||
| The Stills were made during the production by Bertram (Buddy) Longworth and Fred Morgan. 146 Movie Stills were shot during the production. Garbo also posed for publicity photographer Don Gillum.
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| TRIVIA | ||
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| BACKGROUND STORY | ||
Finally a contract with MGM |
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| MGM didn't show much interest in Greta and Stiller, since they arrived in America. Greta and Stiller were concerned about her status at MGM. It is said that MGM didn't really knew what to do with her in the beginning. |
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| Garbo in Hollywood | ||
| After a long wait in New York, Garbo finally signed her contact with MGM in August 1925. Garbo and Stiller arrived in Hollywood on September 10, 1925. Finally in Hollywood, MGM went on a long search for the right image for Greta. After two MGM screentests, Greta finally got her first american role. |
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| Ibáñez Torrent | ||
| This melodrama is based on Entre Naranjos by Vicente B. Ibáñez. Greta was offered the part of Leonora. Entre Naranjos also wrote the novels The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and Blood and Sand. Both big hit films for Rudolph Valentino. A deal between Cosmopolitan Productions and MGM, was already made in April 1925. Cosmopolitan Productions had the film rights to the novel. The film was re-named in The Torrent. It was to star Metro's most versatile actress, Norma Shearer. She was the directors first choice, but she turned the movie down. |
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| Stiller not assinged | ||
| Mauritz Stiller, hoped to direct Garbo's American film debut. But MGM wanted Garbo to do The Torrent first. Bell already had made some successfull american films. Garbo and Stiller were deeply disappointed. It was a shock for Garbo, who at first told him that she would not work without him. But Stiller advised her to accept the part, cos it was the lead in a major film production. He also promised her to coach her privately every night for the next day's scenes. Garbo agreed. Stiller thought that she it was an excellent part. He thought that if she would have the energy, she will make millions here in america. |
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| Pre-Production | ||
| On November 14, Greta went to the studio for costume fittings and makeup tests. She even allowed a stylist to dye her hair black, a color more befitting a Spanish diva. She also meet Sven-Hugo Borg, a young Swedish actor who would be her interpreter. It was her first bigger visit to the studio. Greta later said that it was all very strange and terrifying. She said that it frightened her, the newness of it, the size of the studio, the numbers of people. Greta couldn't speak English, nor understand the people around her. The set was heavy under construction. All was in confusion. Carpenters, electricians, painters, etc, were working on the set. Greta stood clinging to Stiller's arm like a frightened. Principal photography, began on November 1927. Garbo was scared and nervous. Stiller's influence had not yet given Garbo the self-confidence to stand alone. He stood by her side and coached her. The quick pace of American productions was strange for Garbo. Production on The Torrent was scheduled over a four-week period. It was a typical Monday through Saturday shooting schedule. If Garbo had a 9:00 A.M. call, she was expected to be on the set in full makeup and costume at precisely 9:00 A.M., ready to do the scene. William H. Daniels was the Cinematographer, he had made her first screen-test, two months earlier. In the first days, Greta felt bad and was confused. She couldn't understand the language or the people. |
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| Garbo's Interpreter Borg | ||
| It must have been a horrifying experience for her, to see all the strange people and hear the strange language. Her interpreter Borg, went to the isolated couple and introduced himself. Stiller smiled at Garbo and told Greta that he is the man who will tell her what they talk about. For the next two weeks, Borg worked with Garbo, translating, helping her learn English. He even accompanying her to Louis B. Mayer's office. |
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| Five Years Contract | ||
| Before she even started on The Torrent, Mayer called her back into his office. He wanted her to re-sign her contract. In Summer 1925, Garbo signed a three years contract with MGM. Mayer wanted a 5 years contract with her. But Greta told him: "Mister Mayer – I haf not done yet one picture. Let us wait until I haf been in one pictures". She couldn't understand it. Nor could she understand why Mayer would not let her work with Stiller. |
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| Ricardo Cortez | ||
| Her co-star was the 26 year old Viennese Jew Ricardo Cortez. He had been working on films nonstop for four years and was considered a threat to Valentino. Cortez belived that Torrent was HIS film and he resented Greta from the beginning. He felt himself a great star who must work with this ‘dumb' Swede. On the set or off, he gave Garbo not the slightest notice. He decided that Garbo was a nonentity and treated her as such. |
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| Monta Bell | ||
| Director Bell didn't support her any either. Greta said that in Sweden, actors are instructed exactly how the scene must be played, before the camera is turned. Bell told his players to act the scene as they feel it and then he makes suggestions. One of Bell's more pointed suggestions to Garbo was that she stop complaining. Garbo was perplexed and insulted and wanted to go home to her hotel and dream about Stockholm. Memories of Stockholm made her homesick. Borg said that one day, she looked as if she was about to quit. She told him, “Borg, I think I shall go home now.” |
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| Mayer made Pressure | ||
| But she didn't go home, she found the strength to continue her work. Greta's English was improving and each new day of Garbo footage was more impressive. Mayer called her to his office once again. He told her that he couldn't afford to advertise her pictures and put money into her. Mayer made some pressure on her. He still wanted her to sign a 5 years contract. But Garbo tried to explain that she was satisfied. She didn't want any changes until the film is finished. Mayer told her that they are spending much money on her and that she should co-operate. Greta said that it could be cheaper to make a good movie. |
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| Filming finished | ||
| In late December, production was winding down. MGM's publicity department began to advertising the film. On January 1926, a number of MGM executives, Stiller, Garbo and some of their swedish friends, saw a sneak preview of the film. Stiller and Garbo were nervous and left before the film ended. Garbo's swedish friends thought that the picture was a flop and that Garbo was terrible. |
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| MGM was thrilled | ||
MGM was thrilled with the results of the film and especially with Garbo's work. Garbo created something soulful and enchanting out of something quite stale and thin. The Torrent opened in both New York and Los Angeles on February 21. For the first and last time, Garbo attended the premiere of one of her films. The critics were pleased too and were sure that she was going to be a big star. "This girl has everything!", one critic wrote. Greta was the new film vamp.
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| BUSINESS DATA | ||
| Budget 250.000 Dollar
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| PORTRAITS | ||
Photographer Ruth Harriet Louise made the portraits during the filming of Torrent. The last portraits for the film were taken on December 31, 1925. Garbo also posed for publicity photographer Don Gillum.
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| REVIEWS | ||
New York Herald Tribune: |
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She seems an excellent and attractive actress with a surprising propensity for looking like Carol Dempster, Norma Talmadge, ZaSu Pitts, and Gloria Swanson in turn. That does not mean she lacks manner of her own, however.
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| Motion Picture: | ||
Probably the most important feature of the film is the latest Greta from Sweden. This is the Greta Garbo, a pretty, wistful, and intensely feminine young person, who suggests a composite picture of a dozen of our best-known stars. Making her debut in the film, she registers a complete success. She is not so much an actress as she is endowed with individuality and magnetism. |
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| Pictures: | ||
| In the simplest diction possible, we wish to say that among the many who have been hailed as the “finds” of the year, Greta Garbo stands head of the line, in our opinion. She possesses that which has heretofore only been laid at the door of Pola Negri–fire, animation, abandon and all of the other adjectives usually employed to describe a very colorful figure and personality to match. Moreover Greta has a delightfully youthful figure and a face that is strangely attractive, though not at all beautiful. As the prima donna life gave to and took from as it chose, Miss Garbo, if one can judge by an audience's response, made a very impressive cinema debut in America. |
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| Variety: | ||
Greta Garbo, making her American debut as a screen star, might just as well be hailed right here as the find of the year. This girl has everything, with looks, acting ability, and personality. When one is a Scandinavian and can put over a Latin characterization with sufficient power to make it most convincing, need there be any more said regarding her ability? She makes Torrent worth while.... There are other "names" in the cast, and, although veterans, they could not overshadow Greta Garbo. Hail this girl, for she'll get over.
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| PICTURE FROM THE FILM-SET | ||
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| STORY FROM THE FILM-SET | ||
Garbo's leading man, Cortez wasn't nice to her on the set or off. He believed that The Torrent was HIS film and hardly speaked to her. The actor resented her from the beginning and gave Garbo not the slightest notice. He felt himself a great star who had to work with this ‘dumb' Swede who was nobody. During the shooting of the rainstorm, both actors were drenched with cold water. Greta's interpreter and Borg, was waiting offstage with blankets for her. C ortez came over to him: “Here! Give me those blankets!” Borg protested: “But they are for Miss Garbo!” Without another word, Cortez took the blankets from him and walked off. Garbo saw it and said: “Let him have them, You mustn't let yourself be bothered about a pumpkin like that.
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| AD CAMPAIGN SLOGANS | ||
Greta Garbo–perfection! Discovered by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in stark Sweden!
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| THE ORIGINAL NOVEL | ||
Based on the novel Entre Naranjos (Among Orange Trees), by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez.
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| VIDEO-FILE | ||
See HERE!
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| DVD/VHS | ||
Available as a Bootleg VHS. (hard to find)
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| VIDEO-FILE | ||
See More HERE!
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SOURCE |
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Greta Garbo: A Cinematic Legacy – by Mark A. Vieira (Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated, New York 2005). This is the best and most accurate book about Garbo's-Films.  |
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OTHER SOURCES |
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Karen Swenson – A life Apart Barry Paris – Garbo IMDB – International Movie Database plus many other books, magazines and internet sites. |
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Film - Introduction |
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The Torrent w as filmed in 23 days
