Greta Garbo (1905 - 1990) colorized from a late 1930s photo

Came across a rather different looking Greta Garbo without the deep-set eyes and the artificial eyelashes that have become her signature copied by several a actresses during her time and after. 

Greta Garbo (1905 - 1990) colorized from a promo still for her 1929 silent film "Wild Orchids"

Colorized a photo of Greta Garbo by Ruth Harriet Louise for her 1929 silent film "Wild Orchids" directed by Sidney Franklin and co-starring Nils Asther.

Greta Garbo (1905 - 1990) taken ca 1936

Colorized a rare photo showing Greta in a hearty smile with some liberties on her dress. Her last 1939 Hollywood film "Two-Faced Woman" was a critical failure that devastated her to the point that she retired from Hollywood and returned to Sweden. However, she did entertain a comeback, having signed contracts with MGM to do films that never got off, presumably for her own second thoughts about returning to a career that she was disappointed with. Her absence was a welcome relief to several other Hollywood actresses who were after her crown as Queen of Hollywood who was the highest-paid actress during her reign. After the war, it became even more difficult for the aging actress to make a comeback, especially when the likes of Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, and other rising stars were making waves in the next decade of Hollywood's Golden Age (1930s - 1960s).

Greta Garbo (1905 - 1990)

Colorizing vintage shots of Hollywood legends is always a pleasure. There are just so few vintage photos of Philippine movie greats with good enough resolution to colorize. But not so with Hollywood greats. Even during the silent pictures of the 1920s and the first talkies of the 30s, screen legends like Myrna Loy, Lilian Gish, Mary Pickford, Greta Garbo, and Joan Crawford benefitted from excellent b&w photos, thanks to camera artists who were employed as glamour photographers by the studios. Here's one from a 1930 - 31 photo of Greta Garbo. This photo has been overused as a hairstyle sample in beauty salons and online hairstyle resources.

Greta Garbo (1905 - 1990) a Swedish-American film actress during the 1920s and 1930s. Garbo is ranked as fifth on the AFI list of the greatest female stars of classic Hollywood cinema. She became famous with her first feature film “Torrent” (1926), impressing the head of production Irving Thalberg who would shape Garbo’s distinctive image as an enigmatic, often tragic young woman who had lived many lifetimes and suffered in spite of, or perhaps because of, her incredible beauty.

Garbo would make just a handful of movies over a 15-year period, during the 20s and 30s,  regarded as among the shortest for any Hollywood actress but left a legacy that inspired younger actresses to reach or exceed her fame.  Greta Garbo’s impact on the industry and on audiences — was unparalleled while her potent magnetism and allure defy the ravages of time. Only Joan Crawford and Bette Davis would exceed her fame but they lasted far longer in the industry. At the height of her career, she retired and returned to Sweden, disgusted with the studio system, the glitz and blatant artificiality of tinsel town.

An aging Greta Garbo (1905 - 1990) taken in 1953

Good things never last. Same with beautiful women. In fact, more so with them. Here is a colorized photo of Greta Garbo (1905 - 1990) taken by George Hoyningen-Huene in 1953 when she was already 48 years old. This is one of the rare photos of a retired and reclusive Greta Garbo where she posed for a photographer when she never trusted them. She appeared to have aged gracefully but the ravages of time remained obvious.

One would have expected Greta to live the rest of her life in seclusion in her hometown of Sweden, but she returned to the U.S. and In 1951, Greta obtained her American Citizenship and bought a 7-room apartment in upscale New York. Despite surviving her bout with breast cancer in 1984, she suffered a condition that let her to undergo dialysis for six hours three times a week at the Rogozin Institute in New York Hospital. Greta eventually succumbed to pneumonia and renal failure. in a hospital in 1990. Her biographer claims that towards the end, she also suffered from gastrointestinal and periodontal ailments. Her remains were cremated in Manhattan, and her ashes were interred in 1999 at Skogskyrkogården Cemetery just south of her native city Stockholm in Sweden. Garbo had invested wisely, primarily in stocks and bonds, and left her entire estate, worth over $32M ($61M in today's value) to her niece, Gray Reisfield.

Greta Garbo, up close, 1939

Colorized a photo of Greta Garbo taken by Clarence Sinclair Bull for her penultimate Hollywood film, "Ninotchka" released in 1939. Her last film would be "Two-Faced Woman" released in 1941. By this time, Greta has been labeled "Box Office Poison" along with other celebrities like Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Luise Rainer, Katherine Hepburn, Mae West, and Marline Dietrich in an article published by Harry Brandt on behalf of the Independent Theatre Owners of America, The critical failure of Two-Faced Woman was said to have devastated and humiliated her and blamed the dearth of good materials and the studio system that has been plaguing her career over the last 5 years. This has led her to finally abandoned her Hollywood career of 16 years and returned to Sweden.

Great Garbo (1905 - 1990) in her 1935 film "Anna Karenina"

Colorized a promotional photo of Greta Garbo (1905 - 1990) in her 1935 film "Anna Karenina", a remake of a silent movie of the same title with her supposed lover and fellow film star John Gilbert. It is interesting to note that Greta never married or had children. She did not show up to her wedding ceremony with longtime screen partner John Gilbert, saying to the press she had feared being dominated by him when all her life, she has been the one dominating. It was essentially a ruse to cover her lesbian nature which studio bosses already knew and fostered her enigmatic image to protect her from adverse public opinion and her standing at the box office.

All throughout her career, she was able to create an air of mystery around her personal life, never attending socials, parties or an Oscar ceremony even when nominated. Her biographer Barry Paris claimed that she was "technically bisexual, predominantly lesbian, and increasingly asexual as the years went by." Garbo struggled greatly with her sexuality, only becoming involved with other women in affairs she could control.

Before moving to America it is claimed she was seduced by 23-year-old Marlene Dietrich, described by Hollywood historian Diana McLellan as a “bohemian young mama with a notorious and compulsive appetite for the sexual seduction of other beautiful women, particularly backstage.” Garbo with a very sensitive nature ended up so hurt by Dietrich that she denied knowing her for the rest of her life. Garbo moved to Hollywood, where she continued an intimate relationship with actress-writer Salka Viertel and Mercedes de Acosta who revealed their lesbian relationships with Greta. It was also rumored that she made backstage advances to a yet unknown 19-year old Joan Crawford who was herself a bisexual

Greta Garbo (1905 - 1990), colorized from a photo taken ca 1932

Greta Garbo colorized by Alex Lim from a 1930 photo

This is my second Greta Garbo colorized from a 1930 George Hurrell photo promoting her MGM movie "Romance".

The Real Mata Hari

Beauty and seductiveness are not always together. Here is the real Mata Hari, the definitive femme fatale. Not exactly a ravishing beauty as Greta Garbo, she did have the sultry allure that brought dozens of French generals and admirals to divulge their military secrets while in bed allegedly causing the deaths of more than 50,000 French soldiers during WWI. (About the only thing common between Mata Hari and Greta Garbo who portrayed here in a 1931 film that made her famous was that both were flat chested.)

Born in 1876, she was a contemporary of the most photographed woman at that time, Cleo De Merode, just a year older than her, (which I colorized early last year). A Dutch by decent, Margeretha Geertruida Zelle took the name Mata Hari (Eye of Dawn) after a brief sojourn with her husband (which she eventually divorced) in Malang, Eastern Java where she reputedly learned the erotic dances of Javenese girls that she reprised upon her return to France at the turn of the 20th century. By 1905, Mata Hari had become a celebrity to many royals and military officers, on par with the likes of Isadora Duncan who was also her contemporary who pioneered in modern freestyle dance.

Colorized Greta Garbo in the 1931 film Mata Hari

Expect Hollywood to be bigger than life.  The real archtype femme fatale Mata Hari would have swooned to see herself portrayed by the more beautiful Greta Garbo in this 1931 film, just 14 years after she was executed by the French in a firing squad. Of course, the court was never able to prove the allegations that Mata Hari was a double agent, a spy and counter spy, for France and Germany.  All they had was circumstantial evidence, but they needed someone to blame for causing the deaths of at least 50,000 French soldiers during WWI.   Details of the trial had been sealed and are scheduled to be declassified by the French military this year, exactly one hundred years after her execution.