''As You Desire Me'' is a 1932 American
pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...
film adaptation of the 1929 play by
Luigi Pirandello
Luigi Pirandello (; 28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power ...
released by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
. It was produced and directed by
George Fitzmaurice
George Fitzmaurice (13 February 1885 – 13 June 1940) was a French-born film director and producer.
Career
Fitzmaurice's career first started as a set designer on stage. Beginning in 1914, and continuing until his death in 1940, he directed ...
with
Irving Thalberg
Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather productio ...
as co-producer. The adaptation was by
Gene Markey
Eugene Willford "Gene" Markey (December 11, 1895 – May 1, 1980) was an American writer, producer, screenwriter, and highly decorated naval officer.
Biography
Early life
Markey was born in Michigan in 1895. His father, Eugene Lawrenc ...
, the cinematography by
William H. Daniels, the art direction by
Cedric Gibbons
Austin Cedric Gibbons (March 23, 1890 – July 26, 1960) was an Irish-American art director for the film industry. He also made a significant contribution to motion picture theater architecture from the 1930s to 1950s. Gibbons designed the ...
and the costume design by
Adrian
Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water".
The Adria was until the 8th century BC the mai ...
.
The film stars
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragedy, ...
and
Melvyn Douglas
Melvyn Douglas (born Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg, April 5, 1901 – August 4, 1981) was an American actor. Douglas came to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man, perhaps best typified by his performance in the romantic comedy ''Ninotchka ...
with
Erich von Stroheim
Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim (born Erich Oswald Stroheim; September 22, 1885 – May 12, 1957) was an Austrian-American director, actor and producer, most noted as a film star and avant-garde, visionary director of the silent era. H ...
,
Owen Moore
Owen Moore (12 December 1886 – 9 June 1939) was an Irish-born American actor, appearing in more than 279 movies spanning from 1908 to 1937.
Early life and career
Moore was born in Fordstown Crossroads, County Meath, Ireland. Along with his p ...
and
Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper (born Elda Furry; May 2, 1885February 1, 1966) was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, her readership was 35 million. A strong supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committ ...
. Its running time is less than 71 minutes, making it the shortest of all Garbo's Hollywood films.
The film grossed $705,000 in the USA and grossed $657,000 elsewhere, it altogether grossed $1,362,000 and its profit was $449,000.
Plot
Budapest bar entertainer Zara is a discontented alcoholic who is pursued by many men but lives with novelist Carl Salter. A strange man (Tony) shows up on Salter's estate claiming that Zara is actually Maria, the wife of his close friend Bruno. Maria, Tony claims, had her memory destroyed during a World War I invasion ten years ago. Zara doesn't remember but leaves with Tony to Salter's dismay. Bruno, now an officer in the Italian army, tries to coax Maria's memory back on his large estate. No one is really sure if Zara is Maria, and when Salter shows up with a mental case that he claims is the real Maria, everyone on Bruno's estate is desperately searching for the truth.
Production
This is also the only film in which Garbo appears as a blonde.
Cast (in credits order)
*
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragedy, ...
as Zara / Maria
*
Melvyn Douglas
Melvyn Douglas (born Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg, April 5, 1901 – August 4, 1981) was an American actor. Douglas came to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man, perhaps best typified by his performance in the romantic comedy ''Ninotchka ...
as Count Bruno Varelli
*
Erich von Stroheim
Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim (born Erich Oswald Stroheim; September 22, 1885 – May 12, 1957) was an Austrian-American director, actor and producer, most noted as a film star and avant-garde, visionary director of the silent era. H ...
as Carl Salter
*
Owen Moore
Owen Moore (12 December 1886 – 9 June 1939) was an Irish-born American actor, appearing in more than 279 movies spanning from 1908 to 1937.
Early life and career
Moore was born in Fordstown Crossroads, County Meath, Ireland. Along with his p ...
as Tony Boffie
*
Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper (born Elda Furry; May 2, 1885February 1, 1966) was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, her readership was 35 million. A strong supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committ ...
as Ines Montari
*
Rafaela Ottiano
Rafaela Ottiano (4 March 1888 – 15 August 1942) was an Italian-American stage and film actress.
Early life
Rafaela Ottiano was born in Venice, Italy. She immigrated to the United States with her parents and was processed at Ellis Island in 1 ...
as Lena
*
Warburton Gamble
Evelyn Charles Warburton Gamble (16 December 1882 – 27 August 1945) was a British stage and film actor.
Gamble was born on 16 December 1882 in London and acted on stage professionally as early as 1905. His work on stage included a season o ...
as Baron
*
Albert Conti
Albert De Conti Cadassamare (29 January 1887 – 18 January 1967), professionally billed as Albert Conti, was an Austrian-Hungarian-born Italian-American film actor.
Life
Born in the village of Gorizia (now, part of Italy), Conti achieved mode ...
as Captain
*
Roland Varno
Roland Varno (March 15, 1908 – May 24, 1996) was an American character actor from Utrecht, Netherlands.
Varno's father was a tea planter, Martin Fredrick Vuerhard, and his mother was a concert pianist. Although they hoped for him to ha ...
as Albert
References
External links
*
1932 films
American drama films
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
1932 drama films
American films based on plays
Films based on works by Luigi Pirandello
American black-and-white films
Films directed by George Fitzmaurice
Films set in Hungary
Films produced by Irving Thalberg
Films about amnesia
Films about alcoholism
1930s English-language films
1930s American films
{{1930s-US-film-stub