Plot
Fashion magazine editor Larry Blake ( Melvyn Douglas) marries ski instructor Karin Borg ( Greta Garbo) on impulse, but she soon learns he expects her to be a dutiful wife, and not the independent woman she was when they met. They separate and Larry returns to New York City, where he takes up again with playwright Griselda Vaughn ( Constance Bennett), with whom he was involved before his marriage. Karin comes to New York to thwart the romance and get her husband back, playing her mythical twin sister Katherine Borg, a wild, amoral "modern" woman. Karin, in the guise of Katherine, fascinates Larry until he realizes the truth. He plays along, almost seducing his wife's purported twin sister, but stopping short each time. Karin and Larry eventually reunite on the ski slopes, and all is forgiven.Cast
* Greta Garbo as Karin Borg Blake / Katherine Borg * Melvyn Douglas as Larry Blake * Constance Bennett as Griselda Vaughn * Roland Young as O.O. Miller * Robert Sterling as Dick Williams * Ruth Gordon as Miss Ruth Ellis, Larry's secretary * Frances Carson as Miss DunbarProduction
After Garbo's previous film, '' Ninotchka'' (1939) was completed, MGM scheduled '' Madame Curie'' as her next picture. Pleased with the financial and critical success of ''Ninotchka'', MGM decided to pair Garbo and Douglas in another romantic comedy. George Cukor, who had directed Garbo in '' Camille'' (1936), which is generally regarded as her best film, was assigned to direct. Constance Bennett, a major leading lady of the 1930s whose career was waning, was cast in a supporting role through the efforts of her friend Cukor. The screenplay by S.N. Behrman, Salka Viertel, and George Oppenheimer was based on a 1925 Constance Talmadge silent film titled ''Her Sister from Paris'', which in turn was based on a play by German playwrightCensorship controversy and changes to original version
MGM originally scheduled release of ''Two-Faced Woman'' for November, 1941; the film received a Production Code seal of approval, but the National Legion of Decency rated the film as "C" for condemned — unusual at that time for a major Hollywood release — citing its alleged "immoral and un-Christian attitude toward marriage and its obligations: impudently suggestive scenes, dialogue, and situations: suggestive costumes." The film also was condemned by the archbishop of New York, the first time a particular film had been singled out. These condemnations strongly discouraged Catholics from seeing the film. ''Two-Faced Woman'' was banned in several cities, including Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, and other cities such as Omaha, Chicago, and Milwaukee ordered that some scenes be cut. MGM responded to the negative criticism by withdrawing the original cut of the film. Certain scenes were reshot and edited before the official release date. George Cukor refused to participate in the reshooting. In particular, a scene was added in which Larry Blake discovers early in the film that Katherine is actually his estranged wife Karin pretending to be her twin sister and chooses to play along with her pretense rather than actually consider an affair with his sister-in-law. The Legion of Decency changed its rating for the amended film from a "C", meaning condemned, to "B", meaning morally objectionable in part. In addition to censorship-related changes, the studio also cut a number of Constance Bennett's scenes and changed the ending because some felt that Bennett had upstaged Garbo in many of their scenes together. Even with the cuts, Leonard Maltin wrote in 2014 that Bennett "steal the film with her hilarious performance." The revamped version of ''Two-Faced Woman'' was released in early January 1942. The original, uncensored version of the film still exists, and was shown in 2004 at a George Cukor retrospective at the National Film Theatre in London, but has not been released commercially in either the U.S. or Europe or shown on Turner Classic Movies (owned by WarnerMedia which holds the rights to the pre-1986 MGM film library).Reception
Upon the amended film's release in January 1942, Garbo received some of the worst reviews of her career. Despite the negative notices, Garbo was awarded The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Best Acting Award. John Mosher of ''The New Yorker'' wrote of Garbo that "one can feel only that the archbishop who opposed the showing of the film was her one true friend. Of Garbo's folly there is little really to say. Just condolences might be enough." Theodore Strauss of ''The New York Times'' wrote: "It is hardly necessary to sit in judgment upon such delicate matters of public interest, inasmuch as the film decisively condemns itself by shoddy workmanship. Miss Garbo's current attempt to trip the light fantastic is one of the awkward exhibitions of the season, George Cukor's direction is static and labored, and the script is a stale joke, repeated at length. Considering the several talents that have combined to create this dismal jape, put down ''Two-Faced Woman'' as one of the more costly disappointments of the year." It misses the point that Garbo's role is to impersonate her fictional twin sister who unlike her is a novice to dancing. A review in ''Time'' called the film "almost as shocking as seeing your mother drunk." Even those reviews that praised Garbo's performance, still panned the film in general. ''Variety'' wrote: "That the experiment of converting Miss Garbo into a comedienne is not entirely successful is no fault of hers. Had the script writers and the director, George Cukor, entered into the same spirit of the thing with as much enthusiasm, lack of self-consciousness and abandon as the star, the result would have been a smash hit...Just how some of the lines of dialog escaped the scissors is as much of a mystery as how the screen writers...so completely flopped in providing a reasonably satisfactory finale." ''References
External links
* * * * {{George Cukor 1941 films 1941 romantic comedy films American black-and-white films American romantic comedy films 1940s English-language films Films directed by George Cukor Films scored by Bronisław Kaper Films set in Idaho Films set in New York City Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films about twin sisters 1940s American films