The movie that helped turn Greta Garbo into a Hollywood star. She's teamed marvellously with John Gilbert - the two of them were into each other in real life and that comes across watching them on screen.
The story of this is simple, effective, misogynistic claptrap - two childhood friends are devoted to each other (Gilbert and Lars Hanson), then Gilbert falls for married Garbo, kills her husband in a duel and is shipped off to the colonies (Africa, although with all those sheep grazing in the background it could be Australia). He comes back to find Hanson has married Garbo - you see, even though they are super good mates, Hanson didn't realise Gabo and Gilbert were on together.
Of course it's the woman's fault, she perishes in the ice while the guys get back together (this is homoerotic enough to be Western, complete with a "beard" in the form of Hanson's sister who loves Gilbert). But it is worth watching for the beauty of the cinematography, the charisma of the two leads, the novelty of seeing a young Garbo play essentially a vamp, the skill of Clarence Brown's direction (I had no idea he was so good), the sexual frisson between Garbo and Gilbert (it's fairly clear they actually have sex).
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