Sweden Honours a Notable Actress

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 49, 27 February 1937, Page 19

Sweden Honours a Notable Ac tress

.. The King .of . Sweden has awarded Miss' Greta Garbo the Medal for Literature, and Art, which is.the highest Swedish distinction for artistic talent, stated' a recent cable from Stockholm. Garbo, as most people know, is only this, famous ■ actress's stage name. Originally, in Sweden, she was Miss Gustafson. Greta Gustafson, we are told, was born one September day in 1905, in the humble apartment of Mr. and Mrs. Gustafson, at 32 Blekingegaten» Street, Stockholm. After leaving cohered her, is said to have left hSr

school she was employed by. a' barber to make lather, put it on- the.faces of the customers, and' dry razors.'. Then she found employment in,a department store, posed in new Hats for a catalogue, was given the part of an awkward comic girl in an advertising film, -and afterwards obtained work and'instruction in acting. She was little.known in Europe when she was taken to Hollywood by the producer, Mauritz Stiller, and he had to insist that she be, engaged. This famous director, who disa fortune when he died some years later. ' • ■ :

■This lovely and intriguing actress, who has achieved the distinction of being described by her film surname, is one whose acting people seem either to actually dislike or. to rave about. Writing about her in the London "Daily Express" James Douglas, a well-known critic, gives her acting enthusiastic, and unstinted praise. "I ' often wonder," ho writes, "what would happen if a great tragic actress were to manifest her genius on the screen instead of on the stage. Would the world realise and recognise her in this phantom realm of standardised types? Would the critics haye the courage to acclaim her triumph over its conventions?

"Let us suppose that Sarah Bernhardt or Duse or Ellen Terry had been screen actresses and had never flung their personality over the footlights. Would-they have seemed to us as great and as glorious? Or would they have floated and flitted like ghostly wraiths before our eyes?

' "I ask these questions after seeing Greta Garbo in "Inspiration," because she moved me as the great tragic actresses-of the-stage-have moved me. not merely by her romantic beauty, but by her picture.'.of.'.the.pity of life, by her. portrait-o-f.-the-soul in its anguish, by her simplicity of. spiritual revelation, by her bare and austere truthfulness .of, emotionc.l experience.

"As I watched her I forgot the trappings and trimmings, and saw only the wrecked and ruined inspiration of the broken and baffled mind, for this surely is the theme that Greta Garbo alchemiscs out of the crucible—that love can inspire the lowliest forms of life with a vision of regeneration and renewal.

, "If Greta Garbo were given straw as well as bricks to build with, if she were let loose in 'Shakespeare or Ibsen or in high dramatic poetry, there is nothing she could not do with that soul of hers expressing itself in so many planes of art, making her flesh reveal the storms of passion within her, pouring its delight and its pain out of her profound eyes, harrowing us and ennobling us with her queer broken English and all its,sobs' and signs and laughter.

"The talkie is in its infancy, but she shows us what it will be in its maturity. Let us remember that Greek tragedy spoke through masks. The screen is a series of masks.

"Greta Garbo awaits the screen dramatist who will use its technique as the Greeks used tiieirs. She creates without the aid of a creator.' She dramatises without a dramatist. Her art challenges our dramatic artists. Cannot they see what she sees and do what she does so unerringly, so. instinctively, and so disdainfully? *

vinegar, as it is difficult to get the first drops of oil to blend. Oil must be added drop by drop, and this is best done .by having in the bottle a cork through which a hole' has been pierced. In this way mess is avoided and the oil is never too great an amount. The more oil that- is added, up to half a pint for one yolk, the stiffer the mayonnaise gets. If it is not getting stiff it is not right, and the oil has not blended. If too much oil has been used it has to be retrieved by letting the mayonnaise stand for an hour. The superfluous oil collects on the top and can be poured off—a relief to many people. A dessertspoonful of tarragon vinegar to one yolk is added drop by drop at the end, and the tablespoonful of cream on top of the milk makes the mayonnaise suave and the right colour. Those who do. not like olive oil will find that the cheap cooking oil makes, excellent .and not so strong mayonnaise. i

on the thighs, with centre-back seam marked by a dozen or so tiny wax flowers, used like buttons, and opening at knee height to display extremely full but tiny pleatings rounded to a train. Three larger replicas of the flowers were used as shoulder straps, from the. high front of-the bodice to the base .of the shoulder blades. At these points • were attached streamers of chiffon which knotted'instantly together and hung loose to trail upon the floor. AMUSING SIDE TRAIN. For the use of plain material an j original model with a-side train struck me as amusing as well as delightful. It was, however, essentially for the tall woman. The whole right front of the gown had the appearance of being cut in one, that which formed ■ the bodice being simply swathed across and gathered into the -left -front, whidh

-' A soft and gracious gown in patterned crepe appealed to'me'as ideal formal wear for the 'young hostess. ' It was cut, skirt and bodice,' on the cross to - achieve lines of utter simplicity, 'and the groupings of its floral design were most cleverly handled. A feature ■ worth rioting was the new train, developing just above knee height, very full and stiffly arranged in ■ knife-pleating which lay along the floor.

There is a hint that these floral arrangements will give place to similar jewel-and sequin groupings with the autumn, undoubtedly under inspiration of 'the English Coronation.