GARBO’S GREATEST.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20342, 27 June 1934, Page 3

GARBO’S GREATEST.

Tivoli to Screen “ Queen Christina.” “ Miss Fane’s Baby is Stolen.” a fine drama, starring Dorothea Wieck, will be shown finally on Friday night at the Tivoli Theatre. “ Queen Christina,” which is said to be the glamorous Greta Garbo’s greatest film, will be featured at the Tivoli Theatre on Saturday. The picture contains a story that Garbo has had in mind for several years and for which she explored deeply into the archives of Sweden's museums upon her last visit to her homeland. “ Queen Christina ” tells of Sweden's glamorous regent of the seventeenth century who sacrificed her country and her throne for love and religious motives. As portrayed by Garbo, she is a seventeenth century woman who might have iived in the twentieth century. On the throne she was a spectacular figure, who disdained the fashions and customs of feminism for mannish garb until love overtook her. “ Queen Christina ” relates how Christina, besieged on all sides by wars, obtains peace for her country against the wishes of Sweden’s triumphant armies. It is during an incognito flight from the worries of statecraft that she meets a handsome Spanish envoy, and falls madly in love with him. Their love affair irks the entire nation. They demand that Christina marry Prince Charles, who is of her religious belief, and the queen eventually is compelled to expel her lover from the country. The role is Garbo’s greatest triumph. She is not only every inch the queen, but she has never previously shown so great a diversity in moods. John Gilbert is excellent as the Spanish envoy, Lewis Stone gives a human touch to the role of chancellor, and lan Keith is the villain. Too much praise cannot be attributed to Rouben Mamoulian, whose directorial skill has enriched the picture with a feeling of majesty which gives a fitting background to the stirring tale. Box plans at the D.I.C.