Editing Greta Garbo (section)

===1930–1939: Transition to sound and continued success===
[[File:Greta Garbo in a publicity image for "Anna Christie".jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.8|Garbo in her first sound film ''[[Anna Christie (1930 English-language film)|Anna Christie]]'' (1930).]]
In late 1929, MGM cast Garbo in ''[[Anna Christie (1930 English-language film)|Anna Christie]]'' (1930), a film adaptation of the [[Anna Christie|1922 play]] by [[Eugene O'Neill]], her first speaking role. The screenplay was adapted by [[Frances Marion]], and the film was produced by [[Irving Thalberg]] and [[Paul Bern]]. Sixteen minutes into the film, she famously utters her first line, "Gimme a whiskey, ginger ale on the side, and don't be stingy, baby." The film premiered in [[New York City]] on 21 February 1930, publicized with the catchphrase "Garbo talks!", and was the highest-grossing film of the year.{{Sfn|Vieira|2005|p=111}} Her performance received positive reviews; [[Mordaunt Hall]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' remarked that Garbo was "even more interesting through being heard than she was in her mute portrayals. She reveals no nervousness before the microphone and her careful interpretation of Anna can scarcely be disputed."<ref name="hall">{{cite news |last=Hall |first=Mordaunt |author-link=Mordaunt Hall |date=March 15, 1930 |title=The Screen; Miss Garbo's First Talker |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F07E0DE1139E03ABC4D52DFB566838B629EDE |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=December 7, 2014 |archive-date=27 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427234102/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F07E0DE1139E03ABC4D52DFB566838B629EDE |url-status=live }}</ref> Garbo received her first [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] nomination for her performance, although she lost to MGM colleague [[Norma Shearer]]. Her nomination that year included her performance in ''[[Romance (1930 film)|Romance]]'' (1930). After filming ended, Garbo—along with a different director and cast—filmed a [[German language|German-language]] version of ''[[Anna Christie (1930 German-language film)|Anna Christie]]'' that was released in December 1930.{{Sfn|Paris|1994|p=570}} The film's success certified Garbo's successful transition to [[Sound film|talkies]]. In her follow-up film, ''Romance'', she portrayed an [[Italian opera]] star, opposite [[Lewis Stone]]. She was paired opposite [[Robert Montgomery (actor)|Robert Montgomery]] in ''[[Inspiration (1931 film)|Inspiration]]'' (1931), and her profile was used to boost the career of the relatively unknown [[Clark Gable]] in ''[[Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise)]]'' (1931). Although the films did not match Garbo's success with her sound debut, she was ranked as the most popular female star in the United States in 1930 and 1931.

Garbo followed with two of her best-remembered roles. She played the [[Mata Hari|World War I German spy]] in the lavish production of ''[[Mata Hari (1931 film)|Mata Hari]]'' (1931), opposite [[Ramón Novarro]]. When the film was released, it "caused panic, with police reserves required to keep the waiting mob in order."<ref>qtd in {{harvnb|Swenson|1997|p=266}}</ref> The following year, she played a [[Russia]]n ballerina in ''[[Grand Hotel (1932 film)|Grand Hotel]]'' (1932), opposite an ensemble cast, including [[John Barrymore]], [[Joan Crawford]], and [[Wallace Beery]], among others. The film won that year's [[Academy Award for Best Picture]]. Both films were MGM's highest-earning films of 1931 and 1932, respectively, and Garbo was dubbed "the greatest money-making machine ever put on screen".{{sfn|NYTimes|1990}}{{Sfn|Swenson|1997|p=244}}{{Sfn|Paris|1994|p=284}}{{Inflation-fn|US}} Garbo's close friend [[Mercedes de Acosta]] then penned a screenplay for her to portray [[Joan of Arc]],{{Sfn|Paris|1994|pp=269–270}} but MGM rebuffed the idea, and the project was shelved. By this time she had a fanatical worldwide following and the phenomenon of "Garbomania" reached its peak.<ref>qtd in {{harvnb|Swenson|1997|p=244}}</ref> After appearing in ''[[As You Desire Me (film)|As You Desire Me]]'' (1932), the first of three films in which Garbo starred opposite [[Melvyn Douglas]], her MGM contract expired, and she returned to Sweden.

[[File:Greta Garbo - 1936.jpg|right|thumb|upright=0.8|In ''Camille'' (1936)]]

After nearly a year of negotiations, Garbo agreed to renew her contract with MGM on the condition that she would star in ''[[Queen Christina (film)|Queen Christina]]'' (1933), and her salary would be increased to $300,000 per film. The film's screenplay had been written by [[Salka Viertel]]; although reluctant to make the movie, MGM relented at Garbo's insistence. For her leading man, MGM suggested [[Charles Boyer]] or [[Laurence Olivier]], but Garbo rejected both, preferring her former co-star and lover [[John Gilbert (actor)|John Gilbert]]. The studio balked at the idea of casting Gilbert, fearing his declining career would hurt the film's box-office, but Garbo prevailed.{{Sfn|Vieira|2005|p=183}}{{Sfn|Vieira|2005|p=181}} ''Queen Christina'' was a lavish production, becoming one of the studio's biggest productions at the time. Publicized as "Garbo returns", the film premiered in December 1933 to positive reviews and box-office triumph and became the highest-grossing film of the year. The movie, however, met with controversy upon its release; censors objected to the scenes in which Garbo disguised herself as a man and kissed a female co-star.{{Sfn|Paris|1994|pp=572–573}}{{Sfn|Swenson|1997|p=316}}

Although her domestic popularity was undiminished in the early 1930s, high profits for Garbo's films after ''Queen Christina'' depended on the foreign market for their success.{{Sfn|Paris|1994|pp=572–573}}{{Sfn|Swenson|1997|p=316}} The type of historical and melodramatic films she began to make on the advice of Viertel were highly successful abroad, but considerably less so in the United States. In the midst of the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]], American screen audiences seemed to favor "home-grown" screen couples, such as [[Clark Gable]] and [[Jean Harlow]]. [[David O. Selznick]] wanted to cast Garbo as the dying heiress in ''[[Dark Victory]]'' (eventually released in 1939 with other leads), but she chose [[Leo Tolstoy]]'s ''[[Anna Karenina (1935 film)|Anna Karenina]]'' (1935), in which she played another of her renowned roles.{{Sfn|Vieira|2005|pp=207–210}} Her performance won her the [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress]]. The film was successful in international markets, and had better domestic rentals than MGM anticipated.{{Sfn|Paris|1994|pp=172, 571}} Still, its profit was significantly diminished because of Garbo's exorbitant salary.{{Sfn|Vieira|2005|p=216}}

Garbo selected [[George Cukor]]'s romantic drama ''[[Camille (1936 film)|Camille]]'' (1936) as her next project. Thalberg cast her opposite [[Robert Taylor (American actor)|Robert Taylor]] and former co-star, [[Lionel Barrymore]]. Cukor carefully crafted Garbo's portrayal of Marguerite Gautier, a lower-class woman, who becomes the world-renowned mistress Camille. Production was marred, however, by the sudden death of Thalberg, then only thirty-seven, which plunged the Hollywood studios into a "state of profound shock", writes [[David Bret]].<ref name="Bret" />{{rp|272}} Garbo had grown close to Thalberg and his wife, [[Norma Shearer]], and had often dropped by their house unannounced. Her grief for Thalberg, some believe, was more profound than for [[John Gilbert (actor)|John Gilbert]], who died earlier that same year.<ref name="Bret">Bret, David. ''Greta Garbo: Divine Star'', Robson Press (2012)</ref>{{rp|272}} His death also added to the sombre mood required for the closing scenes of ''Camille''. When the film premiered in New York on 12 December 1936, it became an international success, Garbo's first major success in three years. She won the [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress]] for her performance, and she was nominated once more for an Academy Award. Garbo regarded ''Camille'' as her favorite out of all of her films.<ref>{{cite book |last=Armstrong |first=Richard |title=The Rough Guide to Film |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6He0BgAAQBAJ&dq=camille+1936+%22tragedy%22&pg=PA118 |page=118 |isbn=978-1-84836-125-6 |date= 2007 |publisher=Rough Guides UK |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=6 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406181818/https://books.google.com/books?id=6He0BgAAQBAJ&dq=camille+1936+%22tragedy%22&pg=PA118 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Modern Screen 1937 Conquest.jpg|left|thumb|Garbo and [[Charles Boyer]] in ''[[Conquest (1937 film)|Conquest]]'' (1937)]]

Garbo's follow-up project was [[Clarence Brown]]'s lavish production of ''[[Conquest (1937 film)|Conquest]]'' (1937), opposite [[Charles Boyer]]. The plot was the dramatized romance between [[Napoleon]] and [[Marie Walewska]]. It was MGM's biggest and most-publicized movie of its year, but upon its release, it became one of the studio's biggest failures of the decade at the box office.{{Sfn|Swenson|1997|p=316}} When her contract expired soon thereafter, she returned briefly to Sweden. On 3 May 1938, Garbo was among the many stars—including [[Joan Crawford]], [[Norma Shearer]], [[Luise Rainer]], [[Katharine Hepburn]], [[Mae West]], [[Marlene Dietrich]], [[Fred Astaire]], and [[Dolores del Río]], among others—dubbed to be "[[Box Office Poison (magazine article)|Box Office Poison]]" in an article published by Harry Brandt on behalf of the Independent Theatre Owners of America.

After the box-office failure of ''Conquest'', MGM decided a change of pace was needed to resurrect Garbo's career. For her next movie, the studio teamed her with producer-director [[Ernst Lubitsch]] to film ''[[Ninotchka]]'' (1939), her first comedy. The film was one of the first Hollywood movies which, under the cover of a satirical, light romance, depicted the [[Soviet Union]] under [[Joseph Stalin]] as being rigid and gray when compared to Paris in its pre-war years. ''Ninotchka'' premiered in October 1939, publicized with the catchphrase "Garbo laughs!", commenting on the departure of Garbo's serious and melancholy image as she transferred to comedy. Favoured by critics and box-office success in the United States and abroad, it was banned in the Soviet Union.