Greta Garbo: A Divine Star

by David Bret

In the male-oriented studio system, Greta Garbo wielded a power no other actress has ever possessed, before or since. Be it producer, director, lover or journalist, Garbo called the shots, and when she decided that she was done with the whirlwind of life as HollywoodOCOs darling she withdrew completely, leaving her public begging for an encore that never came. Though there have been numerous biographies of Garbo, this is the first to investigate fully the two so-called missing periods in the life of this most enigmatic of Hollywood stars: the first during the late 1920s, forcing MGM to employ a lookalike to conceal what was almost certainly a pregnancy; the second during World War II when Garbo was employed by British Intelligence to track down Nazi sympathisers. It also analyses in detail the original, uncensored copies of GarboOCOs films ? with the exception of The Divine Woman, of which no complete print survives ? and offers substantial evidence that John Gilbert was not, in fact, the great love of her life. Rather her true affections lay with the gay, Sapphic and Scandinavian members of her very intimate inner circle. Using previously unsourced material, along with anecdotes from friends and colleagues that have never before been published, David Bret paints a rounded portrait of GarboOCOs childhood in Sweden, her rise to stardom and her all-too-brief reign as queen of MGM. Hers is a truly remarkable story, recounted here with warmth, intensity and unique insight."

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Film

627 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2012

About the author

David Bret is a French-born British author of showbiz biographies. He chiefly writes on the private life of film stars and singers.

Reviews

[David Allwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author David Bret had written many Hollywood’s biographies, and the reader is usually assured of a reliable actors story, as listed on the wrapper. ‘Greta Garbo: Divine Star’ is another by this author. Bret does a proficient job of compiling and describing Garbo’s Swedish childhood and her early film career, her move to Hollywood, and her ultimate success in a series of MGM productions, until 1941. Garbo was an eccentric and captivating character and the author provides an engaging profile of the actors’ staunch need for privacy and isolation throughout this period. Garbo, however, left her movie career and Hollywood, retiring to a life of relative seclusion for 49 years but this phase of her life only has cursory coverage within a couple of chapters. In many ways, this is the most fascinating part of Garbo’s life. Any author can compile a filmography but an exploratory insight into a long and private life has far more interest and is needed for a comprehensive understanding of the subject. Despite this imbalance, Bret’s Greta Garbo biography is highly readable and a sound source of reference of her film career.

[Christina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm going to have to agree with the other reviewer of this book that it was not very well written. I have never read a book on Garbo before this so I learned some new things but the author seems to have written gossip and hearsay about other movie stars while he makes Garbo stand on a pedestal. There were also so many grammar and spelling mistakes (I know the author is British so I know many words were spelled in their English) it became unbearable to read. Someone needs to write a decent bio on Garbo with new research no one based on old research and gossip.

[Hopkin Royse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed how gossipy this is but the author was often too biased in his descriptions

[David Muller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent story of one woman's life from Sweden to Hollywood and back. Much gossip and innuendo, seemingly verified, and enough to change one's thinking about the entire Hollywood legend syndrome and star-making in general. Fake news indeed!

[Rose Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would give this no stars if that was an option. Not very well-written, no bibliography, no endnotes. It's hard to imagine that any real effort at all went into this. It struck me as nothing other than a rehashed mish-mash of stuff gleaned from earlier biographies and decades-old gossip. A pity really, because I love Garbo and was eagerly waiting to read this book. But the author adds nothing new to one's knowledge of her life or her movies or anything about her.

[Seth Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was an insightful novel into the mind of a woman who was strong and confident in her sexuality. While she had many affairs with both sexes, it seems she leaned heavily towards women. I thought the author did a great job with the details and keeping the book fluid so that it was easy to follow.