“A Tribute to Garbo and Gilbert”: Some of it was acting… and some of it wasn’t (video; music by the late Carl Davis)

By N.S.

Garbo and Gilbert were, for a time, the biggest stars of the silent screen. They were also, for a time, each other’s star. They fell so deeply in love that they became engaged, and set a date.

Only she left him standing at the altar. MGM co-founder and president. L.B. Mayer—the boss of both—made a nasty crack, and Gilbert slugged him.

Gilbert had negotiated a huge contract out of Mayer, but when he made his first talkie, his voice was less than ideal.

MGM paid him his huge contract… to do nothing.

Eventually, Gilbert hired three voice coaches who gave him six hours of training per day, but when he finally got a chance at a second starring role in a talkie, at Garbo’s behest (Queen Christina, 1933), the fans who had once sent him 10,000 letters per week, no longer cared.

He played beachcomber, walked, entertained friends at his huge, ornate chateau, and drank himself to death, at 38.

Garbo retired in 1941, at age 36.

Greta Garbo (1905-1990)

John Gilbert (1897-1936)