The Kiss (1929)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Jacques Feyder

Writers:

Marian Ainslee (titles)
Hanns Kräly (writer)

Release Date:

16 November 1929 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Drama

Plot:

Irene is unhappily married to an older businessman, but very much in love with a handsome young lawyer...

Plot Keywords:

Marriage | Dog | Goodbye Kiss | Manslaughter | Private Detective

Cast

Greta Garbo	...	Irene Guarry
Conrad Nagel	...	André Dubail
Holmes Herbert	...	Lassalle
Anders Randolf	...	Charles Guarry
Lew Ayres	...	Pierre Lassalle
George Davis	...	Durant, a Private Detective

Runtime:

USA:89 min | 62 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System) (musical score and sound effects) | Silent

Certification:

USA:Approved

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

MGM's last silent picture.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Garbo (2005)

Soundtrack:

Symphony No.6 in B Minor, the 'Pathétique' Op.74

Pretty good silent flick ... might be more enjoyable if you watch it with the sound turned off

"The Kiss" happens about midway into the movie ... Greta Garbo gives young admirer Lew Ayres a friendly kiss goodbye as he's about to leave town, Ayres, who cannot control his infatuation with the beautiful Garbo, goes in for another, less platonic kiss, at which point Garbo's husband sees them from afar and goes berserk. A fight amongst the three ensues, gets carried into another room where the door is shut to us, the audience, and we hear a shot. Garbo's husband is dead, but who did it?

Prior to the "kiss" moment, we've seen Garbo and her lover (Conrad Nagel) in a torturous romance ... they both love each other madly but Greta doesn't see any way out of her loveless marriage. In the meantime, Lew Ayres follows Greta around like a puppy dog; he's an 18-year-old completely infatuated with the beautiful married lady.

The latter half of the movie deals with the investigation of the husband's death, Greta's arrest, and her trial where she is defended by Nagel who in addition to being her former lover is also a lawyer.

I won't give away the outcome of the trial, but I will say that the jury believes it is Person A who did it and after the trial we learn it was Person B.

The musical score to this flick was absolutely horrible. I especially could have done without the "Romeo and Juliet" theme that was played every time the flick wanted to telegraph Greta's and Conrad's love to the audience.

Despite the score, this was a very enjoyable silent movie. I find some silents tedious, others quite well done. "The Kiss" definitely falls into the latter category. Worth watching.