Camille
(1937)
Reviewed by Violet Tilden
Rating: 3 Beans

hey don't make movies like they used to", is what I always say. Not so for this one. While just about every aspect of this movie is impeccable, it is the story itself, a retelling of the Dumas classic, that sent me running for the Pepto Bismol.

Greta Garbo plays a dying woman who falls in love with a younger man, played by Robert Taylor. It is, without a doubt, the longest 108 minutes you will ever spend in front of a TV set (or movie screen, if you're unlucky enough to catch it in a revival house). Greta starts dying very near the beginning, and keeps right on dying throughout the picture. After about an hour of this, I was firmly rooting for the grim reaper.

I understand that Ms. Garbo is a legend to the point of reverence, but in this particular movie, she chews the scenery like a puppy with an old shoe. I also understand that women like fairy-tale romance to the point of torturing poor husbands and boyfriends into otherwise unthinkable behavior. But in this, our plucky hero is so whipped that even women - modern women at any rate - will walk away saying, "I don't think so."

Every critic loves this movie, but I must disagree. It is a classic, however, and therefore recommended viewing, if for no other reason than cultural literacy (and perhaps insomnia). I would recommend though either espresso or Jolt Cola as the beverage of choice.

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