The Single Standard (1929)

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Garbo is always worth watching, even in her weakest vehicles, and "The Single Standard" is among the weaker ones. Based on a novel by Adela Rogers St. Johns, this melodramatic nonsense has Greta dallying with a chauffeur, who is an heir; a prize fighter, who has become a painter; and a self-sacrificing pillar of society. Throw in suicide, a cruise to the Far East, a boxing match in an art gallery, and a lecherous old man in the rain, and viewers will ponder: Did someone really write this drivel? Did anyone really find any of these fanciful plot concoctions credible? Ostensibly suggesting that women can be as liberated and independent in love as men, the film careens from the inexplicable to the ridiculous. Eventually torn between the exotic Nils Asther and the boyish Johnny Mack Brown, Garbo suffers in style and provides the full range of emotion for her legions of fans.Forever beautiful and endlessly fascinating, Garbo is captivating in the role of Arden Stuart, a romantically restless socialite. If the part and the film fail to merit her talent, the fault lies elsewhere, because Garbo adds dimension to a character that is written with little motivation for her actions. Producer/director John S. Robertson's uninspired filmography suggests where responsibility lies. Filmed late in the silent era, "The Single Standard" has little distinction besides the presence of Garbo and the solid and handsome Brown. Mercifully short, the film is for die-hard Garbo fans and aficionados of silent films. All others be warned.

A young woman defies THE SINGLE STANDARD of morality which allows males freedom while restricting the behavior of females.Greta Garbo stars in this late silent trifle from MGM. Her flawless beauty is thawed somewhat by a script that allows her a sly sense of humor and a more approachable demeanor. Playing a character torn between the duties of a wife and the passions of a lover, she is always entertaining, even if the film isn't terribly significant.Nils Asther, who could almost match Garbo's exoticism, gives a fine performance as the celebrity artist whose adventurous lifestyle & romantic allure prove such a temptation to Garbo. Handsome Johnny Mack Brown gives a touch of nobility to his rather small role as the dull husband willing to sacrifice everything for Garbo's happiness. Elderly character actress Zeffie Tilbury scores as an observant society matron who speaks her mind.In unbilled roles, Robert Castle grabs the viewers' attention as Garbo's tragic chauffeur and Wade Boteler provides a few chuckles as the merry masher who confronts Garbo in the rain. Movie mavens will recognize a young Joel McCrea as one of the trio of philandering husbands whose antics amuse Garbo in the film's opening moments.

Greta Garbo - the lesbian screen star - says farewell to silent movies with this interesting feature. The musical score - which was recorded in 1929 - is beautiful. Be sure to see it with the original Vitaphone score and not one of those cheap modern scores. (Many con-artists have someone tricked the public into believing that their cheap modern scores are somehow better because they are performed live - They couldn't reproduce the beautiful scores of the 1920's and early 1930's if they tried - you need to at least know how to read music to do that.)

Garbo is a free-spirited debutante who becomes scandalous for first having an affair with her chauffeur, then artist (Asther), all before she settles for millionaire Brown. Irrational soap opera is enjoyable thanks to Garbo's luminescence. A silent film with original music score.