Sunday, September 5, 2010

Pre-glamour Greta Garbo



The picture above is obviously Greta Garbo after her Hollywood make over. But how did she look as a curvaceous Greta Gustafsson appearing in Swedish commercials, early 1920's? The answer to that is to be found in the archives of Swedish Television.

If you have trouble recognizing her among the other models, she is the one with eyebrows painted with a piece of charcoal. Hideous. Sometimes a physical make over half a world away, obviously, can bring out the inner beauty of the Scandinavian womanhood.

In this 2:45 long (or short) clip, we see Greta "Garbo" Gustafsson in three different milieus: As a fashion model for the brand PUB, at the terrace of the Strand Hotel and at a picnic in the sweet green grass of the North.

The clip is silent, so you can always hum "Yes, We Have No Bananas" to yourself to liven it up a bit.





And yes: the Swedish word for "The End" really is "Slut"... It has amused many an international audience since the beginning of time. Or the beginning of  Swedish film, that is.

3 comments:

Sophie said...

That's hilarious! :') Thanks so much for posting it! I think I saw part of it in Greta's TCM biography once. The "Slut" made me laugh so much...

Christopher said...

good lord,look at all that hardwear!
pickNICK! mz Kalenius pickNICK!

Lolita of the Classics said...

Sophie:
Believe me, the "Slut" is even more hilarious after a depressing, deep film like The Seventh Seal ;)

Christopher:
Bah! I bet I spell English a lot better than you spell Swedish!