User Reviews

"Isn't life always full of romance?" (the personal quote by Greta Garbo)

The Garbo's words I entailed at the beginning of my review do not only refer to an individual life that they were meant to but, more importantly, appear to resemble most of Garbo's career in Hollywood. Aren't most of her films full of romance? And that is perfectly all right when we consider this movie made at the dawn of talkies, along with ANNA Christie and ROMANCE by Clarence Brown, Garbo's beloved director. Again, INSPIRATION appears to discuss the similar theme of self sacrifice, honest feelings changing people from within, significant decisions that require courage and that lead to love that inspires and illumines life. What a classical, timeless theme of old cinema!

And...who makes INSPIRATION worth seeing is, of course, Garbo whose gracious presence in movies will always live in the hearts of her fans and classic movie buffs worldwide. Again, as it is the case with most movies she made in MGM between 1925 and 1941, her exceptional acting and glamorous photography by William Daniels leave a lasting impact on the viewer's memory. Moreover, among the supporting cast, we can admire Lewis Stone, the wonderful actor whose memorable performances I have mentioned in many of my reviews on Garbo films. Here, he is equally convincing.

And everything would seem to make way for INSPIRATION to be successful, to be inspiring for both the viewers of the 1930s and for today's classic buffs. Yet, INSPIRATION is usually mentioned as one of Garbo's least significant films. Why?

The reason for that lies in the leading man, Robert Montgomery. His role of Andre, a 24 year-old man in love with delicious Yvonne is an interesting role that could be depicted with desirable passion and memorable chemistry. Surely, that would have been not so hard for Garbo's ultimate leading man, John Gilbert, as well as for Melvyn Douglas (who played at her side in NINOTCHKA, for instance), for John Barrymore (in GRAND HOTEL), Robert Taylor (in CAMILLE) and Ramon Novarro (in MATA HARI). But it was beyond Robert Montgomery's skills and attempts. It is worse than ever with absolutely no chemistry between Garbo and Montgomery. One can say while looking at them that he is the worst leading man for Garbo, which, above all, makes their love in the plot hardly convincing. There are moments when Garbo intuitively tries to create a natural, authentic situation (because she was known to create things in acting situations galore) and Montgomery maintains fake and pathetic. Consider, for instance, their scenes on stairs that could have been so well executed.

Therefore, I think that INSPIRATION is, in no way, one of Garbo's first films that you should plan to see. It's worth for Garbo fans who know her great top movies of the 1920s and 1930s and want to see the queen of MGM in yet another role. No top movie whatsoever! 5/10

In a plot with some similarities to the much better Camille, Greta Garbo is an artist's model who like the rest of her peers lives on the financial favors of those in the artist's colony. I wouldn't doubt she does those things professionally as well. It costs a lot to be an artist's Inspiration.

However she gets inspired by a young callow youth played by Robert Montgomery and she's willing to shake off all her patrons, chief among them being Lewis Stone for life with a young man entering France's diplomatic service. No matter because Lewis Stone seems rather enthralled with Karen Morley at the moment.

Probably Inspiration would not sit well with today's audiences. It's not one of Garbo's better vehicles.

One thing I did like about Inspiration was its torch song theme. Though it's not sung in Inspiration, the theme has lyrics and it's entitled How Long Will It Last. It was recorded by Bing Crosby the following year and was one of his early successes. It's the best thing about Inspiration.

I'd really recommend that you see this side by side Camille and judge for yourself how much better Camille is. Still Garbo and Montgomery do their best by this dated melodrama.

Many (perhaps too many) of Garbo's films are rated primarily on the basis of her performance, with everything else secondary. This is most unfortunate, since MGM - very much to their credit - did not arrange her pictures primarily as star vehicles: the leading men and supporting players are usually strong performers. Considering the fairly large number of pictures in which she starred, her performances do not encompass a wide variety of characterizations: she is typically a woman who has loved well but not wisely (and probably too often), a worldly and world-weary femme fatale preoccupied with the futility of searching for real happiness, yet finding no viable alternative in the life she knows.

This is once again her character in "Inspiration," a relatively obscure Garbo film which compares very favorably with the later and much better-known "Camille." The stories have much in common, as do her performances. While "Camille" obviously had a considerably larger budget, resulting in more impressive production values, the dramatic values in "Inspiration" are at least equal to those of the other.

Of particular note: Garbo, dismissed by her lover, huddles in a storefront, waiting for him to pass on a dark, rainy day - finally emerging when she spots him, only to be rejected once again - without a word - with nothing more than a curt shake of the head as he walks on.

And Lewis Stone, having ended the liason with his young, despairing mistress in an upper apartment, descends the staircase, pauses ever so briefly at the building entrance to note her lifeless body now crumpled on the sidewalk, and continues on his way.

Don't get me wrong. I love both Garbo and Montgomery. They are both very talented and extremely sexy. This film, however, was not. As the previous poster has said, there is NO chemistry between the 2 stars. It was as if they were not even in the same movie.

Montgomery looked very bored with it all, and, although very dapper in his tuxedo, looked as though he were going to fall asleep throughout the film. I had to laugh when he WAS asleep in the last scene and never woke up, credits rolling. Looks like the poor thing finally got his nap after all. Still, he's always wonderful to look at!

The same goes for Garbo, only this time, her slow talking got on my nerves not just a little bit. I loved her outfits, and she could definitely be a model, but her speech was simply too languid for the film. Even Bob spoke slowly. What the hell?

The supporting players were given awful dialog, stock characterization, and no substance whatsoever, thus making no impact. All this accomplished was to get screen time away from the 2 stars, thankfully, I suppose. (The little doggie was cute, though.)

Nobody looked as though they had any enjoyment making this film, and the same can be said for the unfortunate viewer.

Bottom line: lovely to look at, painful to follow through.

Any Garbo film deserves 10 stars - just because she's in it. She is what makes this otherwise not believable story worth seeing. Unlike Crawford or Shearer, only Garbo could turn this dross into gold. The major weakness is the object of her love - Robert Montgomery. I've read that Montgomery in interviews refuses to talk about this film, his only co-starring role with Garbo. And having now seen the film, the reason for his reticence is plain. How he must have squirmed in his seat at the film's premiere, for both the role and his performance are mediocre. The young Clark Gable - an MGM contract player like Montgomery - would have been better cast and would have explained why Yvonne was smitten with him.

My favorite scene is where at the beginning of their affair Andre is finishing breakfast in the hotel's romantic and idyllic park-like setting when Yvonne arrives with a gift of flowers for him. Yvonne is no longer bored by life and the men in her life. She is in love! Yvonne has inspired love in all the male artists who have been her former lovers (established in the early party scene) but none have inspired love in her. Nor, ironically, does she inspire true love in Andre. How is that possible? Regardless of her past lifestyle - which does not seem so unrespectable to today's audience - in the end, Yvonne makes the right choice and does what's best for the both of them.

The plot of this film is very bland, but the plots of many of Garbo's films are very bland. People only really came (come) to her films for her. Her mystique, her sparkle, her aloof charm and her husky voice (or over-the-top mannerisms, if we're watching a silent film). In this one, she fails to deliver.

Basically, Garbo is a kept woman in this one. She serves as an artist's model, among other things. She meets Robert Montgomery at a party, and they fall in love and start an affair. The ending to this one is so moralistic it almost made me gag, but at least no one randomly died like they usually do in Garbo films, and at least she didn't decide that life was no longer worth living. However, I feel that the film would have been better had one of the leads died. I'm sorry to sound macabre, but it's true. (I believe there was one point in this film where somone did commit suicide).

Robert Montgomery plays the same character he always plays.

Bob and Garbo aren't a great match, and they don't have a lot of chemistry together. Someone like Norma Shearer or Joan Crawford would have worked better in this role, I think. For someone who was such a smashing success, how did Garbo manage to pick such bad films to star in? Did she just not want to be a movie star? In this film, she certainly feels like it.

I've seen practically every Garbo film and I have to say that INSPIRATION is one of my favorite of hers. Certainly in the top five films. It's a beautiful and delicate film with one of Greta's best performances. Though the story is slightly underwritten and the direction could have used a bit more punch and Robert Montgomery is miscast, what weaknesses this film has are easily compensated by the amazing performance by GG, the sharp dialogue and the assured direction of Clarence Brown.

It's not easy to make a film about inspiration and in a way this film has. There are so many inspired moments in it, it would be difficult to list them. Here's a few: the opening sequence at the party; the staircase to Andre's room; what happens to Lewis Stone and his young girlfriend; when Garbo confronts Robert about infidelity; the ending, with the scenes in the snow.

Unlike a lot of other Garbo films or even other films made in those days, the melodrama is kept low. No screeching violins and such or major scenery chewing moments. I love the way Clarence Brown kept everything low key. Probably too low key for most people but I for one loved it. The pace is a tad slow but that's a minor complaint.

It's one of those Garbo films I like to watch and re-watch on a regular basis. Had the male lead been someone else than Robert, this little film would have been perfect.

There is nothing sluggish or dated about this film or the great actors. Greta Garbo was a true Classic sex symbol and great actress of the Golden Era of Films! Her Classic films are studied in many drama departments of our finest Universities. Greta Garbo(Yvonne Valbert),"Conquest",'37, portrayed a woman who had many lovers over the years of her life and who fell deeply in love with a much younger man, whom you are led to believe took his virginity away from him. Robert Montgomery(Andre Mantell),"Lady in the Lake",'47, was a student and very inexperienced, however, he was charmed by the flirting of Yvonne. This is a very powerful love story which never grows old, the ending was well written and I am sure this ending was the same for many people in the same situation unfortunately!

Greta Garbo stars once again as a promiscuous woman with too many lovers in 1931's Inspiration. If you wonder why she was so popular in the early 1930s, it's because she was always cast as sex symbols with men falling at her feet. Check her out in Mata Hari, As You Desire Me, Camille, Susan Lennox, or this one. She starts Inspiration in a gorgeous revealing party guest as a crowd of her lovers give a champagne toast to her beauty. Bored, she wanders off in search of someone knew and finds the handsome Robert Montgomery. "I'm just a nice young woman. Not too young. And not too nice," Greta grins as they share a carriage ride back to Bob's apartment.

It's pretty obvious that Greta doesn't deserve her new beau, but she hopes their new love will be more powerful than her past reputation. Will her friends Lewis Stone and Marjorie Rambeau blow her cover and tell Bob how many boyfriends she had before him, and what type of men they were? Or will true love conquer all and let a loose, artsy woman have a chance at real happiness with the right guy? What I never understand about these movies is the lack of sympathy for the man's perspective. The audience is supposed to feel so sorry for the woman with a sordid past, who's repeatedly lied to trick her new boyfriend into thinking she's a completely different person than she is, and when the new boyfriend finds out and gets mad, the audience is supposed to think of him as heartless and intolerant. If the roles were reversed, audiences would think she was a wronged woman who shouldn't forgive the deceit and false image.

DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. About ten minutes in, after Greta and Robert take the carriage ride, the camera switches to first-person as a man walks through a house, and that will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"

INSPIRATION is Greta Garbo's third talking picture and less static than "Anna Christie" and "Romance". In 1931 Garbo was at the height of her fame and INSPIRATIION was an expensive MGM production. But now it's an undeservedly obscure Garbo film. The scenes are varied, glamorous and entertaining. You can see clearly it was an expensive production: There are some grand and striking scenes like Garbo and Montgomery in the stairwell, Garbo in the artist studio, the snow scenes, the street scenes at night. Great care was taken with every scene. It's melodrama but there's also some comedy included. (It's very unlike the gloomy "Anna Christie"). Garbo is amazing in this film and very beautiful, from the first scenes when she joins the party, relaxed and smiling - until she sees Montgomery and she realizes what she's missing, till the last scene when she writes the letter. I also like Robert Montgomery here as an introverted man, his acting is great.

I would love to see this film in a theater for maximum impact. Ignore the abysmal reviews by those who are cynical and desire more than fine old-fashioned entertainment. This is true inspiration.

INSPIRATION (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1931), directed by Clarence Brown, stars Greta Garbo in her third talkie, following her successful taking debut of ANNA CHRISTIE (1930) and similar titled ROMANCE (1930) also directed by Clarence Brown and co-starring Lewis Stone. Marking her fourth collaboration opposite Stone, with Robert Montgomery opposite Garbo for the first and only time, INSPIRATION improves somewhat over her previous romance drama in both tone and pace, yet not the classic as Garbo's latter successes as ANNA KARENINA (1935) and CAMILLE (1936). As with some of her early talkies, Garbo provides her typical role as a woman of affairs with inspiration for many men, but none are of any interest to she finds that chosen one who may or may not become her inspiration.

Following the opening titles to its theme song underscoring to "How Long Will It Last?" the story and screenplay by Gene Markey, set in Paris, France, begins with a function gathering held by Andre Martel (Lewis Stone) who, along with sculpture, Henri Coutant (John Miljan), author, Galand (Richard Tucker), and artist, Jouvet (Paul McAllister), drink a toast to their inspiration, Yvonne Valvarez (Greta Garbo), whom Lulu (Marjorie Rambeau) decribes as "The Eiffel Tower." Martel, a middle-aged man who loves Yvonne, prefers much younger woman to love and leave, including his latest mistress, the 18-year-old chorus girl, Liane Latour (Karen Morley), while Coutant, insanely in love with Yvonne, having lost his inspiration for sculpting after losing Yvonne's love. He has a new model, Odette (Judith Voselli), whose extremely jealous of Yvonne. Yvonne, bored with her surroundings, takes notice of Andre Martel (Robert Montgomery), a 24-year-old student and guest of the function. Before the evening is over, Yvonne leaves with Andre to his apartment where they become well acquainted. The following morning during breakfast, Yvonne comes to the conclusion her inspiration being Andre. When Andre learns of Yvonne being mistress to Vignaud (Oscar Apfel), whose apartment she passes as her own, and Normand (Theodore Von Eltz), currently in prison for check forging, he decides to leave her. However, Andre finds it impossible to forget Yvonne, even after his uncle Julian (Edwin Maxwell) and Aunt Pauline (Zelda Sears) arrange for him to marry Madeline (Joan Marsh), his former childhood playmate now grown up. Situations occur when, after meeting again, if they would be able to recapture their inspirational love they once had. Also in the case are Beryl Mercer (Marthe, Yvonne's Maid); Arthur Hoyt (Gardoni); Gwen Lee (Gaby)' and Sidney Bracey (The Waiter).

While such a story could have gone to MGM leading ladies as Norma Shearer or Joan Crawford, INSPIRATION proves more inspirational for Garbo. With its Paris setting, thankfully, with her Swedish accent, she doesn't attempt a French accent. Having an outrageous hairstyle for certain scenes, much of the dialogue and familiar pattern of "You got to believe me!" which is said in other Garbo movies, to be said here. While her former leading men as Lew Ayres or Johnny MackBrown from the silent movie days might have been featured here, the studio wisely chose the up and rising Robert Montgomery instead. With the exception of the opening function consisting if a Russian knife dance, INSPIRATION contains little underscoring and minimum humor during its entire 74 minutes.

Not counting some broadcasts on commercial television, INSPIRATION has had limited broadcasts on cable television, notably on Turner Network Television(TNT) in late 1980s, and Turner Classic Movies where it hasn't been shown since 2012. INSPIRATION was distributed on video cassette in 1990, but to date, not on DVD. It's Garbo's inspiration that keeps this movie from being forgotten and rediscovered again. (***)

Cocktail circuit coquette trades in her lavish lifestyle for the sake of a more genuine attachment, the pursuit of which only seems to involve compromise, disappointment and despair. It's a philosophical little film suffused with romantic melancholy.

There are more famous films where Garbo says she wants to be alone, and where she laughs, but she does both here too. There's little in the way of action but it has a pleasing lilt as it shifts from high glamour to an almost expressionist gloom.

Two fine contrasting scenes - a sunny breakfast in the park and a snowy night - capture the mood of the transition between hope and resignation - and we get to see Garbo go from some of Adrian's most impressive creations to a dishevelled dressing gown.

Was saving this for a sleepless night and it went down a treat in the small hours when it was just me and the night and Garbo.

Inspiration (1931)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A beautiful model (Greta Garbo) begins dating a good, shy guy (Robert Montgomery) but things hit hard times when he learns of her rather sluttish past. Once again Garbo is quite good and Montgomery is strong but the story lets both of them down. Things start off quite nice and move well but at the 45-minute mark things just fall apart because the story keeps repeating itself. He forgives her, learns something else, hates her, forgives her, learns something else and hates her again. A nice ending almost saves the film but not quite.

Romance (1930)

** (out of 4)

An Italian opera diva (Greta Garbo) with a troubled past falls in love with a priest (Gavin Gordon). Like many early sound films this one here talks and talks and talks but sadly most of the talk isn't very interesting. Garbo is very good in her role, although it's a bit hard to believe her as an opera star. Gordon on the other hand is fairly weak and it's a shame Garbo couldn't get Gary Cooper like she wanted. The ending is so incredibly bad you can't help but laughs but hey, there's Garbo.

''Inspiration'' is no doubt dated, but that's not the only failure of this film....... The plot also does much to ruin the film...... First of all, there is absolutely NO chemistry between Garbo & Montgomery to speak of...... The plot of how they met, and fell for each other, makes no sense, and is totally unbelievable...... They both looked bored with each other, throughout the film, and not to mention, putting the audiences to sleep...... It seems as though, they weren't even in the same movie together...... ''Inspiration'' only adds to my confusion, about what made Garbo such a superstar.....? Most of Garbo's performances are slow, sluggish & dated (with a minor exception of ''Ninotchka'') Otherwise, every Garbo's performance, is the same performance..... Same acting, same pace...... In my opinion, the most overrated, and undeservingly legendary actress of all time....... Watch this film, is you're really, really serious fans of Garbo & Montgomery...... Even so, you'll be disappointed......

This is one of those typical MGM soap operas from the early 1930s. Greta Garbo is beautiful and intriguing, as usual, although story is rather sluggish, dated and dry. She plays a Parisian model who falls in love with a very young Bob Montgomery, but her sorted past stands in their way. 2 1/2 out of 4 stars here.