The Temptress (1926)

Silent film directed by Fred Niblo (the 1925 BEN-HUR) finds Greta Garbo as the temptress of the title, a woman who ruins men’s lives by seducing them and discarding them. It’s all hokum, of course, but the camera continues its fascination with Greta Garbo. One can see why she would drive men mad! The men include Antonio Moreno as the Argentinean engineer who falls madly in love with her at a masked ball, Marc McDermott as the banker she drives to suicide, Armand Kaliz as the foppish husband who pimps her out and Lionel Barrymore who forgets his wife in the hopes of winning her favor. There’s a spectacular dam breaking sequence as well as a kinky whip fight between the bare chested Moreno and shirtless Roy D‘Arcy over Garbo while she gets turned on. The most recent version has a strong score by Michael Picton that accompanies the film beautifully.