Flesh and the Devil

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Flesh and the Devil

Released Dec 25, 1926

1h 53m

Drama

Romance

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94%

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16 Reviews

84%

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1,000+ Ratings

In this silent drama, lifelong school chums Leo (John Gilbert) and Ulrich (Lars Hanson) are soldiers in the German army. Leo falls in love with Countess Felicitas (Greta Garbo) and courts her, which enrages her husband (Marc McDermott). When Leo fights a duel with and kills the Count, he is deployed to Africa for five years as punishment. Leo returns to find that Ulrich has fallen for Felicitas, but she resumes her amorous pursuit of Leo, thus pushing the limits of their friendship.

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David Parkinson

Empire Magazine

Garbo is mesmerising in this wild and heated romance that has to be considered in context to cope with the excesive aesthetic and thematic melodrama.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 17, 2007

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Variety Staff

Variety

A corking story, exceptionally acted and cleverly directed. A lot of glory to be distributed among all concerned.

Oct 17, 2007

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Mordaunt Hall

New York Times

Miss Garbo is undeniably alluring as Felicitas. Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Hansen give sound performances in their respective roles.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 25, 2006

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George Elkind

Metro Times (Detroit, MI)

With Flesh and the Devil benefiting from an easy meshing of its cast’s palpable subjective feelings with its own form, the film’s depiction of its characters’ romantic desires refuses to allow for the kind of containment the story attempts.

Nov 4, 2022

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Carl Sandburg

Chicago Daily News

Miss Garbo is hereafter a star to be reckoned with, so perfectly does she create a character for the heroine, lovely, pitiful, thrilling Felicitas, who drifts downward without ever realizing that the world holds such things as morals.

Dec 14, 2021

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Mercury Staff

The Mercury (Australia)

Greta Garbo is at her best.

Jul 9, 2020

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ashley h

Flesh and the Devil is an excellent film. It is childhood friends who are torn apart when one of them marries the woman the other once fiercely loved. John Gilbert and Greta Garbo give fantastic performances. The screenplay is well written. Clarence Brown did a great job directing this movie. I enjoyed watching this motion picture because of the drama and romance. Flesh and the Devil is a must see.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

The best romance movie ever made!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

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Audience Member

Wait, haven't I already seen this movie? Indeed, Flesh and the Devil is remarkably similar, in plot and tone, to The Temptress, which also starred Greta Garbo and was released just earlier in the same year. Garbo again stars as a femme fatale who drives the men around her to commit such atrocities as murder, destroying friendships and lives in the process. The biggest difference between the two films is that Flesh and the Devil does it much more effectively. Before even introducing Garbo's character, Felicitas von Rhaden, the film fully develops and explores the friendship between Leo von Harden (John Gilbert) and Ulrich von Eltz (Lars Hanson), thus providing a much more concrete emotional stake in the film and making it all the more poignant when that friendship is inevitably torn apart. Flesh and the Devil, while by no means groundbreaking, is a solid tale of romance and friendship.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

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Audience Member

Beautiful cinematography. The ending was incredibly satisfactory -- no effort for an unrealistic Hollywood finish. A very enjoyable silent drama.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

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Audience Member

A genuine surprise. Seemingly forgotten by contemporary critics, I'd never heard of this before yet now I've seen it I'd rank it in my top 10 films of the 1920s. It doesn't show its age in the slightest and while giving one of her best performances, Greta Garbo is still upstaged by her soon to be real-life love and frequent co-star John Gilbert, who here shows he had real talent as a silent film actor, giving a subtle display in a melodramatic film.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

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Audience Member

Good for starters....

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

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Clarence Brown

Director

Greta Garbo

Felicitas

John Gilbert

Leo von Harden

Lars Hanson

Ulrich von Eltz

Barbara Kent

Hertha von Eltz

William Orlamond

Uncle Kutowski

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Synopsis

In this silent drama, lifelong school chums Leo (John Gilbert) and Ulrich (Lars Hanson) are soldiers in the German army. Leo falls in love with Countess Felicitas (Greta Garbo) and courts her, which enrages her husband (Marc McDermott). When Leo fights a duel with and kills the Count, he is deployed to Africa for five years as punishment. Leo returns to find that Ulrich has fallen for Felicitas, but she resumes her amorous pursuit of Leo, thus pushing the limits of their friendship.

Director: Clarence Brown
Producer: Irving Thalberg
Screenwriter: Benjamin Glazer, Frederica Sagor Maas, Hermann Sudermann
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co: Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Genre: Drama, Romance
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 25, 1926, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 21, 2016
Runtime: 1h 53m

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