I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Highly Overrated But Still Good

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Michael Arlen's "The Green Hat" was the most sensational novel of its time. In 1924, the year it was published, it was the top selling novel. The story of a wild young widow with a notorious past, it bought London's Mayfair of the 1920s to life with it's rich tapestry of characters. It also shocked readers with allusions to homosexuality and sexually transmitted diseases. When MGM (of all studios) decided to make a movie of the novel - the name of the book or any allusion to it was not to be mentioned, hence the name "A Woman of Affairs". And it was definitely cleaned up.Diana, David and Neville have been friends since childhood, but Diana and Neville had a special bond. Diana Merrick (Greta Garbo) and her dissipated brother Jeffry (Douglas Fairbanks Jnr.) are determined to live their lives in the pursuit of pleasure, earning them a bad reputation. Jeffry worships David (Johnny Mack Brown) and is drinking himself to death because of what he perceives is Diana's offhand treatment of David. Douglas Fairbanks Jnr. gives the performance of his young career as the alcoholic Jeffry (in the book he and Diana were twins). Jeffry has an unhealthy hero-worship of David and Fairbanks seems to really get inside his character.Neville (John Gilbert) is offered a post in Egypt and is eager to take it as it means he and Diana can be married when he returns. Diana believes his father has organised the job to part them as he is very disapproving of her lifestyle. They decide to elope but Neville's father hears of it, hurries him off to Egypt and so prevents the marriage. Years of waiting has Diana turning to David. They marry but Diana does not return his love. He commits suicide on their honeymoon and it is implied that he has found out something horrible about her past. The title says "He died for - decency" and Diana puts up with a lot of allegations and rumour.Years pass and Diana is back in London to visit her critically ill brother, who has never recovered from David's death and is drinking himself into an early grave. Neville is about to marry giddy Constance (pretty Dorothy Sebastian), who proves during the film that she has just as much character and honour as the rest of them. Dr. Hugh Trevelyan (Lewis Stone) has always been Diana's protector and supporter and it is he who informs her of her brother's death (she has spent the night at Nevilles).Diana suffers a nervous breakdown and I think it is this hospital scene in which Greta Garbo lifts this film to it's highest sphere. Neville has sent roses to her room but when Diana awakes and finds them gone she deliriously wanders through the hospital in search of them. "I woke up - and you weren't there" says Diana as she crushes the flowers in her arms. Everyone in the scene (Gilbert, Sebastian, Stone) seems transfixed as Garbo goes through this astonishing performance. The film is not over yet. Sir Morton Holderness (Hobart Bosworth), Neville's father has never held a very high opinion of Diana. He learns the real reason for David's suicide - he was an embezzler and Diana gave up her reputation for his honour - not to mention paying off his debts secretly. For the last time Diana proves she is a "gallant lady" by driving her car into the tree that had always symbolized her and Neville's love and leaving Neville and Constance free to begin their lives together.Greta Garbo is mesmerizing - you can't watch anyone else while she is on the screen. John Gilbert shows none of the personality and passion that characterizes his acting - he definitely takes a backseat to Garbo in this movie. In case you are wondering the exquisite Anita Louise plays Diana as a child. Director Clarence Brown did a wonderful job with a scenario which couldn't be faithful to the book to appease the vigilant censor.Highly, Highly Recommended.

This is Greta Garbo's best silent movie, and maybe her best movie, period. Some posters have noted that the story is a bit goofy. That's because in the original novel, the Garbo character's husband commits suicide on his wedding night because he has syphilis; due to censorship, this was changed to his being an embezzler. Thus the heroine's subsequent public promiscuity to protect his name, and the fact that everyone treats her like a leper, make very little sense. Yet the brilliant cast and director manage to put the original meaning across anyway.But although sex and scandal are the story's raison d'etre, what makes the movie memorable is that it captures something essential about the time it was made (the end of the Roaring 20s): a restless, heedless cynicism and emptiness, a bitter gaiety, a mixture of desire and melancholy. And most of all, it shows the "new woman" of the 20s -- not a bug-eyed flapper doing a wild Charleston, but a woman who makes no fuss about being as strong and self-willed as a man. And in that respect, being so true to its own time, it achieves timelessness.There's a great moment when Garbo strides up to her disapproving older nemesis in a belted polo coat and cloche hat with a cigarette dangling from her lips. She stands there until he's forced to offer her a light, then instead pulls a lighter from her pocket and insolently does it herself. Another when she's on her honeymoon with a man she doesn't love, and she lies in bed switching the light on and off -- you realize that she's bored, impatient, horny, and regretful all at once.The story seems most dated when the characters are discussing whether or not Garbo is "good" or "decent." The men in the movie all stand around, trying to understand her and failing. She's beyond their narrow categories -- she has more wit, courage and intelligence than any of them. Watching her, she makes me ache with the feeling (like every other spectator, I'm sure) that the only one who's really capable of appreciating her is... me.

"Garbo had something behind the eyes that you couldn't see until you photographed her in close-up. You could see thought. If she had to look at one person with jealousy, and another with love, she didn't have to change the expression. You could see it in her eyes as she looked from one to the other. And nobody else could do that on the screen." (director Clarence Brown in a 1968 interview).Perhaps, you may consider it strange of me to quote Brown's memorable words about Garbo under the title of the film which is, most definitely, not the top - famous film with Greta Garbo. Yes, it is true that not many people have seen A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS (1928), comparing its popularity to her other films, like FLESH AND THE DEVIL, NINOTCHKA or GRAND HOTEL. Furthermore, it was not released on DVD in September 2005, on the occasion of her birth's 100th anniversary . Yet, it is one of the most unforgettable films where Garbo's silent performance has a soul throughout. But, at the same time, the movie can also boast marvelous cinematography, great performances from all cast, an interesting content, and the original soundtrack which opens it to a new era of the 1920s cinema, something in between silent and sound films with dialogs. Let's start from the first aspect, CINEMATOGRAPHY. There are shots in this film that leave such a deep trace in the viewer that it is hard to forget them. I was absolutely astonished when I saw the moment where Diana (Greta Garbo) walks down the hill in the garden. The lighting and camera movement make such an effect that you simply admire the whole moment. The light is directed towards Diana's figure walking quickly but desperately after a bitter conversation with Morton Holderness (Howard Bosworth), an honorable father of her beloved Nevs (John Gilbert). Another brilliant scene is the one with flowers. Diana, recovering in hospital from the shock that she went through, keeps flowers by her side which remind her of Nevs. Soon before he comes to visit her, there is a brilliant shot of Diana lying in bed, in the state of delirium, and looking at flowers. She really has a blink in her eyes and the camera is directed towards her as well the flowers that she is staring at... Terrific, brilliant shot! The CONTENT of the movie is based on controversial novel by Michael Arlen, THE GREEN HAT. However, I am not going to compare these two since the film can be watched without the knowledge of the book whatsoever. Since the novel entailed a lot of controversial things, the code made the producers change much, even names. What is more, the credits of the film had no information except "from the novel by Michael Arlen," skipping the fact which novel it was. Therefore, the content was so much changed that the film becomes quite a different story. But, a very interesting one. Except for many things worth attention, I particularly like three aspects about the content. Firstly, it shows the psychological struggle between honor and love, reason and emotions. This clash is most accurately presented in Diana - Morton's conversation at the tree when the elderly gentleman wants to stop the "silly boy and girl attachment" between Diana and his son, Nevs. Morton's character is expressed in another moment when he says to his son trying to convince him to give up the relationship "Ten generations are watching you!" Secondly, the content perfectly shows what a passionate love really means. It is not the matter of choice where I say "yes" or "no" but has a deep insight into the psyche of a particular person. Although Nevs is happy with his wife Constance (Dorothy Sebastian), he cannot stop thinking about Diana whom he has known since the light hearted days of childhood. Thirdly, humorous moments make the rather sad content brighter. Some of them may seem dated, but they are funny in a different way. For instance, the wit about lip rouge is not found in films nowadays. Nevertheless, such script may still be amusing.The PERFORMANCES are absolutely outstanding. It is the third film in which Garbo appears with her real-life love interest John Gilbert and they both give marvelous jobs here. Their relationship is not that intimate and sensual as in FLESH AND THE DEVIL (1926), but it is more "hearty". Garbo gives her best performance when she is hugging the flowers in hospital. She completely opens herself to a viewer and you can read her mind, similarly like in the final shot of her 1933 masterpiece "Queen Christina". Gilbert is an elegant young person who portrays a man divided into two realities - the one of honor and duties and the one of love and dreams. Lewis Stone, a mainstay of most Garbo films (from this one to many others, including GRAND HOTEL and MATA HARI), does a great job as Dr Hugh Trevelyan, who approved of the relationship. Howard Bosworth is magnificent as cruel but honorable Morton Holderness, who disapproved of their relationship. Yet, Dorothy Sebastian gives a delicate performance of a beautiful young wife of Nevs, attempting to be happy and to make other people happy. So with these great performers, you see all of them in the final 10 minute-long scene at Holderness' house, where Diana comes to talk things over with Morton. I don't know how you will react to this, but I consider the scene a masterpiece of silent performances.All things considered, A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS is a highly recommended film which stands out in our modern era of cinema, as an example of cinematography, performances and well selected content. But it is also Garbo, one of the greatest stars of cinema, about whom one cannot forget when planning to see the movie. Indeed, you can see thought when you look at her face. Garbo ... eternal in cinema!

A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS (MGM, 1928), directed by Clarence Brown, from the then controversial novel, "The Green Hat" by Michael Arlen, reunites then popular love team of John Gilbert and Greta Garbo in their third collaboration on screen. Initially teamed under Clarence Brown's direction in the highly popular FLESH AND THE DEVIL (1926), followed by LOVE (1927), taken from the Leo Tolstoy's classic novel, "Anna Karenina," Gilbert and Garbo once more star in a silent melodrama about love and tragedy. Unlike their earlier screen efforts, their characters in this story are already acquainted since childhood, leaving no chance of meeting and falling in love, but the difference here is that their relationship is interfered by a third party who happens not to be another lover or spouse. And unlike their earlier two films, Garbo is more the central focus here than Gilbert.The story begins quite amusingly, finding the wild and merry Diana Merrick (Greta Garbo) driving recklessly down the road in the Mack Sennett Keystone comedy fashion, nearly missing the ditch diggers as she drives over them. Moments later, the characters in the story, the Holderness and the Merricks, are introduced with each passing scene. Diane is a carefree woman who has loved Neville Holderness (John Gilbert) since childhood. She has a brother, Jeffry (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.), a pampered youth who's so bored with his life that his only satisfaction is boozing up with liquor. Jeffry's closest friend, David Furness (Johnny Mack Brown), tries to stop him from his wild and wicked ways, but to no avail. Neville's father, Sir Morton (Hobart Bosworth), disapproves of the Merrick family's way of life. When he learns that his son wants to marry Diana, he manages to send Neville away to Egypt for a few years, in hope that the two will forget one another through the passage of time. Two years later, Diana marries David. On their wedding night, detectives (one of them played by character actor Fred Kelsey) enter their honeymoon suite in France to arrest David on the charges of theft. Before he can be arrested, David ends his life by jumping out the window. To keep David's name clear for decency sake, she secretly sets out to repay the victims of David's past crimes, a deed only known to the family physician, Doctor Hugh Trevelyan (Lewis Stone). Over the next few years, Diana makes the gossip columns as being a widow of many love affairs throughout the world. As for Neville, he becomes engaged to marry a nice young girl named Constance (Dorothy Sebastian), whom, as Diana describes through the title cards, as a girl "whose eyes are so true and clean." But Old Man Holderness, knowing how his son and Diana still feel about one other, continues to keep the scandalous Diana away his son, causing Neville to become like Jeffry, an unbearable alcoholic.While not as famous by today's standards as FLESH AND THE DEVIL, A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS somewhat predates those "Peyton Place"-type soap-operas or Lana Turner melodramas quite popular during the 1950s and 60s. It also shows that aristocratic families may have all the luxuries that money can buy, but money does not always buy happiness. Douglas Fairbanks Jr.'s portrayal as an unhappy youth who turns to drink, is quite believable, especially when his glassy eyes, uncombed hair almost covering a portion of his eye, with whiskey glass in his hand that at times has him resemble a young John Barrymore. Whether this was intentional or not will never be known. Fairbanks, however, does well with his early screen performance.Clarence Brown's direction with the Gilbert-Garbo loves scenes do have some bonuses, but are not as "hot" as in FLESH AND THE DEVIL. One scene that stands out is finding Diana, wearing a special ring on her finger, making love to Neville on the couch, with Diana telling him, "I would only take it off for the man I love." The camera then pans down to her hand just as the ring slowly slips off her finger. As for the story itself, it takes place during a span of ten years, yet the characters in the plot don't look any different in the conclusion as they appear in the opening, making the storyline look more as if it takes place in a span of ten months than ten years. The costumes and hairstyles are obviously modern late 1920s, which works out better in the latter portion of the story than the early segments, circa 1918. And although Garbo has that special beauty, especially when properly photographed, she doesn't look particularly attractive in some of those costumes designed for her, mainly when wearing those flapper-designed hats. Essentially a silent movie that was initially distributed in theaters with recorded scoring, one wishes such a score for this film have been used for its current video distribution, which comes with a Thames stereo orchestral soundtrack. The stereo score has its moments, but when it comes to its slow tempo violin playing in some segments of the story, it becomes a real sleep inducer. A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS was remade by MGM in 1934 as OUTCAST LADY starring Constance Bennett and Herbert Marshall. Both versions are available for viewing on cable TV's Turner Classic Movies.One final note: A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS was one of the 13 feature films presented on the public television series, MOVIES, GREAT MOVIES (Original air date: October 26, 1973), a 50th anniversary tribute to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer of the silent era, as hosted by Richard Schickel, on WNET, Channel 13, in New York City. Clocked then at 109 minutes, the TCM print differs in scoring and length, either at 98 (Thames) or 91 minutes. (***)