Wordiezett So much average

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

marcslope Good writers, sparkling cast, Cukor direction, all the luxe trappings of MGM, but this attempted soufflé of a comedy is unworthy of Garbo, and probably helped speed her exit from Hollywood. Metro tries to domesticate her, to make her more of a Jean Arthur-Claudette Colbert sort of spunky dame, and she's certainly capable, but we know she's capable of so much more. Some post-production tampering on behalf of the Production Code renders the story meaningless--if Douglas knows of Garbo's deception, why doesn't he just confront her with it and end the movie?--and their relationship is an unconvincing yes-you-love-me-no-you-don't mishmash. Too, Douglas's character, though meant to represent appealing American manhood circa 1941, is rather a rotter--deceptive, callous, impatient, faithless--and while Douglas surely has the requisite charm, he doesn't make me like this guy. Constance Bennett provides some glamor and dry wit, and Ruth Gordon and Roland Young, stuck in conventional supporting roles, kill time amiably. But the novelty appeal of seeing Garbo in a swimsuit, Garbo dancing the Chica- Choca, Garbo playing a sort-of double role, isn't enough to save the picture.

Pandelis I don't usually make a review after only watching one scene in a movie, but when I watched the dancing scene in you tube I was truly moved and I decided to do it anyway..."Two-Faced Woman" is mostly known for being Garbo's last film and for the bad reviews the stunning actress and the film itself received. However, the scene I just watched, the improvised dance, is that good that made me wanna watch the whole film.Garbo certainly had as much as talent for comedy roles, as much as for dramatic ones. And she really sparkles in this one.I believe the critics of the time were too harsh and too much in a hurry to bury the film, that made the audience turn away from it. I never saw Mrs Garbo that happy, beautiful and feminine in all her films put together. She really proved that she could play a happy-go-lucky woman as easily as she could portrait an ice-cold dynamic Queen or a doomed damsel...I don't remember if The Acedemy honored her with an honorary Oscar, but it they didn't shame on them...

maddox-richard I liked Garbo in this. It's not much of a film but she is wonderful to behold. She's certainly up there with Claudette Colbert, Jean Arthur, Carole Lombard and Irene Dunne. Personally Babs Stanwyck and Myrna Loy are the absolute stars of screwball but it's a shame Garbo didn't make a few more comedies to attest to her versatility, in the same way that Dietrich proved herself so much more than Von Sternberg's mannequin. If you look at the comedy of the era - the classic screwball - it's a very modern type of comedy and even some of the lesser entries play quite well now, especially as we are so used to American TV's sitcoms re- popularising the genre (Frasier being one of the best). I find screwballs of the 35-42 period are funnier now than most current comedies, Two-Faced Woman included.

krorie The legends surrounding Geta Garbo were like so many deifications, partly true, partly fiction. When Garbo was good, she was very, very good, but when she was bad, she was only average. In "Two-Faced Woman," Garbo assays comedy one more time following her success in Ernst Lubitsch's classic farce, "Ninotchka." This time she nearly falls flat. Garbo's one redeeming feature in the film is the outlandish dance she performs midway through the show. It is indeed a marvel to behold and worth the price of admission.Almost all the other Thespians in "Two-Faced Woman" out shine the star, especially Constance Bennett, giving a wonderful personification of an acerbic bitch determined to keep her hooks in fresh meat. The gifted actor Melvyn Douglas shows his flare for comedy in a Cary Grant-type role, fun to watch in a slap-stick finale down a ski slope. The indomitable Ruth Gordon makes the most in a small role as Douglas' secretary. Bennett's former "Topper" colleague, Roland Young, is perfect as, again, a lecherous old man. Future TV "Topper" star Robert Sterling shows why he was chosen to portray George Kerby over a decade later.Another problem with "Two-Faced Woman" is the hackneyed story and script. Director George Cukor hoped to strike pay dirt a second time with a screwball comedy along the lines of his brilliant "The Philadelphia Story," utilizing a title similar to his recently successful "A Woman's Face." Unfortunately, he was let down by the writers, who gave him a theme already old hat. Bedroom farces involving mistaken identities, twins and lookalikes, etc., were passé by 1941. The popular Fred Astair, Ginger Rogers musicals of the 1930's employed such gimmicks in a fresh and original manner. The twins ploy of "Two-Faced Woman" just doesn't work.Karin Borg (Garbo), a ski instructor, meets and falls in love with Larry Blake (Douglas), a magazine writer. Following a whirlwind courtship that lasts only a few days, the two decide to tie the knot. Once married, however, their varied lifestyles clash. Larry spends most of his time in New York City away from Karin, who refuses to follow him, enjoying the life she already has. Distraught by visions of being two-timed and having her marriage canned, Karin heads for New York City, ending up incognito as her non-existing twin sister, Katherine. That Larry tends to be a philander becomes more evident as Karin sees her husband with other women, one in particular, Griselda Vaughn (Bennett). Katherine finds herself in the dubious position of competing not only against Griselda but against her own alter ego, Karin.Perhaps the shortcomings of "Two-Faced Woman" helped Garbo in deciding to retire from motion pictures. She never made another film. Though "Two-Faced Woman" is not a dud, it is below standards Garbo had set for herself.