Mata Hari (1931)
Director: George Fitzmaurice
Starring: Greta Garbo, Ramon Novarro, Lionel Barrymore
Synopsis:
The famous exotic dancer Mata Hari acts as a honey trap to extract state secrets from a young Russian officer.
Impressions:
The character of Mata Hari is an intriguing one and so I looked forward to this film when I saw it on the horizon. Well, how is it? It's not bad. I haven't seen any of Greta Garbo's other films, but this was apparently her most successful financially. She's pretty good as the title character and I liked Lionel Barrymore as General Shubin. I guess Ramon Novarro was okay as Rosanoff, but I didn't really like the character, so his role in the film was a bit of a drag. In particular, I didn't buy Rosanoff's influence on Mata Hari and that throws off the entire third act. Setting that aside, it's a fairly interesting film and warrants a watch at very least.
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