Mata Hari

During the First World War in Paris, a dancer performing as Mata Hari is also accused of spying for Germany. The Russian officer Alexis Rosanoff falls in love with her and the affair endangers them both. The man who runs her wants to use her to get the documents Rosanoff carries. She is caught between doing that and protecting him, and in the end she goes to trial. George Fitzmaurice's film starts from the life of a real person but is largely invented. The narrative does not detail the espionage; the interest is in Greta Garbo's presence on screen and in the costumes. Garbo takes the lead, Ramon Novarro plays Rosanoff, and Lionel Barrymore plays a general attached to her. It was among Garbo's biggest box-office successes of the sound period. Who it's for: Viewers who like classic Hollywood melodrama, Greta Garbo, and 1930s studio aesthetics. Who it's not for: Do not look for historical accuracy; the narrative touches the real events only loosely. The espionage passages are also shallow.