The Kiss

A woman in an unhappy marriage gives a goodbye kiss to a young family friend who is infatuated with her. That single moment is misread, and a scandal, a death and a trial follow it. The lawyer defending her is her secret lover. Directed by Jacques Feyder, the film is Greta Garbo's last silent picture and the last silent production MGM made. Sound had already arrived; the film uses no dialogue but was shown with a synchronised score and sound effects. Lew Ayres began his film career with it. The telling is done in sixty-two minutes and Garbo's face carries almost all of the information. It is a film that landed exactly at the close of silent cinema.