Posted:Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:28 AM CST
Greta Garbo and John Gilbert
Greta Garbo was once head over heels in love with Jack Gilbert. When Greta began working with the great Gilbert, most glamorous and dynamic of masculine stars, she was still a wide-eyed little onlooker beside the Hollywood scene. But she could talk a little English with her tongue and a whole dictionaryful of universal language with her eyes. With the latter she devoured Gilbert from the beginning. And Jack, who was not hard to get, responded with the hottest love-making in cinema history. The studio gang used to gather around whenever a love scene was in prospect, and got vicarious thrills that they never forgot. Greta would move her lips in silent ecstasy. Her greenish-blue eyes would narrow into heavily lidded slits. Her lips would part hungrily. Her long pale hands would tremble as they found each other behind Jack's neck. Down she would go almost to a reclining position as his strong arms swept around her shoulders and their lips met in a kiss. There were never any retakes on Garbo-Gilbert love scenes--they got them right the first time!