The Kiss (1929 film)

''The Kiss'' is a 1929 American silent drama film directed by Jacques Feyder, starring Greta Garbo, Conrad Nagel, and Lew Ayres in his first feature film. Based on a short story by George M. Saville, ''The Kiss'' bears the same title as the 1896 short that "shocked" the American public by being the first motion picture to depict a couple kissing. This 1929 production is notable for being the last major silent film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and the final silent performances by both Garbo and Conrad Nagel. Although this film is not entirely silent, MGM did take partial advantage of the new sound technology and released ''The Kiss'' with an orchestral score and sound effects recorded by the Movietone system.

Plot

The story is set in 1929 and begins inside the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon, France. Two lovers — Irene Guarry (Greta Garbo) and André Dubail (Conrad Nagel) — feign interest in artwork as they discuss their clandestine romance. Irene is a young woman unhappily married to Charles Guarry (Anders Randolf), a wealthy, much older businessman, whose company teeters near bankruptcy. André is a successful lawyer, unmarried, close to Irene's age, and determined to face Charles and profess his love for Irene. Despite being trapped in a loveless marriage, Irene fears her husband's violent temper and his reaction if André were to confront him. "He's madly jealous," she tells André, and insists that her marriage situation is hopelessly bound by "convention...to a man I don't love."Dialog recorded and transcribed directly from intertitles in ''The Kiss'', which was broadcast in its entirety on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) on August 28, 2018. Turner Broadcasting System, a subsidiary of Time Warner, Inc., New York, N.Y. After she and André kiss, she leaves the museum, determined never to see her true love again.

Back home, Irene's suspicious husband reviews her daily activities through a private investigator he hired to follow her. The investigator only reports that she went to a local dog show and had an innocent encounter with Pierre Lassalle (Lew Ayres), the 18-year-old son of one of Charles’ business associates. Later, Irene and Charles attend a large formal dinner party. She is surprised to see André, who arrives alone and sits at the dinner table across from Irene's sullen husband. Young Pierre is at the party too, and his father informs Irene that his college-bound boy is "quite mad" about her. André and Irene do manage to meet briefly in a nearby garden, where André tells her he is moving to Paris and came to the party to see her one last time. They again express their love, kiss passionately and part, both resolved that their affair has ended. Irene then returns to the party to dance with lovestruck Pierre.

The following day, after a tennis match at his parents' estate, Pierre confesses his love to Irene while Charles meets with Pierre's father to discuss his failing business and need for money. Irene is touched by Pierre's confession but makes light of his ardor, referring to him as "only a young boy." She agrees, however, to give him a photograph of herself that he can take to college. The following evening, Pierre visits Irene's home to get the promised photo, and as he leaves he requests a small goodbye kiss. Irene hesitates but gives him a short kiss, which incites Pierre to grab her and press for a more intense one. Returning home, Charles sees their follow-up kiss, storms into the room, and begins to beat Pierre mercilessly. As her husband pursues the college boy into another room, Irene pleads with him to stop his assault, but he continues to batter Pierre. The room's door closes; a muffled gunshot is heard. Charles dies.

Irene killed her husband to save Pierre, but before authorities are summoned, she alters the scene and timeline of the crime. To protect Pierre's reputation and herself, she tells the police her depressed husband committed suicide due to his dire finances. Investigators doubt her story and Irene is indicted for murder, prompting André to return to Lyon to defend his ex-lover. During the trial she repeatedly assures André that her husband killed himself. Courtroom testimony by Pierre's father about Charles’ impending bankruptcy and "utter despair," along with André's heartfelt declarations of Irene's innocence, convince the jury to acquit her. In the court area after the verdict, a smug Pierre tells Irene that her love for him compelled her to kill Charles, but he quickly realizes that André is her true love. Guilt-ridden for lying to André, Irene divulges the truth to him. Stunned, he sits and cradles his head in his hands, quietly reassessing his feelings. Believing she has destroyed her relationship with André, Irene is relieved when he finally stands and reaffirms his love for her. The film ends with them kissing just as three old cleaning women enter the room and announce they "have come to clean the court."

Cast

* Greta Garbo as Irene Guarry
* Conrad Nagel as André Dubail
* Holmes Herbert as Lassalle
* Anders Randolf as Charles Guarry
* Lew Ayres as Pierre Lassalle
* George Davis as Durant, a private investigator
* André Cheron as the prosecutor (uncredited)

Production notes

*During casting for ''The Kiss'', Garbo recommended Nils Asther for the role as her lover André.Passafiume, Andrea
"Articles: The Kiss (1929)"
Turner Classic Movies (TCM), Turner Broadcasting System, Time Warner, Inc., New York, N.Y. Retrieved September 3, 2018. Asther had been born in Denmark but, like Garbo, had grown up in Sweden, an association with the actress that only enhanced his reputation as "the male Greta Garbo" in the film industry and among movie fans. In addition, he had already costarred with her in two of MGM's recent film successes and was still under contract with the studio. Nevertheless, despite those apparent advantages held by Asther and Garbo's strong support for him to join the cast, the part was assigned to Conrad Nagel.
*By early September 1929, ''The Kiss'' was already being filmed at MGM, although the studio had yet to announce publicly a title for the production. According to the trade paper ''The Film Daily'', a dozen feature films were simultaneously under way at that time at MGM. All but one were "talkers". "The only silent picture being filmed", reported ''The Film Daily'', "is Greta Garbo’s new untitled European romance now being directed by Jacques Feyder".
*The visually striking Art Déco interior sets in ''The Kiss'' were designed by legendary MGM art director and production designer Cedric Gibbons.Edwards, Anne (2006)
"Designing Films: The Art Déco Years"
''Architectural Digest'', March 2006. Retrieved September 5, 2018. Gibbons' bold, high-fashion sets in the film were intended to emphasize the French style and serve as "vital elements" in the production, especially in a silent offering like ''The Kiss'', which had to compete at its release with many other motion pictures that featured the new "exciting" element of recorded dialog.

Reception

Most film critics gave very positive reviews of ''The Kiss'' in 1929, a year in which American motion pictures were continuing their transition from the last major silent productions to the release of more sound films. ''Variety'' alluded to that transition in its 1929 review of ''The Kiss'', contending that the film would have likely suffered in quality if it had been released with recorded dialog."Waly." (1929)
"The Kiss (Silent)"
review, ''Variety'' (New York, N.Y.), November 20, 1929, page 30. Internet Archive. Retrieved September 2, 2018.

The film grossed $518,000 in the United States and $387,000 elsewhere, bringing its worldwide gross to $905,000, the profit for the film was $448,000.

The publication felt that both Garbo's performance and her physical appearance in the film were actually enhanced by its silent format:

Film critic Mordaunt Hall

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