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Show BridgetByrme_ THE ASSOCIATEDPRESS. gray-haired woman in a dark pantsuit strides across a New York street. Her image,filmed from afar,is barely in focus. But it's unmistakably Greta Garbo. “Oneof the most celebrated people in the world desperate not to be recognized,” commentsJulie Christie as she begins her narration of “Garbo,” anew documentary about the beautiful and mysterious star who died in 1990. Thefilm from veteran documentarian Kevin Brownlow premieres Tuesday on cable’s ties SWEATER. TurnerClassic Movies channel as part of a monthlongretroAND 6ReE' NAVY PANTS, WHITE, PLAID. PLD See wire caer SHIRT, GREY SWEATER, OR NANY JACKET. ER?) IRONG. Mey te spective onthe films of the famously reclusive actress. The'rarestreet footage of Garbo — born Greta Gustafsf son to a working-class family in Stockholm a century ago Sept. 18 — was captured by a crew whohadnoticed her passing by as they were shooting a scene for a gay-pornofilm. Brownlow himself was never able to film the star. Despite his reputation as an esteemed film historian, he’d been unable to break throughher wall of privacy and persuadeher to be interviewed — evenfor his acclaimed miniseries “Hollywood,” aboutthe silent film era. But he sayshe did get a glimpse of her once. While he and an assistant wereon their waytovisit silent star Lillian Gish in Manhattan, they detoured to see Garbo’s apartment overlooking the East River. “There was Garbo coming homewith her shopping from the supermarket. So we were turned intopillarsofsalt,” recalls Brownlow, conceding that he thought of rushing up to her butrealized he would just bab- See ble and “she would havefled,” After Garbo stopped making films following the failure of DILBERT WHY DO T ALWAYS: GET THE SEAT NEXT TO THE CANNIBAL? THESE GUYS ARE ALL THE SAME, T KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT. “Two-Faced Woman”in 1941, such brief sightings wereall the public saw ofthe actress who hadoncebeen the incandescentheart of silent movies suchas “Flesh and the Devil” and “Love,” co-starring her lover John Gilbert, and a handful oftalkies, including “Queen Christina,” “Camille” and “Ninotchka.” Brownlow's 87-minute documentary also incorporates previously unseen screen tests Garbo madein 1949 for a movie never made. “In a sense those tests conveyed moreof her personality than anything else we've seen. .. you suddenly see whatit must have beenlikejustto sit next to her,” says Brownlow. “She's totally normal and relaxed,” explains co-producer Patrick Stanbury,“but they just couldn't get the money together. Backersdidn't think Garbo was sucha strong bet anylonger... she'd been off the screen for eight years, the world had changed, but she looked absolutely magnificent. What a waste!” Brownlow,68, and Stanbury, 51, have beenfascinated with film,particularly silents, since childhood. Their documentaries previously shown on TCM. include “Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces” and “The Tramp and the Dictator,” which paral- lels the lives of Charlie Chaplin and Adolf Hitler. Their next project examines Merian C. Cooper,creator of the original “King Kong,” and’ is scheduled to air on TCM Nov. 22. (Thelatest remake — from the Academy Award-winning director of “The Lord of the Rings”trilogy, Peter Jackson — is duein theaters Dec. 14.) Charlie Tabesh, TCM's vice president of programming, says TCM documentaries are chosen not just to satisfy the cable channel's committed fan base,butalso to draw in young- er viewers. “I think people have heard the name (Garbo)butI’m not surethata lot of people out there know andappreciate what she meantas an actress,” says Tabesh.“I love that herintelligence is very attractive.It’s not just her face whichis gorgeous,it’s that she’s attractive in a muchfuller way than that.” “Garbo”contains old and new interviews with those who knew herbest, including a conversation Brownlow shot in the 1960s with director Clarence Brown, who reminisced about witnessing Garbo and Gilbert fall in love during a sceneat a railway station in “Flesh and the Devil.” That 1926silentairs on TCM immediately following the documentary. Brownlow and Stanbury also wereableto collaborate with Garbo'srelatives, who paint a portrait of someonequite content with privatelife. “The famous (line) ‘I want to be alone’is really ‘I want to be let alone,’ ” Stanbury stresses. “She clearly had big problems with large numbersof people andintrusion. She basically wanted to be a private person and couldn’t understand why people crossed the boundaries into her private territory.” @: Hy NAVY i honorsclassicstar’s birth SIIINODS ‘Garbo’ documentary CLOSE TO HOME $002 ‘1 sequiaidas ‘Aepsinys ‘pjeiay Ayea BIZARRO No,the Grim Reaper ig my cougin. I'm the Grim Sower, You're pregnant. = TD |