recommended

one of my absolute favorites!

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

This silent film finds Garbo playing a lady with rather bohemian morals for 1929. She sees that there is an unfair double-standard that allows men to cheat and have fun--but not women. So, she decides she, too, can play the field and ignore conventional morality--fair is fair. This is a novel idea and I agree that women and men should be equal--though instead, it might be nice if the men behaved a lot less randy--not women behaving slutty as well! But, that's really not the point of the film--at least not initially.Garbo meets an interesting man--a famous boxer AND painter (now THAT'S unusual!!). She is more than willing to bed this guy but he's off to explore the Amazon and tells her it wouldn't be right for her to come along with him. Why she then carries a torch for this guy is a bit hard to believe--they only spent a short time together AND if he was such a chauvinist that he didn't take her with him, why would she want him back later in the film--after she is married and has a child? Well, that is her plan--but, fortunately, but the end of the film she comes to her senses and her husband also does as well.Overall, an entertaining film but I take off at least a point because Garbo simply made too many 'woman with loose morals' pictures. Worth seeing, however, especially if you are a die-hard Garbo fiend.

The wealthy Arden Stuart (Greta Garbo) is bored in a party; after refusing the wedding proposal of Tommy Hewlett (John Mack Brown), she drives her car with her driver to a lonely place. She has one night stand with him and returns to the party; then she witnesses the driver being fired by a relative and committing suicide. In a rainy day, Arden goes to an exposition and meets the painter and aspirant boxer Packy Cannon (Nils Asther). They sail to the South Seas together in his sailboat and Arden falls in love for him. However, a couple of months later, Packy dumps her and brings her back to her city, traveling to China alone. The heartbroken Arden is proposed again by Tommy and gets married with him. Three years later, Arden meets Packy by chance and becomes divided between her unconditional love for Packy and the love for her son. "The Single Standard" is a dated story about an emancipated woman in a hypocrite society where infidelity of men was accepted by his wives. Greta Garbo is astonishingly beautiful in the role of Arden Stuart, a woman ahead of time that believes in freedom and equal rights of "love" for men and women. It is very interesting to see the behavior and moral values of the dominant class in this silent movie, where apparently nobody works and seems to party every night. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "The Single Standard"

Greta Garbo envies the freedom acceptable for men, but not permissible for women - the sexual "Double Standard". She asked her chauffeur to take her for a ride. When they are caught returning from a rendezvous, the chauffeur is fired; then, he commits suicide. Somewhat disenchanted, Garbo takes off with exciting Nils Asther for a long romantic trip aboard his ship - the "All Alone". Garbo wants to marry, but Asther must travel to China. Back home, Garbo is romanced by, and does marry, millionaire Johnny Mack Brown. Later, Asther returns… Garbo loves Asther, but is married (with child) to Mack Brown. What will she do? "The Single Standard" is beautifully photographed and silently performed. The subject matter must have been considered daring at the time. Today, it's fairly standard stuff. Still - Garbo, the photography, and briefly twisted ending make it look like magic. ******* The Single Standard (1929) John S. Robertson ~ Greta Garbo, Nils Asther, Johnny Mack Brown

Greta Garbo - the lesbian screen star - says farewell to silent movies with this interesting feature. The musical score - which was recorded in 1929 - is beautiful. Be sure to see it with the original Vitaphone score and not one of those cheap modern scores. (Many con-artists have someone tricked the public into believing that their cheap modern scores are somehow better because they are performed live - They couldn't reproduce the beautiful scores of the 1920's and early 1930's if they tried - you need to at least know how to read music to do that.)