Dreadfully Boring

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Two 1929 Garbo features from the same source, in both of which she is supported by Nils Asther, are Wild Orchids and The Single Standard. The first is the better movie and the better print, but both have their magical moments. It's difficult to make an engrossing plot with only three characters, but Willis Goldbeck and company have succeeded where many another scenarist has failed, even though only two of his people (splendidly enacted here by Greta Garbo and Lewis Stone) are what purists would call "rounded characters." The third is straight from stock, but Nils Asther gives his spoiled-rotten Javanese price unexpected depth by playing the villainous seducer with a genuine smile, a heartfelt shrug. One has the impression that he doesn't really care whether he seduces Garbo or not. It's just a game. The movie is stylishly directed by Sidney Franklin who takes full advantage of the many wonderful sets, and beautifully photographed by William Daniels who is pleasingly no slave to consistency. If he wants to vary his lighting in the same set-up from shimmering on Miss Garbo to black-as-pitch on Mr Asther, he does so!

This film poignantly depicts loneliness in a marriage that has descended into mere friendship and neighborliness.An evanescent Garbo plays winsome Lillie, the much-younger wife of John (Lewis Stone), a businessman prospecting for tea plantations in Java. By happenstance they meet the fabulously wealthy Prince de Gace (the Danish-born Nils Asther, dubbed "the male Greta Garbo" in his day), who possesses everything in his realm and sets his sights on Lillie, too.Garbo's performance makes this film. She embodies desire and frustration as she tries in vain to re-capture her husband's passion and imagination. Her first, helpless kiss with de Gace, and immediate paroxysm of self-loathing, draw one in. A film like this really captures the range of this beautiful, intelligent screen icon.

The reason this silent film is still viewed today and enjoyed, is simply because the director of this film was Sidney Franklin who was a very famous director during the 20's 30's and 40's. His famous film was, "The Good Earth",1937, a story written by Pearl Buck, and received large audience attendance. Of course, Greta Garbo,(Lillie Sterling), looked very sexy and rather young and having an old looking husband, who was Lewis Stone,(John Sterling), who loved and adored everything about Lillie. Things go smoothly for a while in the jungle, but a two legged gigolo decides to have some fun with young and hot looking Lillie. It is great entertainment if you like the old time Classics and great acting and directors.

During nights scented with the perfume of WILD ORCHIDS, a Javanese prince woos the beautiful wife of a visiting American tycoon.Although really little more than a story about a romantic triangle, the excellent acting & superb presentation make this a very enjoyable film.Greta Garbo, exquisite & serene, shows once again that she was more than just a perfectly sculpted face. She was also a very disciplined actress who used her tightly controlled body to convey emotional depths and subtle nuances. Even in what for her was a rather minor film, she is a marvel to watch, beyond superlatives, exhausting all adjectives. She is simply Garbo and that is enough.For sheer exoticism, few Hollywood male stars of the period could compete with Garbo. Nils Asther was one of these. Although Scandinavian, something about the bone structure of his face made him ideal for Asian roles. He had already enjoyed much success as a matinee idol by the time WILD ORCHIDS was filmed. A fine actor, he seems loath to accede all of the viewers' attention to Garbo. (Swedes both, they must have had some interesting private conversations on the set.) Asther makes his characterization of the Prince a compelling blend of charm & cowardice - a creature quite capable of seducing his sultry costar into marital infidelity. The onset of talkies would prove difficult for Asther, his heavy accent making it hard for MGM to cast him effectively and he would eventually return to Sweden. However, when given the right role, as in Frank Capra's THE BITTER TEA OF GENERAL YEN (1933), Asther was able to exhibit the natural talent he was seldom called upon to use.Lewis Stone is the solid fulcrum over which his two extravagant costars teeter. While they exude passion & sensuality, he revels in the simpler virtues - duty, dignity, and, when he finally catches on to the Prince's depredations, righteous wrath. He manages to infuse all this with a quiet sense of befuddled humor, which only makes his character all the more human.The film's first rate production values make the heat & hedonism of Java come alive for the viewer. The Javanese dancing is of particular interest. The use of sound effects in this late silent film is of some significance - they perfectly illustrate where some film purists thought the cinema should remain: with music and effects, but definitely no dialogue.