THE TORRENT
Starring Greta Garbo and Ricardo Cortez
MOTION PICTURE MAGAZINE
May, 1926
Ibanez was not inspired when he wrote "The Torrent." As movie plots go, it is far from being fresh save for its unhappy and somewhat grand-opera ending. One might call it a very good, common, sound, legitimate romance which presents itself along conventional lines, playing the melancholy swan song of separated lovers. The background is sunny Spain - which is not so sunny as a setting here.
As Ibanez has it, the hero is a member of an up-and-coming family and the heroine just a bit of common clay. His mother will not permit their marriage, and in order to forget, the girl goes away to Paris, has legions of lovers, becomes a great singer, while the youth remains at home and marries the girl of his mother's choice. If you admit this is old, you are admitting the truth, but then on the other hand, it is very well done, and its unconventional ending, seeing the hero completely conventionalized by marriage into a puffy, stupid man, being rebuffed by his erstwhile sweetheart, gives it a certain tang that lifts it up and makes it a work of real substance.
The settings are very atmospheric and suggest a real Castilian flavor. Probably the most important feature of the film is the latest Greta from Sweden. This is the Greta Garbo, a pretty, wistful, and intensely feminine young person, who suggest s composite picture of a dozen or our best-known stars. Making her debut in the film, she registers a complete success. She is not so much an actress as she is endowed with individuality and magnetism. Ricardo Cortez is sufficiently Spanish in make-up to pass thru any full arena.
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