Garbo

There is only one Garbo, and this is her only definitive biography. Acclaimed by the critics-and a best seller- in its original version, it has now been brought up to the present, and beautifully illustrated with one hundred thirty-two memorable photographs. The result: an even more fascinating study of one of the screen's true immortals. In a period spanning less than two decades, from 1925 to 1941, this shy, working-class girl from Stockholm, the possessor of the face of the century, made twenty-four films, and became the most famous actress in the world. She also became one of its great ornaments and excitements and objects of wonder-"the unapproachable goddess," said Alistair Cooke, "of the most widespread and remarkable mythology in human history." As a consequence, she found herself the victim of more fatuous and hysterical journalism than any other personality on earth. Mercilessly hounded by the public and press at every turn, she developed an intense aversion to publicity that contributed to making the world's most beautiful woman into one of its loneliest. "I never said, 'I want to be alone, '" Garbo told a friend. "I only said, 'I want to be let alone.' There is all the difference." With sensitivity, wit, and understanding, Mr Bainbridge presents the whole fabulous story from its unlikely beginning through her last picture and into her retirement, which, ironically, Garbo never planned to make permanent. Her life today-her friends, her interests, her haunts-brings this absorbing biography up to the present moment. An appendix, "The Films of Greta Garbo," lists all of her pictures, both European and American, their casts, production credits, and the place and date of the premiere of each--Page 2 and 3 of cover