The silent romantic melodrama, Torrent, based a novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, was the first American film starring Swedish actress Greta Garbo.
Grade: B (***1/2* out of *****)
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Theatrical release poster
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The title refers to a flood that occurs in the small town where most of the action takes place, which draws the two romantic leading characters closer together.
Martha Mattox plays the wealthy matriarch Doña Bernarda Brull, upset by her son Rafael (Ricardo Cortez) infatuation with the farmer’s (Edward Connelly) daughter, Leonora (Garbo).
She forbids him to see Leonora, and the poor girl leaves her humble home for Paris, where she becomes a stage sensation, as La Brunna.
Meanwhile, back in their small Spanish town of Alzira, Valencia where Leonora’s father has died, Brull forces her son to run for office, and arranges a marriage the wealthy Remedios Matías (Gertrude Olmstead), the daughter of a rich hog farmer (Mack Swain).
But when La Brunna returns to visit her mother Pepa (Lucy Beaumont), she pretends to still be destitute. Upon finding that Leonora is the famous La Brunna, it threatens his marriage to Remedios–until his mother intervenes once again.
After the flood, Leonora and Rafael spend a passionate night together amidst the orange groves, Doña Brull tell Pepa of the shameful scandal.
Brunna returns to her life on the stage in Madrid while Rafael marries Remedios. Shortly afterwards however, Rafael declares his undying love for her again. Thriller, she packs her bags awaiting his return. Rafael’s lawyer friend Don Andrés (Tully Marshall) talks him out of his plan.
Years later, the older Rafael visits La Brunna (while she is doing the opera “Carmen”), declaring his intent to leave his wife and children for her, but she is unwilling to be the cause of his break-up.
She hardly recognizes him due to aging, and when he comments that “the years have passed her by,” she says: “It is the business of prima donna to always remain young.”
He returns to his home looking over his sleeping little ones, while La Brunna completes another performance with her fans adoring and cheering.
In the last scene, La Brunna is sitting alone, thinking of her great love lost.
The film’s direction is attributed to Monta Bell (uncredited), though historians suggest that other MGM top executives also had a hand.
MGM did not know yet how to cast Garbo after her arrival, so in her American debut, she played a Spanish peasant girl. Upon release, Variety described Garbo, then 25, as “a girl with everything, looks, acting ability and personality.”
L.B. Mayer’s initial instinct about the actress’s ability paid off, and the film was a success. Torrent grossed $460,000 in the USA and $208,000 internationally, grossing $668,000 worldwide, making a $126,000 profit for MGM.
The Torrent was released on DVD in 2011.
Cast
Garbo and Cortez.
Greta Garbo as Leonora Moreno, aka La Brunna
Gertrude Olmstead as Remedios Matías
Edward Connelly as Pedro Moreno
Lucien Littlefield as Cupido, the Barber
Martha Mattox as Doña Bernarda Brull
Lucy Beaumont as Doña Pepa Moreno
Tully Marshall as Don Andrés, a Lawyer
Mack Swain as Don Matías
Arthur Edmund Carewe as Salvatti (as Arthur Edmund Carew)
Lillian Leighton as Isabella, La Brunna’s Maid
Mario Carillo as King of Spain (uncredited)
André Cheron as Man in Audience (uncredited)
Dorothy Sebastian as Woman in Audience (uncredited)
Credits:
Directed by Monta Bell (uncredited)
Written by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, Dorothy Farnum (adaptation)
Produced by Irving Thalberg
Cinematography William H. Daniels
Edited by Frank Sullivan
Music by Arthur Barrow
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date: February 21, 1926
Running time: 87 minutes
Budget $250,443.27
End Note:
I am grateful to TCM for showing “Torrent” on April 1, 2019.
