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As You Desire Me

1932 · 1h 10m · APPROVED Drama
Directed by George Fitzmaurice

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Overview

Bar entertainer Zara is a discontented alcoholic who is pursued by many men but lives with novelist Carl Salter. One day, Tony shows up on Salter's estate claiming that Zara is actually Maria, the wife of his close friend Bruno, claiming that her memory was destroyed during World War I. Zara doesn't remember but leaves with Tony to Salter's dismay. Bruno, now an officer in the Italian Army, tries to coax Maria's memory back on his large estate. No one is really sure if Zara is Maria, and when Salter shows up with a mental case from Trieste that he claims is the real Maria, everyone on Bruno's estate is desperately searching for the truth.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
83%
Tomatometer
Rotten

A romantic problem play interestingly played by the fascinating Greta Garbo, treated in a manner of high drama. The original hasn't been broadly hoked in the manner that Metro has so often followed.

Variety Staff, Variety
Fresh

Garbo (sporting a peroxide wig some of the time) brings a real erotic undertow to the love scenes, while Stroheim is terrific as the demonically sadistic writer trying to model her as one of his own creations.

Tom Milne, Time Out
Fresh

[Garbo] rises far above the story as it comes to the screen, but because of her impeccable performance the picture never fails to captivate one's interest.

Mordaunt Hall, New York Times

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