MATA HARI (1931)

I only watched this because there was a throwaway line from the original SUSPIRIA, describing a fellow student as, "Mata Hari is filing her report." I saw this available in the Filmstruck library, read the description and added it to my watchlist. I finally made the time to sit down and watch it this morning and I was rather impressed. For those who have never seen or heard of the film, it follows Mata Hari (played by Greta Garbo) an exotic dancer who was accused of spying for Germany during World War I. Garbo gives a mesmerizing performance, as like many of the men in the film, I seemed to have been hypnotized and infatuated by her. This was my first exposure to her work and I have a feeling the rest might be difficult to track down. She also gave up acting after World War II, feeling the world had changed perhaps forever and she retired. Like the Mata Hari character, Garbo craved her privacy and for the rest of her life, perpetuated the Garbo mystique. 6.5/10