Movies: The Divine Woman

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She changed gears and had a comedy hit in 1939 with the sublimely funny Ninotchka, the film of hers that is most accessible to later audiences. But by then she was an anachronism, a piece of crystal under glass in the museum of antiquated acting. Europe, her biggest market, was closed when World War II began. As for the boys in uniform, they wanted heat from their stars, not Garbo's dry ice. So she retired, to be seen only with her hand up like a traffic warden's, fleeing prying paparazzi. Her hermitry made her even more renowned. Nothing attracts a crowd like hiding from it.

Her nephew Donald Reisfield says he asked Garbo, just before she died in 1990, if she had ever been happy. Her answer: "Yes." That direct yet enigmatic reply summarizes the Garbo style: the bold statement of her beauty, the daring in her sublime craft, the mystery at the heart of her enduring appeal. --By Richard Corliss