John Gilbert

At his silent-era peak, John Gilbert rivaled the star power of even Valentino. By the time of his death in 1936, he was a has-been husk of an actor. Fallen victim of machinations both professional and personal, he is largely forgotten today.

Clean shaven with Fox...

As is the nature with any young and burgeoning industry, the motion-picture business in the teens was composing its customs and structures as it created itself. The now-well-worn paths that actors, directors, and writers take to succeed in Hollywood were still undeveloped. John Gilbert began his career as an extra, and made his way up through the industry by taking the unusual path of accepting writing and directing roles. His work got himself noticed by Fox Studios, who signed him to a three-year contract in 1921. In 1924, Gilbert moved to MGM, where he worked with esteemed directors such as Victor Sjöström, Erich von Stroheim, and King Vidor. 

and MGMustached.

It was also at MGM that Gilbert, began an on-again, off-again relationship with Greta Garbo (did she have any other kind?). They met while making Flesh and the Devil (1926). The studio capitalized on the relationship by casting them in two more silent features, Love (1927), and A Woman of Affairs (1928). In a story that has become mythologized as part of Hollywood legend, Garbo and Gilbert were to be married in a double ceremony along with friends King Vidor and Eleanor Boardman. Garbo never arrived at the ceremony. Wedding guest Louis B. Mayer reportedly told Gilbert, "What's the matter with you Gilbert? Don't marry her. Just fuck her and forget about her." Gilbert responded by flooring Mayer with one punch. The story makes great drama, but it was never confirmed. It packaged so many Hollywood archetypes—Garbo as the icy, callous, Scandinavian femme fatale who could never be tied to only one lover; Gilbert as the perfect fool who kept crawling back to her, mesmerized, for more punishment; Mayer as the boorish, vulgar ass everyone in Hollywood wanted to punch—perhaps the story was destined to become legend. Recently, writers have cast doubt on Garbo really jilting Gilbert at the altar, let alone the altercation afterward. Also, as in love with Garbo as he may have been, Gilbert was never the lonely, heartbroken sort. His first wife left him citing his compulsive philandering. Gilbert was also rumored to be a regular at Lee Francis' notorious Sunset Blvd brothel (Now the site of a restaurant co-owned by Ryan Seacrest and Tori Spelling. So marches progress). 

with Garbo

Regardless of the source of the friction, Mayer and Gilbert did not get along. Perhaps influenced by his background writing and directing, the artistically-minded Gilbert often clashed the bottom-line-conscious Mayer. Nevertheless, the two were yoked together in a six-picture-1.5 million dollar contract. Mayer may have purposely assigned Gilbert poor scripts and sub-par directors in an effort to get him to void the contract.

Gilbert's first speaking role was in the 1929 all-star variety act collection, The Hollywood Revue of 1929. He and Norma Shearer portrayed Romeo and Juliet's famous balcony scene, first traditionally, then in contemporary slang. Gilbert appeared to have crossed the talkie threshold with his career intact and audiences awaited to see his first feature-length sound picture. That film was the infamous His Glorious Night (1929). A weak script, filled with baroque dialogue more suited for a silent picture's interstitials, and an inexperienced director garnered only lukewarm reviews at best. Despite these faults, rumors perhaps started by Mayer, began to spread that the picture's greatest flaw was John Gilbert's voice. The charge has even been made that Mayer purposely had studio sound engineers manipulate Gilbert's pitch to make him sound comically shrill. 

Deserved or not, the blame stuck to Gilbert and marked the beginning of the end for his Hollywood career. Irving Thalberg managed to land Gilbert some choicer roles for his last few contractually-obligated films, but it was not enough to save his sinking reputation. 

In 1934, Gilbert was given one last break. MGM was negotiating with Garbo to star in Queen Christina. One of her conditions was the studio bring back Gilbert to play her lover. Was it a genuine attempt to help an old co-star? A calculated power-play in the game of contract negotiation? Or simply Garbo amusing herself by toying with the heart of an old flame? We may never know. The vagaries of Garbo's notorious romantic life were exceeded only by her inscrutable nature.

Nonetheless, it was not enough to save Gilbert's career, or the man himself. By 1934 his chronic drinking affected his health so severely he never made another film. Two years later, he died of a heart attack at age 38.