As You Desire Me (film)

As You Desire Me is a 1932 American pre-Code film adaptation of the 1929 play by Luigi Pirandello released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was produced and directed by George Fitzmaurice with Irving Thalberg as co-producer. The adaptation was by Gene Markey, the cinematography by William H. Daniels, the art direction by Cedric Gibbons and the costume design by Adrian.

The film stars Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas, with Erich von Stroheim, Owen Moore and Hedda Hopper. The film's running time is about 70 minutes, making it the shortest of all Garbo's Hollywood films.

The film grossed $705,000 in the USA and grossed $657,000 elsewhere, it altogether grossed $1,362,000 and its profit was $449,000.

Plot
Budapest bar entertainer Zara is a discontented alcoholic who is pursued by many men but lives with novelist Carl Salter. A strange man (Tony) shows up on Salter's estate claiming that Zara is actually Maria, the wife of his close friend Bruno. Maria, Tony claims, had her memory destroyed during a World War I invasion ten years ago. 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 that he claims is the real Maria, everyone on Bruno's estate is desperately searching for the truth.

Cast

 * Greta Garbo as Zara / Maria
 * Melvyn Douglas as Count Bruno Varelli
 * Erich von Stroheim as Carl Salter
 * Owen Moore as Tony Boffie
 * Hedda Hopper as Ines Montari
 * Rafaela Ottiano as Lena
 * Warburton Gamble as Baron
 * Albert Conti as Captain
 * Roland Varno as Albert

Production
As You Desire Me is the first of three films teaming Garbo with actor Melvyn Douglas. It is also the only film in which Garbo appears as a blonde.