Two-Faced Woman

“Just one of those things,” Cukor sighed retrospectively about this mistaken-identity romantic comedy, his biggest critical flop. A ski instructor falls for a bigshot magazine editor; they marry; he returns to the city on business; she follows him disguised as her flirtatious (and nonexistent) sister. Soon, the jig is up, and husband and wife wind up stuck in a spiral of mutual deception. Two-Faced Woman has at least one invaluable asset: the radiant Greta Garbo, fresh from her recent triumph in Ninotchka, giving what would turn out to be her last onscreen performance. (Shaken by the film’s failure, she hesitated for years to take on another project; when her next picture fell apart, she retired. She would live on for a half-century more without making another film.)