Flesh and the Devil (1926): Garbo is an irresistible vixen who comes between lifelong friends John Gilbert and Lars Hanson.

The Temptress (1926): Garbo establishes her magnetic screen persona as a vamp who destroys the lives of men who cannot resist her charms.

The Mysterious Lady (1928): Garbo plays a Russian spy who seduces her victims.

Anna Christie (1931): Sixteen minutes or so into this adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize play, 1930 audiences got what they were waiting for when Greta Garbo made her entrance and spoke on camera for the first time in her career: "Gimme a whiskey?." Like Lon Chaney and Charlie Chaplin, the Swedish Sphinx had continued in Silents even though Talkies were the rage. Here she made her landmark transition to the new era, playing a former prostitute whose past may ruin her chance for happiness. A different director and cast join Garbo in a German-language version (Side B) filmed on the same soundstages immediately after the English version. She called it the better film, and many fans today agree. You decide!

Mata Hari (1931): Mata Hari: the name breathes mystery, intrigue and sexual allure. Who better to play the notorious World War I spy than Greta Garbo, the enigmatic, exquisite screen icon called The Swedish Sphinx? Garbo is mesmerizing as the dancer-turned-German secret agent in a wartime Paris seething with secrets and betrayal. The notable supporting cast includes Lionel Barrymore as a Russian general besotted with her, Lewis Stone as an icy master spy, and Ramon Novarro as a handsome aviator who wins the heart Mata Hari did not know she possessed. With the world at war, love was her weapon. And the only men she couldn't seduce were the 12 in the firing squad that ended her tragic and tumultuous life.

Grand Hotel (1932): A drama dealing with the interpersonal relationships of a variety of people living in a Berlin hotel.

Queen Christina (1933): To escape the burdens of rule, Sweden's Queen Christina rides into the countryside disguised as a boy. There she meets and secretly falls for a dashing Spanish envoy on his way to the royal court. Imagine the envoy's delighted surprise when he and the young "nobleman" must share a bed at an overcrowded inn. Greta Garbo gives a luminous performance in this lavish costume drama, starring with her one-time off-screen fiance John Gilbert and directed by Rouben Mamoulian. "It had been so enchanting to be a woman, not a queen. Just a woman in a man's arms," Christina murmurs to her lover when her true identity is revealed. But she knows her people will not accept her marriage to a foreigner. Torn between her duty and her heart, she must make a fateful decision.

Anna Karenina (1935): Anna Karenina, dutiful wife and doting mother, knows contentment but not passion. That changes when she meets ardent Count Vronsky. For him, she throws away marriage, family, social position and finally her life. Leo Tolstoy's novel receives sumptuous treatment in David O. Selznick's production. The cast - including Fredric March (as Vronsky), Basil Rathbone, Maureen O'Sullivan and Freddie Bartholomew - is stellar under the direction of Clarence Brown. But the soul of the film is Greta Garbo in a nuanced performance that won the New York Film Critics Best Actress Award. At the height of her art, Garbo is unforgettable as a woman helpless in love's thrall and heartbroken at the loss of her son. Her final scene will haunt you.

Camille (1936): Life in 1847 Paris is as spirited as champagne and as unforgiving as the gray morning after. In gambling dens and lavish soirees, men of means exert their wills and women turned courtesans exult in pleasure. One such woman is Marguerite Gautier (Greta Garbo), the Camille of this sumptuous romance tale based on the enduring Alexandre Dumas story. Garbo's aloof mystique and alabaster beauty illuminate this George Cukor-directed film featuring what many call her finest performance. Her Camille is a movie paragon of true love found (in suitor Armand Duval, memorably played by Robert Taylor), then sacrificed for a greater good. Garbo earned an Academy Award nomination and the New York Film Critics Best Actress Award for her memorable work.

Ninotchka (1939): Garbo Talks! proclaimed ads when silent star Greta Garbo debuted in talkies. Nine years and 12 classic screen dramas later, the gifted movie legend was ready for another change. Garbo Laughs! cheered the publicity for her first comedy, a frothy tale of a dour Russian envoy sublimating her womanhood for Soviet brotherhood until she falls for a suave Parisian man-about-town (Melvyn Douglas). Working from a cleverly barbed script written in part by Billy Wilder, director Ernst Lubitsch knew better than anyone how to marry refinement with sublime wit. "At least twice a day the most dignified human being is ridiculous," he explained about his acclaimed Lubitsch Touch. That's how we see Garbo's lovestruck Ninotchka: serenly dignified yet endearing ridiculous. Garbo laughs. So will you.