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To me, this movie is perfection.

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

In Austria, after the marriage of her beloved sister, Katrin (Greta Garbo) is proposed to marry Dr. Walter Fane (Herbert Marshall), who is a former student of her father and is researching cholera. They travel to Hong Kong and Katrin is totally neglected by her husband. Soon she has a love affair with the diplomat Jack Townsend (George Brent). When Walter discovers her love affair, he proposes the divorce provided Jack leaves his wife and marry Katrin. But this procedure would destroy his diplomatic career and Katrin leaves Jack. Walter decides to travel to the countryside to a village with cholera epidemic and forces Katrin to travel with him to punish her. What will happen to his wife?"The Painted Veil" is a romance with a corny conclusion about a marriage without love of a dedicated researcher and a bored housewife. The imperialism of the Westerns is impressive and a doctor is capable to order to burn down the houses of the villagers to the ground without explaining them the reason why. Only Greta Garbo makes it worthwhile watching this film once. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "O Véu Pintado" ("The Painted Veil")

Not often listed as one of Garbo's top films, she still does manage to deliver here and has a sometimes opulent production to back her up. She plays the unmarried sister of a blushing new bride who, in a moment of weakness, agrees to marry a kindly, but rather passionless acquaintance (Marshall) who has loved her for a long time. After their wedding, he whisks her off to China where he is leading the way in the study and treatment of cholera. She has achieved a certain level of affection for him at this time. Soon, however, his hours begin to interfere with his relationship with Garbo and she finds herself enjoying the company of a local playboy (Brent) who is married to a wealthy woman he cares little about. The couple has trouble resisting the impulse to make love and they have the bad luck to indulge their passion one day just as Marshall has come by the house to deliver some periodicals for his wife to read. Distraught over his wife's infidelity, Marshall arranges for her to accompany him to a remote, cholera-stricken village, regardless of the fact that one or both of them could die in the process. Here Garbo wallows in self-pity until she begins to realize that sometimes the best way to help oneself is to give of oneself. However, it may be too late to salvage her marriage. Garbo (billed only by her last name in the credits!) is practically the whole show here and easily outshines her comparatively colorless costars (especially Brent.) She infuses her character with loads of feeling and emotion as the camera studies her amazing features. She does, unfortunately, wind up in at least one preposterous Adrian concoction, notably a white, draped number with a huge trivet necklace and a hat that looks like it ought to be the lid of a pressure cooker. Most of the time, though, she overcomes any indulgence in the clothes and manages to portray her role with skill. Marshall is well-suited to his meek, unassuming character, showing fire only on those rare occasions when its called for. Brent, on the other hand, just comes off as mostly cheesy and phony. It's hard to imagine Garbo falling for him. Few other characters have time to make much of an impression though Oland (best known as "Charlie Chan") pops up as a Chinese General and Harvey injects some light comedy into the film with his boozy portrayal of a local official. The production sports the typically impressive MGM design with Marshall's home a glamorous place to reside and a Chinese New Year celebration including some elaborate performing (with Brent and Garbo hilariously standing practically IN the action. What? No one asked them to step aside, get out of the way or sit down?) Typical of the period, some alterations, particularly regarding the ending, were made from the story as told in the source novel by W. Somerset Maugham, but this doesn't hurt the film too much. It was later remade, more simply and with less star-power, but still entertainingly, with Eleanor Parker as "The Seventh Sin". Another remake, with the original title intact, is currently underway with Naomi Watts.

When I watched THE PAINTED VEIL, I thought that a remake should be made. Because the story has so much potential which couldn't have been explored sans restrictions in a movie made in the 1930s. Oddly enough, when I watched this film (early spring of 2006), it was announced that a remake of THE PAINTED VEIL was in the works and it's starring Naomi Watts in the role of Katrin. Well, after hearing this bit of news, I guess a good remake has yet to be made because casting Watts in the role played by Garbo is, well, ludicrous.The best thing about the Garbo version of THE PAINTED VEIL is Garbo herself. She outshines the whole movie. Remove her from the film and, frankly, there's no reason to watch it. Garbo plays a very difficult role and pulls it off successfully. She beautifully underplays her role, which could have easily been fodder for scenery chewing if played by other actresses of that era. Watts has big shoes to fill.The worst part of this version are two male co-stars, who aside from being almost indistinguishable from each other, are dull. It's hard to believe any woman would be interested in either of them, character or look-wise. And the production values, though good, aren't the most effective. Even though the budget was supposedly high for that time, there's a cheap, rushed feel to it (it was shot in two months!). No location film-making in China here. Another problem is the script which is obviously a truncated version of the W. Somerset Maugham novel. Something tells me big parts of the book were left out and the story in the film looks half complete. But the basis of this odd romance is still there and I find it fascinating. It's sorta like an anti-romance romantic story, or a reversed romantic story, which I've rarely seen before and having Garbo in this was perfect casting, because of she was such an unconventional star.I rate the movie a 5 but because of Garbo, I give it a 7.(P.S.: I finally read the book and did not like it at all. The Garbo film is an actual improvement)

Married to a distracted English scientist, a beautiful Austrian finds forbidden love beyond THE PAINTED VEIL in China.Based on a story by W. Somerset Maugham, this MGM film is soap opera of a high order, featuring excellent production values & acting. The dialogue is also refreshingly literate & thoughtful, something of a surprise in a film which might be pigeonholed as just an elaborate potboiler.Fascinating as always, Greta Garbo is at last showcased in a film whose backdrop & setting matches her for exoticism. Enervated by the overwhelming cultural saturation of pre-war China, she seems freed to be essentially herself - shorn of all needs to bewitch - and is able to give herself over to the seriousness & drama of her character's dilemma. What the viewer is left with is one of her best performances.The two men in Garbo's life are excellently portrayed by Herbert Marshall & George Brent. Neither characters are without faults, but the actors make them intimately human, revealing some of the loneliness in each man's heart. These actors had distinct similarities, making it something of a bold move for MGM to put them in the same film, but also enabling the viewer to understand why Garbo could love both.Excellent support is given by gentle Jean Hersholt as Garbo's kindly father; Forrester Harvey as a happy-go-lucky embassy employee in China & Warner Oland as a sympathetic Chinese general.Movie mavens will recognize Keye Luke as a young doctor and Mary Forbes & Ethel Griffies as British ladies in Hong Kong - all uncredited.The Chinese scenes show MGM at what it did best - creating another world, utterly realistic, in its back lot.