As You Desire Me (1932) in Color — Starring Greta Garbo & Melvyn Douglas

May. 28, 1932USA70 Min.Approved

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IMDb 9 807 votes

Drama

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Synopsis

Browse More: 📅 More from 1932 🎭 Drama Movies 🌍 USA Movies

Is As You Desire Me in colour? Yes — this is the colorized version

As You Desire Me (1932), the drama classic starring Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas, was originally released in black and white — no official colour version was ever produced by the studio. What you are looking at is the professionally colorized restoration: every frame recoloured, available as an instant DRM-free HD (720p) download. You can judge it yourself — the colour preview plays on this page before you buy.

As You Desire Me (1932) — Buy This Classic in Color

Buy As You Desire Me (1932) in color — one of pre-Code Hollywood’s most haunting and psychologically rich dramas, starring the incomparable Greta Garbo in a mesmerizing performance of fragile beauty and fractured identity. This professionally restored and colorized classic film brings Garbo’s luminous screen presence to life in stunning HD color, alongside Melvyn Douglas and the formidable Erich von Stroheim. Available now as an instant DRM-free digital download for €15.00 — own this extraordinary piece of Hollywood history in vivid, professionally colorized HD.

Plot Summary

As You Desire Me (1932) opens in a Budapest cabaret where Zara (Greta Garbo), a sultry and world-weary entertainer, performs nightly under the controlling influence of the sinister novelist Carl Salter (Erich von Stroheim). Zara has lost her memory — she cannot recall her identity before the years of degradation, and Salter exploits this vulnerability to keep her at his mercy. Into her life comes Count Bruno Varelli (Melvyn Douglas), who believes Zara is his long-lost wife Maria, missing since the chaos of the First World War.

Seized by the possibility of reclaiming her true self, Zara agrees to go with Bruno to his Italian estate and attempt to become Maria. The estate, the servants, and a childhood friend all recognize Maria in Zara’s face and mannerisms, and for a time it seems that the past can truly be recovered. But Salter follows relentlessly, determined to reclaim power over the woman he has psychologically imprisoned, and the question of whether Zara is truly Maria — or simply a woman desperately wishing herself into an identity — hangs over the film with increasing tension.

Directed by George Fitzmaurice and based on the play by Luigi Pirandello, As You Desire Me is one of the most philosophically sophisticated films of the pre-Code era. The script explores questions of memory, authenticity, desire, and self-creation that were startlingly modern for 1932. At 70 minutes it is a compact and intensely focused classic film, building to a confrontation between Garbo and von Stroheim that remains one of the most tensely dramatic scenes in early Hollywood cinema.

Cast & Crew

Director: George Fitzmaurice

Cast:

Greta Garbo as Zara, a.k.a. 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

Why Buy This Classic in Color?

Greta Garbo is widely considered one of the most visually extraordinary screen presences in cinema history, and this professionally restored and colorized version of As You Desire Me (1932) demonstrates why with remarkable clarity. The original black and white photography captures the architectural perfection of Garbo’s features, but in color, the full complexity of her performance becomes even more extraordinary — the subtle flush of emotion, the contrast between the cold Budapest cabaret and the warm Italian sunlight, the visual storytelling that William Daniels built into every frame.

The frame-by-frame colorization was undertaken with careful attention to period authenticity. The 1930s palette — the deep jewel tones of the cabaret, the warm ochre and sienna of the Italian villa, the subdued elegance of period evening dress — has been accurately reconstructed using archival references and careful digital analysis. This professionally restored edition ensures that the film looks as it might have appeared if it had been shot in Technicolor, which was not yet available to MGM productions in 1932.

Erich von Stroheim brings an almost unbearable menace to the role of Salter, and in color, the visual contrast between his cold, calculating presence and Garbo’s luminous vulnerability is heightened to extraordinary effect. The black and white contrasts of the original film were always a metaphor for the moral binary at the heart of the story — in color, that metaphor becomes visible in an entirely new register.

For admirers of Greta Garbo, for lovers of pre-Code Hollywood cinema, or for anyone who values psychological drama of genuine depth, this colorized edition of As You Desire Me is an essential buy. Instant download, DRM-free, in HD quality — experience one of the cinema’s most beautiful performances in vivid color. This classic film is also available in colour for international audiences.

Technical Details

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Who stars in As You Desire Me?
The film stars Greta Garbo as Zara/Maria, alongside Melvyn Douglas as Count Bruno Varelli and Erich von Stroheim as the menacing Carl Salter. It is one of the last and most sophisticated of Garbo’s pre-Code Hollywood appearances.

What is the film based on?
As You Desire Me is based on the play Come tu mi vuoi (1930) by the Italian playwright Luigi Pirandello, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. The play explores themes of identity, memory, and the desire to reconstruct a lost self — themes that Garbo and von Stroheim bring to vivid life on screen.

Is the full film preserved in this edition?
Yes. The complete 70-minute runtime of the original film is preserved without cuts or alterations. This is the full As You Desire Me (1932) with professionally applied color throughout.

How long after purchase can I access the download?
Access is instant. Your download link is activated immediately upon payment confirmation. No waiting, no processing delay.

What makes this film worth buying?
As You Desire Me is a remarkable piece of pre-Code cinema — psychologically complex, visually extraordinary, and centered on one of the most luminous performances of Greta Garbo’s career. In this colorized and restored edition, it is accessible to modern audiences in a new way while preserving everything that makes the original a genuine classic movie.

Is this a DRM-free download?
Yes. Your purchase gives you instant access to a DRM-free MP4 file. There are no streaming restrictions, no subscription requirements, and no expiration date. Download and keep permanently on any device.

What devices support this download format?
The standard MP4 format lets you watch on all modern devices: Windows PCs, Macs, Android and iOS smartphones and tablets, smart TVs, Roku, Apple TV, and Chromecast. Any modern media player will play the file without additional software.