Family Retainer w/Flag Carl 'Major' Roup as Train Station Vendor Rolfe Sedan as Women's Hat Salesman Ellinor Vanderveer as Guest at Ball Glen Walters as Family Retainer Production Flesh and the Devil, produced in 1926, premiered at New York's Capitol Theatre on January 9, 1927 and marked a turning point for Garbo's personal and professional life. Initially, she refused to participate in the film. She had just finished The Temptress and was tired, plus her sister had recently died of cancer and she was upset that her contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer did not allow her to take the long trip back to Sweden. A sternly worded letter from MGM (read by Garbo biographer Barry Paris on the audio commentary for the 2005 DVD release of the film) warned her of dire consequences if she did not report for work. This was a rehearsal of sorts for a pitched battle Garbo would fight against studio heads after Flesh and the Devil was completed, which ended up with Garbo becoming one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood up to that time. The romantic chemistry between Garbo and Gilbert was a director's dream because it was not faked. The two actors quickly became involved in their own romantic affair and before production of the film was completed had already moved in together (per Paris' commentary). Hollywood legend has it that it was also during production that Gilbert proposed to Garbo; she accepted, a high-profile wedding was arranged, but Garbo backed out. Paris disputes that this could have happened in the midst of production. Regardless of the chronology, Flesh and the Devil marked the beginning of one of the most famous romances of Hollywood's golden age. They would also continue making movies together into the Sound Era, though Gilbert's career would collapse in the early 1930s while Garbo's soared. Garbo was so impressed with Clarence Brown's direction and William Daniels's cinematography that she continued to work with both of them in her subsequent films at MGM. She was particularly insistent on the use of Daniels as her prime cinematographer. Box office The film earned $603,000 in the United States and $658,000 elsewhere, bringing it $1,261,000 worldwide, netting the studio a $466,000 profit. Accolades The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – Nominated Home media Flesh and the Devil was restored and released to DVD with The