George Cukor's direction breathes new life into the cluttered theaters, bustling boudoirs and shining hypocrisies of Alexander Dumas fils' nineteenth century Paris, where the classy courtesan inhabits a lush and sensual world but is denied “perfect love.” Garbo herself comes dangerously close to perfection in this enduring classic; many critics consider her portrayal of Dumas' tragic heroine, Marguerite Gautier (“La Dame aux camellias”), to be her finest moment. As Village Voice critic Andrew Sarris notes in a recent reappraisal of Camille, “It is hard to imagine that even Sarah Bernhardt could have come close to Garbo's delicately self-mocking and playfully romantic Lady of the Camellias.... Among the distinguished cast,” Sarris adds, “Rex O'Malley, as a hanger-on with a heart of gold,