Whether in David Bowie songs, on magazine covers, or in the halls of cinematic history, Greta Garbo was a force to be reckoned with ever since she started acting. Today is the thirtieth year anniversary of the screen legend’s passing away, and it may be a good time to reflect on one of Hollywood’s most interesting careers. Garbo was a Swedish phenomenon that was a major presence during the silent era. She ended up being one of the few silent stars to gracefully transition into the talking picture age, without missing a beat at all; if anything, I’d argue her career only got stronger once she was in talkies. Having been nominated for three Academy Awards — all for Best Actress — since she started starring in sound films (literally her first talkie role in Anna Christie was nominated), Garbo was virtually unstoppable.

Which is why her abrupt stop in 1941 remains so puzzling. Her final role was in the clunker Two-Faced Woman, which was naturally ripped to shreds by critics. From that day forth, Garbo swore to never star in another film again. She had many opportunities, including being the first choice for the role of Norma Desmond in Billy Wilder’s noir classic Sunset Boulevard (that role went famously to Gloria Swanson, whose transition into sound pictures wasn’t quite as smooth). She was sought after for a number of roles for years, and Garbo actually said yes to a number of them; she would back out of these projects quickly for varying reasons. Two-Faced Woman ended up being her final film, having never starred (or even cameoed) in another film before her passing in 1990.

Truth is, Garbo hated the Hollywood system, and the overall filmmaking progress. Transitional stars like her likely got the rough end of film history, because of the initial struggle to get into Hollywood, only to then have to reinsert oneself into the talking picture age. Studio execs and producers were well into their monstrous years. Having to stay afloat would have been a nightmare as well. Then, was the slap in the face to end it all: a terrible film to discredit one of film’s most prominent careers. That final straw was likely a reminder to Garbo that this industry is greatly unlikeable in many ways, and she didn’t need to take part in the more pugnacious activities: the possibility of more bad films to be tainted by.

What if Greta Garbo kept acting, though? What if she came back for that Sunset Boulevard role? Knowing how she felt about Hollywood overall, it would be interesting to consider what could have been for the nearly fifty years of inactivity from the Golden Age icon. That would likely eliminate some of the more well known Hollywood classics. I’d like to think she may have leaned towards some of the more artistically inclined works of these times. Since arthouse and experimental works weren’t quite an entity back then (not in the ways they became, anyway, and I don’t think Garbo would have been into the crazier avant-garde films of the time), perhaps Garbo would have been a part of some standout waves; I’m thinking Archers Technicolor melodramas, or maybe the film noir movement.

In the ‘50s, she could have maybe become attached to Swedish works that were making their ways overseas (in the way that Ingrid Bergman eventually starred in Autumn Sonata, for example). By the time that the ‘60s hit, and the New Hollywood movement was going to pick up steam, Garbo was fifty five. Would there be a chance that she may have taking part in this wave? Probably not, since the industry’s problems were the same, even though the nature of films was transforming. By the ‘70s (her mid sixties to early seventies), Garbo could have taken part in a number of arthouse or pieces of world cinema, as these bridges were naturally being crossed more and more often. Eventually, her dream to avoid Hollywood as it was may have been a bit more tangible; if she had wanted to continue acting, that is. As we all know, the film industry’s problems are still continuing, so being on film sets anywhere and at any time would likely have been an issue. The ‘80s was likely going to be the end either way, since Garbo would have been entering her 80s during this time period, so going that far may be even sillier than trying to predict this imaginary career at all.

We’ll never know what Greta Garbo would have been like, had she never stopped acting through these many transitional periods of cinema. In the around-twenty years of her career (ten silent, ten talkie), she wowed us enough to be cemented as a movie star for the ages, and nothing afterwards was needed. Think about that. In the fifty years afterwards, maybe she would have won that elusive Academy award she was nominated for (but never ultimately won); she did receive an honorary Oscar, but she didn’t show up to receive it, showing she likely didn’t care about this win (or just didn’t want to enter the public eye). Garbo would have been the sole face of cinema, perhaps forever, if she was a part of all of these shifting tides (even to a small degree).

However, that was clearly not her wish. She did all that she wanted to do in film when she retired, as she traveled, collected art, and enjoyed the company of her friends, She did love her privacy, though. What she accomplished in cinema was enough for her. It was clearly enough for the medium as well, considering how her legacy will never slip away even one hundred years later. It’s just nice to think about how one of cinema’s greats could have dominated all of the decades that came her way. In a way, she technically has done so, seeing as she was heavily fought for by filmmakers, as a means of revitalizing her career. That just wasn’t what she was interested in. In all likeliness, cinema itself wouldn’t have changed too much if Garbo continued acting; rather, it would just have been represented by Garbo this entire time. It’s almost futile to think about what could have been, because neither film nor Garbo’s legacy would have been affected; I don’t even believe her career would have been tarnished, even if she starred in many other bad films.

It’s one of cinema’s biggest what-ifs, but I think her filmography is near-perfect as is. Like The Beatles, Garbo put an end to something fantastic. We’ll never know what could have come afterwards, and that’s okay. How many other stars have we seen run their various courses? It’s just intriguing to think about Greta Garbo, because of the many hurdles she cleared seemingly effortlessly: a foreign film star having a huge presence in silent cinema, only to overtake Hollywood during the dawn of talkies. At the same time, isn’t that enough? By philosophizing what could have come afterwards, I think it’s somewhat of a disservice to what she had accomplished. Her body of work — one of Hollywood’s finest ever — should be enough. On the thirtieth anniversary of her passing, it’s an important realization that I’m having. The question mark after Two-Faced Woman doesn’t really matter anymore. She already pulled off the impossible more than once. She will forever be the figurehead of the Golden Age. If anything, her early retirement is the final miracle she pulled off in Hollywood: she quit the system before it quit her.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.

Greta Garbo: What If She Kept Acting?