Mata Hari

This film was based on the true story of Mata Hari, the assumed name of Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod (née Zelle), and her espionage activities during World War I. According to the file for the film in the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library, in April 1930, Paramount producer Ben Schulberg asked the opinion of the Hays Office on doing a picture based on the book Mata Hari by Major Thomas Coulson of the British Intelligence Service. The Hays Office forwarded the book to the German Consul General in San Francisco, Otto von Hentig, who called it "one of the most contemptible pieces of war propoganda I ever read" and claimed that every detail of the story was "utterly wrong or misconceived." The Consul General also complained that in the story Germans were "once again the treacherous, cunning nation compared with these gallant and clever French and English men." At least one official at the MPPDA, Maurice McKenzie, shared von Hentig's opinion that Coulson's story should not be filmed and called it "a dangerous one to deal with from both the French and German standpoint."
       Paramount eventually abandoned its plans to film the story, but M-G-M took up the idea and submitted a temporary script of Mata Hari a year later. According to a December 1931 New York Times article, an M-G-M executive asserted that "no single book written about the adventuress's exploits was used as authority for the film narrative." The Hays Office called M-G-M's version "a very strong story and an interesting one." Initially, the only objections raised by the Hays Office to the M-G-M script were those concerning Mata's dance sequence and the "bedroom situations." By August 1931, however, M-G-M was warned about, among other things, Mata's nudity, her sexual affairs and the portrayal of nuns as "parties to an illicit sexual affair."
       Hollywood Reporter pre-production news items note that Jean Hersholt was set for a part in this film and that the start of filming was delayed due to story difficulties. Although a November 1931 Film Daily news item notes that actress Isabel Keith was signed to a role, her appearance in the released film has not been confirmed. Modern sources credit J. K. Brock with the sound and list Gordon De Main in the role of "Ivan." According to a New York Times news item, the Aggoure ranch, located about fifty miles from Hollywood in the Sherwood Lake region, was used as the location for the execution scenes in this picture. The New York Times also indicates that, in order to "insure the accuracy of treatment and curtail production delays," director George Fitzmaurice adopted an experimental plan of using over 300 drawings prepared by studio draftsmen to supplement his continuity sheet. The drawings, which were supervised by Fitzmaurice and Alexander Toluboff of the studio art department, included detailed pictorial compositions of the settings, the positioning of players and specifications for lighting and camera angles. The New York Times review notes that "Mata Hari" translates to "eye of the dawn" in Hindustani.
       According to the MPAA/PCA file, in December 1931, New York censors ordered many eliminations from the film, including the scene in which Novarro picks up Garbo from a couch, carries her into a bedroom and slams the door; the subsequent view of the city at dawn; Garbo lighting the Madonna lamp; and "Andriani's" men carrying out "Carlotta's" body. The Atlanta Better Film Committee reviewed the film in January 1932 and gave it a "not recommended" rating. The reviewer commented, "I wish this picture could be destroyed. It is not fit to be shown anywhere." In January 1936, a PCA official who reviewed the film to determine its eligibility for re-issue certification recommended against certification and wrote that the film was "the type of picture which caused adverse criticism of the motion picture industry." Although the PCA submitted a new list of required deletions to qualify Mata Hari for re-issue certification, the film was rejected that year. The picture did not receive a re-issue certification number until July 1939.
       Among the many films based on the legendary spy are: a 1927 German film entitled Mata Hari, directed by Frederich Feher and starring Madga Sonia; a 1965 French-Italian production entitled Mata Hari, Agent H-21, directed by Jean-Louis Richard, and starring Jeanne Moreau and Jean-Louis Trintignant (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1961-70; F6.3137); and the 1985 film Mata Hari, directed by Curtis Harrington and starring Sylvia Kristel and Christopher Cazenore. In addition, Mata Hari was caricatured by Zsa Zsa Gabor in the 1972 British film Up the Front.