Anna Karenina (1935)

Anna Karenina, dutiful wife and doting mother, knows contentment but not passion. That changes when she meets ardent Count Vronsky. For him, she throws away marriage, family, social position and finally her life. Leo Tolstoy's novel receives sumptuous treatment in David O. Selznick's production. The cast - including Fredric March (as Vronsky), Basil Rathbone, Maureen O'Sullivan and Freddie Bartholomew - is stellar under the direction of Clarence Brown. But the soul of the film is Greta Garbo in a nuanced performance that won the New York Film Critics Best Actress Award. At the height of her art, Garbo is unforgettable as a woman helpless in love's thrall and heartbroken at the loss of her son. Her final scene will haunt you.