Greta Garbo than $1 million at the box office, becoming one of the studio's biggest failures of the decade. Garbo's popularity had considerably dropped, and when her contract expired soon thereafter, she returned briefly to Sweden. On 3 May 1938, Garbo was among the many stars—including Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Luise Rainer, Katharine Hepburn, Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, Fred Astaire, Dolores del Río and others—dubbed to be "Box Office Poison" in an article published by Harry Brandt on behalf of the Independent Theatre Owners of America. After the box office failure of "Conquest", MGM decided a change of pace was needed to
Greta Garbo one film. Garbo received her nomination for her work in both "Anna Christie" and "Romance". She lost out to Irving Thalberg's wife, Norma Shearer, who won for "The Divorcee". In 1937, Garbo was nominated for "Camille", but Luise Rainer won for "The Good Earth". Finally, in 1939, Garbo was nominated for "Ninotchka", but again came away empty-handed. "Gone With the Wind" swept the major awards, including Best Actress, which went to Vivien Leigh. She was awarded an Academy Honorary Award "for her luminous and unforgettable screen performances" in 1954. She did not show up at the ceremony, and the statuette