Greta Garbo Los Angeles on their own, but another five weeks passed with no contact from the studio. On the verge of returning to Sweden, she wrote to her boyfriend back home: "You're quite right when you think I don't feel at home here… Oh you lovely little Sweden, I promise that when I return to you my sad face will smile as never before." A Swedish friend in Los Angeles helped out by contacting MGM producer Irving Thalberg, who agreed to give Garbo a screen test. According to author Frederick Sands, "the result of the test was electrifying. Thalberg was impressed
Greta Garbo script any more than she did the first one) and Stiller, "The Temptress" was a harrowing experience. Stiller, who spoke little English, had difficulty adapting to the studio system and did not get on with Moreno, was fired by Thalberg and replaced by Fred Niblo. Reshooting "The Temptress" was expensive and even though it became one of the top-grossing films of the 1926–27 season, it was the only Garbo film of the period to lose money. However, Garbo received rave reviews and MGM had a new star. After her lightning ascent, Garbo went on to make eight more silent films