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 star in the United States in 1930 and 1931. Garbo followed with two of her most famous roles. In 1931, she played the World War I German spy in the lavish production of "Mata Hari", opposite Ramón Novarro. When the film was released, it "caused panic with police reserves required to keep the waiting mob in order." The following year, she played a Russian ballerina in "Grand Hotel" (1932), opposite an ensemble cast, including John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, and Wallace Beery among others. The film won that year's Academy Award for Best Picture. Both films had been MGM's highest-earning films