Mata Hari

Mata Hari is a 1931 crime drama from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by George Fitzmaurice. Set during the First World War, it follows an exotic dancer in Paris who leads a double life as an agent working for the Germans. She cultivates the attention of military men, diplomats and politicians to obtain secrets, but her professional detachment breaks down when she genuinely falls for a young Russian officer, Lieutenant Alexis Rosanoff. That attachment puts her mission and her life at risk, and the story moves toward her trial and execution.

Greta Garbo takes the title role, with Ramon Novarro as Rosanoff, Lionel Barrymore as General Serge Shubin, Lewis Stone as Andriani, C. Henry Gordon as Dubois and Karen Morley as Carlotta. Benjamin Glazer and Leo Birinski wrote the screenplay, and Fitzmaurice produced alongside Irving Thalberg. The film was released in December 1931 and runs 89 minutes. Positioned third among the three titles listed for Fitzmaurice, it followed Three Live Ghosts, which appeared in 1922.

Audience response has been moderate. On IMDb, the film holds a rating of 6.5 from around 4,200 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.2 from 63 votes, indicating a solid but not distinguished reputation among viewers, with a considerably smaller sample on the latter platform.