[1] This 1929 production is notable for being the last major film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) without dialogue and the final non-speaking performances by both Garbo and Conrad Nagel.

Two lovers – Irene Guarry (Greta Garbo) and André Dubail (Conrad Nagel) – feign interest in artwork as they discuss their clandestine romance.

Irene is a young woman unhappily married to Charles Guarry (Anders Randolf), a wealthy, much older businessman, whose company teeters near bankruptcy.

The investigator only reports that she went to a local dog show and had an innocent encounter with Pierre Lassalle (Lew Ayres), the 18-year-old son of one of Charles' business associates.

Courtroom testimony by Pierre's father about Charles' impending bankruptcy and "utter despair", along with André's heartfelt declarations of Irene's innocence, convince the jury to acquit her.

[11] The publication felt that both Garbo's performance and her physical appearance in the film were actually enhanced by its non-talking format: The Kiss, with an unusual taste exhibited in casting and direction, is entertainment of the holding kind.

[10]Film critic Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times referred to the presence of The Kiss among all the new talking pictures in late 1929 as "Golden silence" and a demonstration of Fedyer's "consummate artistry" with a non-talker.

[12] "Miss Garbo", observed Hall, "once again reveals her extraordinary talent for screen acting, and under M. Fedyer's guidance she is if anything more impressive than she has been in other films.

"[13] Released less than 4 months after the disastrous crash of the American stock market in 1929, The Kiss was not expected to do well financially by attracting sizeable crowds of filmgoers in that highly unstable economic time.

[5] The film, though, surprised studio executives by making a significant profit and becoming Garbo's second most successful picture, ranking only behind Flesh and the Devil with John Gilbert, which had been released three years earlier.

[5] In Atlanta, Georgia, for example, it was reported that during Thanksgiving week The Kiss "broke all existing house records for receipts at Loew's Capitol [Theatre]".