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Scarlet Empress
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by Universal Studios
Sales Rank: 29604
Price: $14.98
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The radiant Princess Sophia Frederica (Marlene Dietrich) gets taken to Russia, renamed Catherine, and married off to the Grand Duke Peter. Peter is "a royal half-wit" with all the physical (and intellectual) appeal of a halibut. Luckily, even before the wedding Sophia-Catherine-Marlene has already fallen in lust with the handsome, womanizing emissary Count Alexei, the first of many uniformed conquests. Melodrama doesn't come any more melo than this, and Dietrich doesn't really do much, except swivel those enormous searchlight eyes from one man to another, but this is one of her sexiest and most memorable roles. It culminates with her escaping from the Palace--and stealing the throne of Russia from the halibut (who by now is Peter III)--all dressed in Cossack uniform. The Empress, Peter's aunt, is played--somehow appropriately--with the accent and social grace of a New Jersey chambermaid. Great music, great lighting, and great camera work, all directed with an odd mixture of campy humor and glaring bombast by Josef von Sternberg. <I>Scarlet Empress</I> has (to quote the titles) "a supporting cast of 1,000 players"; at least 950 of them look exactly like Rasputin. They don't make movies like this anymore; what a pity. <I>--Richard Farr</I>
Viewer Reviews
The names of Marlene Dietrich and Josef von Sternberg (born Jonas Sternberg) are inextricably entertwined. The Scarlet Empress is a classic lighting masterpiece of film noir directed by Josef von Sternberg which was released on September 15, 1934. The major players are Marlene Dietrich as Princess Sophia Frederica, Maria Riva for Princess Sophia as a child, Sam Jaffe in his first major role as the Imbecile Grand Duke Peter (Peter III of Russia), as the John Lodge as the dashing Grand Duke Peter, Louise Dresser as the Russian Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.
The Story of Catherine the Great has been a favorite subject of film. In 1934, three films were released on her rise: The Scarlet Empress directed by Josef von Sternberg with Sam Jaffee as Grand Duke Peter (Peter III), The Rise of Catherine the Great with Douglas Fairbanks as Grand Duke Peter and, lastly, Trenk - Der Roman einer grossen Liebe directed by Enrnst Neubach and Heinz Paul with Carl Mahnke as Grand Duke Peter. To summarize, Catherine (born Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg) was the daughter of Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst who was governor of Stettin (Szczein, Poland). She was married to the prospective tsar (Peter of Holstein-Gottorp) in an effort to strengthen the ties between Prussia and Russia and weaken those between Russia and Austria.
The film begins with Catherine (then Sophie) as a child and contrasts her innocence to the cruelty of Russia. The innocent maiden is betrothed by Frederick II of Prussia to Peter of Holstein-Gottorp the heir-presumptive to the throne of Russia. She is under the control of her mother (Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp) who is clever and ambitious Sophia took great pains to be loyal to her new country and do whatever was necessary to ingratiate herself with Tsarina Elizabeth, her future husband and the Russian people by learning the language and adopting its faith. Though she is a wide eyed innocent at first, her eyes soon open to reality. Her husband (later Peter III) does not love her, is shown to impotent and immature and spends much of his time playing soldiers and marching his Holstein grenadiers through the palace.
Sophia prepares for the marriage through it is a loveless one. After the death of the Empress Elizabeth on on 5 January 1762 [O.S. 25 December 1761], Peter succeeded to the throne as Peter III of Russia.
The file is an prime example of film noir. The Russian palace is depicted as a center of nightmare and intrigues with gargoyles and darkeness. She first takes a lover in the form of the charming Count Alexei. He, however, is the lover of husbands's aunt Elizabeth (Louise Dresser) and she begins taking on lovers in the Russian army. A son arrives and she takes advantage of this to gain power in her adopted home Russia. Upon the death of the Empress, Peter accedes to the throne as Peter III and begins a reign of terror and repression. Catherine added the army to her conquests and Alexei reappears. He plays the same role to her new lover as Catherine had when Alexei was lover to Elizabeth (Louise Dresser). The final denoument occurs at a banquet to give alms for the poor: Catherine and her allies give much while Peter III, his mistress and chancellor give little. Catherine is arrested but her allies in the army support a coup. A revolt ensues and Peter III is deposed and ultimately murdered by Alexei Orloff. Bells are a recurrent theme throughout the film first as an instrument of torture though the triumphant peals of the accession of Catherine II. The finale ends with Catherine proclaimed Express to the sounds of Beethoven's 1812 Overture and the peals of joy and peace.
Included in this DVD is a 20 minute 1967 BBC B&W documentary on the film which describes his masterful lighting techniques and stills from the film's 1934 release. For additional details, one recommends Josef von Sternberg's book entitled Fun in a Chinese Laundry. This film is a classic which deserves a place in every film collection.
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