The Emperor's Candlesticks (1937)

A male Polish secret agent and a female Russian secret-police spy smuggle messages to St. Petersburg in candlesticks. While chasing after stolen candlesticks they discover each other's ... See full summary »

Director:

George Fitzmaurice

Writers:

Baroness Emmuska Orczy (book), Harold Goldman,

Stars:

William Powell, Luise Rainer, Robert Young

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Powell	...	Baron Stephan Wolensky
Luise Rainer	...	Countess Olga Mironova
Robert Young	...	Grand Duke Peter
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Maria Orlich
Frank Morgan	...	Colonel Baron Suroff
Henry Stephenson	...	Prince Johann
Bernadene Hayes	...	Mitzi Reisenbach
Donald Kirke	...	Anton, the Thief
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Mr. Korum, a Conspirator (as Douglas Dumbrille)
Charles Waldron	...	Dr. Malchor, a Conspirator
Ian Wolfe	...	Leon, a Conspirator (as Ien Wulf)
Barnett Parker	...	Albert, Stephan's Butler
Frank Reicher	...	Pavloff
Bert Roach	...	Hotel Clerk
Paul Porcasi	...	Santuzzi

Storyline

A male Polish secret agent and a female Russian secret-police spy smuggle messages to St. Petersburg in candlesticks. While chasing after stolen candlesticks they discover each other's identity and fall in love.

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Plot Keywords:

candlestick | spy | hotel room | saint petersburg | trap | 

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Genres:

Drama | History | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 July 1937 (USA)

Also Known As:

Le secret des chandeliers

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Die Leuchter des Kaisers (1936)

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Soundtracks

"Two Guitars"
Old Gypsy folk song

User Reviews

Rather talky and tepid

The handsome Prince (Robert Young) has been kidnapped and will be killed unless a Polish secret agent (William Powell) is able to sneak a ransom note to the Czar. Unfortunately, he chose a rather silly place to hide the note (inside a specially created candlestick) and it is lost. At the same time, a Russian spy (Luise Rainer) is trying to sneak in letters incriminating Powell as a spy--and also hides them inside the matching candlestick--which also is lost. Lots of intrigue follows--as well as some MGM style romance.

This film should have been better. After all, it starred the wonderful William Powell and had such supporting stars as Maureen O'Sullivan, Robert Young, Frank Morgan and Henry Stephenson--all fine actors. However, despite a decent script idea and such talent, the film was only okay. Much of this is because the script was rather tepid and talky--with too many scenes listening to the characters play verbal chess--trying to outfox each other. There was little 'zip' or excitement.

In addition, some of the blame probably resides with co-star Luise Rainer. While Ms. Rainer only made a small number of Hollywood films, she had the distinction of winning two straight Best Actress Oscars. However, when you see these two performances as well as her subsequent films you wonder why she received such accolades. The performances just didn't age well. In the last week or so I have seen six of her more famous films, I can't help but think that she was a terribly over-rated star. I'm sure she's a nice person and is still thriving today at 98 years-old. But her style of acting usually included staring wide-eyed into space and often reciting her lines in an over-eager fashion--more like a girl in a high school play than someone trying to play a realistic performance. While Ms. Rainer was better in THE EMPEROR'S CANDLESTICKS than in some of her other films (particularly DRAMATIC SCHOOL and BIG CITY), she still was not up to starring against Powell.

Now all this is NOT to say that this is a bad film--it's enjoyable enough. But there just isn't much spark or energy and could have been a lot more interesting. A decent time-passer and that's about it.