Marie Antoinette (1938)

Director:

W.S. Van Dyke
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Writers:

Claudine West (screen play) &
Donald Ogden Stewart (screen play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

26 August 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History | Romance

Plot:

The life of Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) from betrothal and marriage in 1770 to her beheading. At first...

Plot Keywords:

Dauphin | Necklace | Revolution | Locksmith | Marie Antoinette

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Norma Shearer	...	Marie Antoinette
Tyrone Power	...	Count Axel de Fersen
John Barrymore	...	King Louis XV
Robert Morley	...	King Louis XVI
Anita Louise	...	Princesse de Lamballe
Joseph Schildkraut	...	Duke d'Orléans
Gladys George	...	Mme. du Barry
Henry Stephenson	...	Count de Mercey
Cora Witherspoon	...	Countess de Noailles
Barnett Parker	...	Prince de Rohan
Reginald Gardiner	...	Comte d'Artois
Henry Daniell	...	La Motte
Leonard Penn	...	Toulan
Albert Dekker	...	Comte de Provence (as Albert Van Dekker)
Alma Kruger	...	Empress Maria Theresa
Joseph Calleia	...	Drouet
George Meeker	...	Robespierre
Scotty Beckett	...	The Dauphin
Marilyn Knowlden	...	Princesse Thérèse
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Erville Alderson	...	Passport Official (uncredited)
Richard Alexander	...	Man with Pike (uncredited)
Sam Ash	...	Rabblerouser (uncredited)
Bonnie Bannon	...	Girl (uncredited)
Trevor Bardette	...	Municipal Taking the Young Dauphin (uncredited)
Robert Barrat	...	Citizen-Officer (uncredited)
Ed Brady	...	Townsman at Execution (uncredited)
Thomas Braidon	...	Lackey (uncredited)
Al Bridge	...	Official in Passport Office (uncredited)
Peter Bull	...	Gamin (uncredited)
John Burton	...	Lafayette (uncredited)
Mae Busch	...	Mme. La Motte (uncredited)
John Butler	...	Second Municipal Taking the Young Dauphin (uncredited)
Frank Campeau	...	Lemonade Vendor (uncredited)
David Cavendish	...	Beauregard (uncredited)
Lane Chandler	...	Revolutionary Officer (uncredited)
Dorothy Christy	...	Lady in Waiting to Madame Du Barry (uncredited)
Ocean Claypool	...	Woman in Gaming House (uncredited)
Roger Converse	...	Man in Gaming House (uncredited)
Harry Cording	...	Executioner (uncredited)
Earl Covert	...	Singer in Death Chant (uncredited)
Wade Crosby	...	Danton (uncredited)
Cecil Cunningham	...	Mme. 'Feldy' de Lerchenfeld (uncredited)
Guy D'Ennery	...	Minister at King's Council (uncredited)
Howard Da Silva	...	Toulon (uncredited)
Harry Davenport	...	Monsieur de Cosse (uncredited)
Nigel De Brulier	...	Archbishop (uncredited)
Vernon Downing	...	Man in Gaming House (uncredited)
Claire Du Brey	...	Woman Yelling at Rabblerouser (uncredited)
Frank Elliott	...	King's Chamberlain (uncredited)
Billy Engle	...	Man with Goblet (uncredited)
Harold Entwistle	...	Old Aristocrat at Opera (uncredited)
Ann Evers	...	Woman in Gaming House (uncredited)
Al Ferguson	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Barry Fitzgerald	...	Peddler (uncredited)
Neil Fitzgerald	...	First Councilor (uncredited)
Jack George	...	Orchestra Leader (uncredited)
Maude Turner Gordon	...	Dowager (uncredited)
Greta Granstedt	...	Woman in Gaming House (uncredited)
Lawrence Grant	...	Old Nobleman at Birth of Dauphin (uncredited)
Jack Grey	...	Courtesan (uncredited)
Ben Hall	...	Young Man Fetching Priest (uncredited)
Ben Hendricks Jr.	...	National Guardsman (uncredited)
Holmes Herbert	...	Herald (uncredited)
Ramsay Hill	...	Major Domo (uncredited)
George Houston	...	Marquis De St. Priest (uncredited)
Esther Howard	...	Streetwalker (uncredited)
Mary Howard	...	Olivia (uncredited)
Hugh Huntley	...	Man in Opera Gallery (uncredited)
Arthur Hurni	...	Rabblerouser (uncredited)
Ruth Hussey	...	Duchess de Polignac (uncredited)
Olaf Hytten	...	Monsieur Boehmer - the Jeweler (uncredited)
Frank Jaquet	...	Keeper of the Seal (uncredited)
Edward Keane	...	General (uncredited)
Victor Kilian	...	Guard in Louis' Cell (uncredited)
Claude King	...	Choisell (uncredited)
George Kirby	...	Priest (uncredited)
Henry Kolker	...	Court Aide (uncredited)
Howard Lang	...	Franz (uncredited)
Duke R. Lee	...	Coach Driver (uncredited)
Harts Lind	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Jacques Lory	...	French Peasant (uncredited)
Frank McGlynn Jr.	...	Soldier with Rude Laugh (uncredited)
Horace McMahon	...	Rabblerouser (uncredited)
John Merton	...	Soldier Announcing Birth (uncredited)
Helene Millard	...	Lady in Waiting to Du Barry (uncredited)
Frances Millen	...	Lady in Waiting to Du Barry (uncredited)
M. Morova	...	Singer in Death Chant (uncredited)
Corbet Morris	...	LaRue (uncredited)
Leonard Mudie	...	Man Yelling 'Have You Proof?' (uncredited)
Bea Nigro	...	Woman at the Opera (uncredited)
Mimi Olivera	...	Lady in Waiting to Du Barry (uncredited)
Moroni Olsen	...	Bearded Leader of the People (uncredited)
Rafaela Ottiano	...	Louise - Marie's Maid (uncredited)
Claire Owen	...	Woman in Gaming House (uncredited)
Inez Palange	...	Fish Wife (uncredited)
Billy Platt	...	Midget in Student Ball Number (uncredited)
Guy Bates Post	...	Convention President (uncredited)
Alonzo Price	...	Second Guardsman (uncredited)
Tom Quinn	...	Rabblerouser (uncredited)
Herbert Rawlinson	...	Goguelot (uncredited)
'Little Billy' Rhodes	...	Midget in Student Ball Number (uncredited)
Buddy Roosevelt	...	Revolutionary Officer (uncredited)
Lionel Royce	...	Guillaume (uncredited)
Tom Rutherford	...	St. Clair (uncredited)
Brent Sargent	...	St. Pre (uncredited)
Harry Semels	...	Townsman at Execution (uncredited)
Allen D. Sewall	...	Citizen (uncredited)
Kathryn Sheldon	...	Mrs. Tilson - Setting the Table for Four (uncredited)
Ivan F. Simpson	...	Sauce (uncredited)
William Steele	...	Footman (uncredited)
Carl Stockdale	...	National Guardsman Bringing Toy Soldier (uncredited)
Harry Stubbs	...	Second Councilor (uncredited)
Frank Arthur Swales	...	Chimney Sweep (uncredited)
Phillip Terry	...	Man in Gaming House (uncredited)
Zeffie Tilbury	...	Dowager at Birth of Dauphin (uncredited)
Dorothy Tuttle	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Theodore von Eltz	...	Officer in Entrance Hall (uncredited)
Gustav von Seyffertitz	...	King's Confessor (uncredited)
Charles Waldron	...	Swedish Ambassador (uncredited)
Walter Walker	...	Dr. Benjamin Franklin (uncredited)
Luana Walters	...	Woman in Gaming House (uncredited)
Anthony Warde	...	Marat (uncredited)
Lyons Wickland	...	Laclos (uncredited)
Tudor Williams	...	Singer in Death Chant (uncredited)
Eric Wilton	...	Juror (uncredited)
Ian Wolfe	...	Herbert - the Jailer (uncredited)
George Zucco	...	Governor of Conciergerie (uncredited)

Directed by
W.S. Van Dyke		(as W.S. Van Dyke II)
Julien Duvivier		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Claudine West		(screen play) &
Donald Ogden Stewart		(screen play) and
Ernest Vajda		(screen play)
Stefan Zweig		(based in part on the book by)
F. Scott Fitzgerald		uncredited
Talbot Jennings		dialogue (uncredited)

Produced by
Hunt Stromberg	....	producer
Irving Thalberg	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Herbert Stothart

Cinematography by
William H. Daniels		(photographed by) (as William Daniels)
George J. Folsey		(uncredited)
Leonard Smith		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Robert Kern		(film editor) (as Robert J. Kern)

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Costume Design by
Adrian		(gowns)
Gile Steele		(costumes: men)

Makeup Department
Jack Dawn	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Frank Messenger	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jacques Tourneur	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
William A. Horning	....	associate art director
Edwin B. Willis	....	associate art director

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director
Bill Edmondson	....	sound (uncredited)
William Steinkamp	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Slavko Vorkapich	....	montage effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Louis Kolb	....	electrical engineer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Eugene Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Music Department
Leo Arnaud	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
George Bassman	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Murray Cutter	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Paul Marquardt	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Leonid Raab	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Robert W. Stringer	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Albertina Rasch	....	dances
George Richelavie	....	technical advisor
Rebecca Breskin	....	researcher (uncredited)
Ray Deichsel	....	researcher (uncredited)
Howard Dietz	....	press representative (uncredited)
Ralph Faulkner	....	fight choreographer (uncredited)
May Huyn	....	researcher (uncredited)
Thelma Johnson	....	researcher (uncredited)
Elliott Morgan	....	researcher (uncredited)
Mary Smith	....	researcher (uncredited)
John Wenzel	....	researcher (uncredited)

Thanks
Sidney Franklin	....	grateful acknowledgment: for his contribution of the production preparation

Production Companies

• Loew's
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (presents) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1938) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1939) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1951) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1939) (France) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1990) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

149 min | USA:157 min (original road show print including entry, intermission and exit music)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #4322) | Canada:PG (video rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | West Germany:12 | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Chateau de Versailles, Versailles, Yvelines, France

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

According to TCM's website, in early December 1937, Peter Lorre was announced as the first choice for the role of Louis XVI, but by the time filming began, Robert Morley had been awarded the part.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the lavish ball sequence at Versailles that appears to take place in the famous Hall of Mirrors, King Louis XV (and later, Mme du Pompadour) arrives by descending a huge flight of stairs. Yet the real Hall of Mirrors has no stairs, at either end.

Quotes:

Dr. Benjamin Franklin:Why, this is barbarous! Must the queen's child be born in public?
Count de Mercey:Dr. Franklin, a French monarch belongs to the public. He must be born, he must live and he must die in public.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Another Romance of Celluloid (1938)

Soundtrack:

Orpheus and Euridice

Rediscovering Norma Shearer

As a young actress still in her 20s, Norma Shearer was hailed as the First Lady of MGM, and she reigned as queen of the studio throughout the 1930s. For about two decades after early retiring in 1942, she was fondly remembered by fans and critics, but slowly she was forgotten. Then in the early 70s, antagonistic film critic Pauline Kael, grudge-holding MGM rival Joan Crawford and others took delight in trashing her, usually with the implication that Norma's greatest talent was finding a powerful husband (Irving Thalberg). Unfortunately, those unfair remarks carried great weight since Shearer's movies were unavailable on video and rarely shown on TV.

We're now able to see her talent for ourselves, thanks largely to Turner Classic Movies, and Norma Shearer's star is rising again.

If you've never seen a Shearer movie, Marie Antoinette is a good beginning. It is one of Hollywood's great epics of the 1930s, with lavish costumes and scenery, and its historic setting holds up well. Shearer plays the doomed French queen from teenager to the Guillotine, and the final scenes as she awaits death in prison are among the finest of her career.

In recent years, Shearer has gained new respect for her silent films, in which she was one of the most accomplished young actresses of the era. Two standouts are Lady of the Night and A Lady of Chance, in which she plays "worldly" women with a sly wit. She was not a typical ingénue, and you can see why sophisticated audiences of the time were enchanted by her.