A Royal Scandal (1945)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Directors:

Ernst Lubitsch
Otto Preminger

Writers:

Lajos Biró (story)
Bruno Frank (writer)

Release Date:

11 April 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Saucy! Naughty! Delicious!

Plot Keywords:

Russia | Aristocracy | Royalty | Remake | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Tallulah Bankhead	...	Catherine the Great
Charles Coburn	...	Chancellor Nicolai Iiyitch
Anne Baxter	...	Countess Anna Jaschikoff
William Eythe	...	Lt. Alexei Chernoff
Vincent Price	...	Marquis de Fleury
Mischa Auer	...	Capt. Sukov
Sig Ruman	...	Gen. Ronsky
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	Malakoff
Mikhail Rasumny	...	Drunken general
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Egon Brecher	...	Wassilikow
Donald Douglas	...	Variatinsky (as Don Douglas)
Eva Gabor	...	Countess Demidow
Grady Sutton	...	Boris

Also Known As:

Czarina (UK)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Unrated | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Ernst Lubitsch worked with Edwin Justus Mayer in the scripting process. Edwin Justus Mayer worked with Lubitsch before in _"To Be or Not to Be" (1942)_.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker (1991)

You Spell Catherine The Great, S-E-X

After seeing a couple of serious dramas concerning the ascension to the throne of Russia of Princess Sophia of Anhalt-Zerbst who has come down in history as Catherine the Great, it was an interesting change to watch A Royal Scandal and see what Tallulah Bankhead did with the Mother of all the Russias.

The two films that I refer to are the ones done in the Thirties that starred Elizabeth Bergner and Marlene Dietrich. Both of those dealt with young Catherine and how in a palace coup she dethroned her husband and as the consort Empress was recognized as the actual ruler. What happens in those two films play very much into what happens in A Royal Scandal.

What a coup accomplishes, another coup can reverse. Catherine is not all that secure on her throne. She's in the midst of a power struggle between her military leaders personified by Sig Ruman and her Chancellor who wants a peace policy capped off with an alliance with France. Chancellor Charles Coburn has even got an ambassador from Louis XV in the person of Vincent Price to seal the deal.

In all this blunders William Eythe an earnest but not terribly bright young guardsman, the kind Catherine the Great was known to fancy. She fancies him a lot, but as she says one must be wary not to put too much trust in handsome men in uniforms.

So we've got a nice little Russian court comedy going with Ruman and Coburn both trying to use Eythe for their own purposes and Bankhead who when Eythe says his sword is at her disposal, she wants to make sure she gets the most use out of it. While all this is going on, Eythe is engaged to Anne Baxter one of Tallulah's ladies in waiting. And she doesn't want a castoff when Bankhead's through with the merchandise.

Coburn comes off really well as the foxy old chancellor who's survived many a palace intrigue by using his wits. Ruman's not bad either and I do love Grady Sutton's brief role as Ruman's idiot son who just wants to go back to the Urals. Sutton's southern accent actually works here as he makes the Urals sound like the Ozarks. Definitely a touch of Ernest Lubitsch.

A Royal Scandal together with Lifeboat, both released in 1945 marked the height of Tallulah Bankhead's all too brief film career. Too few film parts for this stage legend, only the Lunts are worse in that regard. For that reason this bright and witty comedy should be seen and treasured.