Queen Kelly (1932)

A convent girl is abducted and seduced by a prince before being sent off to a brothel in East Africa.

Directors:

Erich von Stroheim (as Erich Von Stroheim), Richard Boleslawski (uncredited)

Writers:

Erich von Stroheim (based on an original story by) (as Erich Von Stroheim), Marian Ainslee (titles) (as Marion Ainslee)

Stars:

Gloria Swanson, Walter Byron, Seena Owen

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Gloria Swanson	...	Kitty Kelly / Queen Kelly
Walter Byron	...	Prince Wolfram
Seena Owen	...	Queen Regina V

Storyline

Prince Wolfram is the betrothed of mad Queen Regina V of Kronberg. Supreme ruler, her word is law and he is a playboy. On maneuvers as punishment for partying with other women, he sees Kelly walking the the other students of a convent. He is intrigued by her beauty and wants her. He kidnaps her that night from the convent and takes her to his room and professes his love for her. When the Queen finds them together the next morning , she whips Kelly and throws her out of the castle. Regina then puts Wolfram into prison for not wanting to marry the Queen. Kelly goes to German East Africa to visit her dying Aunt and is forced to marry the disgusting Jan. The Aunt dies after the wedding and Kelly refuses to live with Jan and becomes the head of Aunties Brothel. Her extravagances and style earn her the name 'Queen Kelly' and Prince Wolfram does not marry Queen Regina V.

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | nickname as title | surname in title | queen | prince | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Tully Marshall dribbled tobacco juice on Gloria Swanson's hand during the wedding sequence and explained that director Erich von Stroheim ordered him to do it, it was the final straw. She called producer Joseph P. Kennedy and demanded that von Stroheim be fired. He was, effectively shutting down the production.

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Goofs

The positions of the two different groups, the troops and the convent girls, are constantly changing in relation to the shrine on Kambach road.

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Quotes

Kitty Kelly, aka Queen Kelly: [stunned to learn that Wolfram is engaged to the Queen] He's going... to marry... you?
Queen Regina V: *I* am going to marry *HIM*!

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Alternate Versions

Director Erich von Stroheim never completed the film: the ending is made using stills and subtitles. The European version has a different storyline than the American one.

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Connections

Featured in Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood: The Dream Merchants: 1920-1928 (2010)

User Reviews

Oh What Could Have Been....

Queen Kelly (1929)

*** (out of 4)

I think it's safe to say that von Stroheim's directing career was over when Gloria Swanson threw him a bone to direct this picture, which was originally intended to be a five-hour epic. Soon, as was always the case with the director, the thing was way over budget, he was fired and the film was never completed, although a few years later Swanson went back and filmed an alternate ending, which is included on the DVD. The film, as presented on the DVD, runs around 100-minutes and I'd say about ten-minutes are made up from stills and title cards explaining the missing footage.

The film tells the story of Kitty Kelly (Swanson), a convent girl who gets swept off her feet by Prince Wolfram (Walter Byron) but she does know that he's set to marry Queen Regina (Seena Owen) the following day. Kelly runs away in shame and finds herself in South Africa where her dying aunt turns over her brothel, which Kelly will now run. The love at first site plot isn't the most original out there but von Stroheim adds enough weirdness that makes this film worth sitting through. You can tell that this was meant to be an epic because of the 90-minutes worth of footage the first seventy-minutes are pretty much dealing with the love story. I'm guessing Kelly's rise in the brothel was originally meant to be much longer than what's shown here but I guess we'll never know as the footage is long gone and what stills are available really don't tell us too much. There are many flaws in this film but for the most part I found it very enjoyable. I thought the opening fifteen-minutes were a tad bit stiff but things really start to heat up around the thirty-minute mark. The sadistic side of von Stroheim comes through when the Queen learns that her man has been unfaithful and the whipping sequence she puts on Kelly is marvelously done and is without question one of the most beautiful shots in the director's career. You can also easily see where the budget went and the incredibly banquet scene is just a real beauty on the eyes. Swanson turns in a very good performance as she perfectly captures the spirit of the young, naive girl, although at the same time she's way too old for the part. I thought she handled the role very nicely but we never really get to see her as the brothel queen. Both Byron and especially Owen eat up their scenes and help keep the film moving. As is, QUEEN KELLY is certainly flawed but it's hard to judge the film too much simply because most of it is incomplete. The "Swanson" ending that's included on the DVD really doesn't work either so in the end we're just left with a "what if..." situation.

Details

Country:

USA

Release Date:

18 October 1932 (Argentina)

Also Known As:

The Swamp

Filming Locations:

Selig Mission Zoo - 3800 Mission Road, Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gloria Swanson Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min (1985 restored) 75 min (Swanson Version)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric System) Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1