The Scarlet Empress (1934)

A German noblewoman enters into a loveless marriage with the dim-witted, unstable heir to the Russian throne, then plots to oust him from power.

Director:

Josef von Sternberg

Writers:

Catherine II (based on the diary of), Manuel Komroff (diary arranged by)

Stars:

Marlene Dietrich, John Lodge, Sam Jaffe

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Marlene Dietrich	...	Princess Sophia Frederica / Catherine II
John Lodge	...	Count Alexei
Sam Jaffe	...	Grand Duke Peter
Louise Dresser	...	Empress Elizabeth Petrovna
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Prince August
Gavin Gordon	...	Capt. Gregori Orloff
Olive Tell	...	Princess Johanna Elizabeth
Ruthelma Stevens	...	Countess Elizabeth 'Lizzie'
Davison Clark	...	Archimandrite Simeon Todorsky / Arch-Episcope
Erville Alderson	...	Chancelor Alexei Bestuchef
Philip Sleeman	...	Count Lestoq (as Phillip Sleeman)
Marie Wells	...	Marie Tshoglokof
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski	...	Ivan Shuvolov (as Hans von Twardowski)
Gerald Fielding	...	Lt. Dmitri
Maria Riva	...	Sophia as a Child (as Maria)

Storyline

Young Princess Sophia of Germany is taken to Russia to marry the half-wit Grand Duke Peter, son of the Empress. The domineering Empress hopes to improve the royal blood line. Sophia doesn't like her husband, but she likes Russia, and is very fond of Russian soldiers. She dutifully produces a son -- of questionable fatherhood, but no one seems to mind that. After the old empress dies, Sophia engineers a coup d'etat with the aid of the military, does away with Peter, and becomes Catherine the Great.

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Plot Keywords:

riding a horse indoors | hatred | horseback riding | army | stubbornness | 

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Taglines:

The Reigning Beauty of the Screen!

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Genres:

Drama | History | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 September 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

Catherine the Great

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$900,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,299

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Paramount held up the release of this film after it had wrapped for some months, so as to avoid competition with the similarly-themed film, The Rise of Catherine the Great (1934).

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Goofs

Catherine II is a woman of the 18th century, yet Dietrich depicts her with the depilated eyebrows and cupid-bow lips that were fashionable in 1934.

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Quotes

Grand Duke Peter: I've had enough of this sanctimonious talk. Let us drink. Why doesn't he take up his collections in church? To the most charming woman in my empire, my friend, the countess Elizabeth.
[the party stands. Catherine remains seated and sets aside her drinking glass]
Grand Duke Peter: Go ask Her Majesty, my wife, why she doesn't join our toast.
Adjutant: His Majesty, the emperor of Russia, wishes me to ask why Her Majesty refuses to join the toast.
Sophia's Aunt: Tell His Majesty that my thirst is not as great as his tonight.
Adjutant: Her Majesty ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Hollywood Mouth (2008)

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Soundtracks

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op.61
(1843)
Written by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Excerpts incorporated into the score often

User Reviews

Dietrich & Old Russia - A Fascinating Phantasmagoria on Film

An innocent & obscure German princess is sent to Russia to become the wife of Grand Duke Peter, heir to the throne. Her romantic dreams are shattered when she finds her new husband to be a childish imbecile. Quickly growing wise, she soon begins taking lovers from among the military guard. So begins the legendary life of Catherine, Tsarina of Holy Russia, The Messalina of the North, THE SCARLET EMPRESS.

A riotous feast for the eyes, this is one of the great, unheralded films of the 1930's - enthralling for its visual impact alone. Seldom has an American film been filled with such lush imagery - tactile, grotesque, fascinating. The Russian royal palace is a charnel house full of ghouls & gargoyles - human & artistic. The actors share the scenes with fantastic statuary, twisting & writhing in silent, unspeakable pain. (Notice the tiny skeletons on the dining table.) Everywhere is death, moral decay & barbarism, even in the most powerful court in Europe.

At the center of this ossuary is the gorgeous Marlene Dietrich. Her beauty radiates, but never dominates, throughout the film. She is splendid as a young woman in a very dangerous place, who gains courage & great determination in her ordeal. Equally good is Sam Jaffe as Peter; with his leering grin & demented eyes he is the very picture of a murderous madman.

Louise Dresser, as the Empress Elizabeth, is very effective as a comic bully. John Lodge & Gavin Gordon, as Catherine's military lovers, are both stalwart. Wonderful old Sir C. Aubrey Smith has a small role as Catherine's princely father. Film mavens will spot an uncredited Jane Darwell as Catherine's nurse.

The highly emotional soundtrack, an amalgam of themes by Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn & Wagner, explodes in the film's final moments into musical pyrotechnics.