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.

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

The Reigning Beauty of the Screen!

---

Genres:

Drama | History | Romance

---

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)

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

During production, when director Josef von Sternberg's perfectionist style of film making proved to be too overbearing for Marlene Dietrich, Dietrich and her friend and purported lover, Mercedes de Acosta, hatched a plot to convince the director to abandon his grueling directorial style. In a particularly-frosty period of production, when Dietrich and von Sternberg had not talked to one another off set for three days, de Acosta told Dietrich to fake an injury by falling off of a horse. Dietrich did as her friend asked, toppling from a horse during filming and pretending to be unconscious. De Acosta had supplied a "doctor" for the situation and the doctor rushed to Dietrich's side. The doctor claimed she had passed out from overwork. The incredibly-contrite von Sternberg took it easy on his starlet for the rest of the shoot, and their working relationship was repaired.

---

Goofs

Peter's Holstein guard is falsely referred to as Hessian. This may have been deliberate to make use of the bad reputation of Hessian mercenaries in the American Revolutionary War.

---

Quotes

Archimandrite Simeon Todorsky: [collecting money for the poor] Your Imperial Majesty, something for the poor?
Grand Duke Peter: [slaps him]
Archimandrite Simeon Todorsky: That was for me. Now what have you got for the poor?
Grand Duke Peter: There are no poor in Russia! Get out!

---

Connections

Featured in Marlene (1984)

---

Soundtracks

1812 Overture in E Flat, Op.49
(1880)
Written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Excerpts incorporated into the score often

User Reviews

Luminous black and white ode to Marlene...

......I saw this years ago, but some of the images-Marlene on a swing, the charging horsemen, the bits w/ Sam Jaffe and C Aubrey Smith, most certainly stand out. It was definitely the director's way of putting his worship of Marlene on display for all to see, Catherine might as well have been Cleopatra or Eleanor of Aquitaine for all the historical accuracy-ha ha-they use.

This was a movie about excess as much as anything, curtains that go on forever, huge doors, loud music, etc. They just don't make them like this anymore and certainly couldn't afford to then, either.

I don't think I ever saw Marlene anymore sensual than in this film, and I agree, her idea of playing a 'poor innocent gal'-that isn't put across well at all. Sometimes you just can't fake it, no matter how hard you try.

*** outta ****, style over everything.