The Scarlet Empress - Criterion Collection (1934)

Ok

I had great expectations for Scarlet Empress, but I found myself skipping forward in the movie. There were too many grand scenes that were very long and lacked dialogue...church scenes, of young ladies running here and there, of horsemen and travel, much of these scenes punctuated by very bombastic adaptations of Tchaikovsky, the Russian national hymn, and Wagner. The scenes of Russia were really fake. The setting didn't look like Moscow at all and it appeared to be more of a scene from some German fairy tale with weird Gothic furniture and, for some reason, all of the rooms in the palace have humongous doors that no one can seem to open very well.
Dietrich is not a convincing young girl, but she does get to shine in her role as the empress. Still, I found that even in her role as an obedient young girl you can imagine a more complex character than is actually presented. Same Jaffe was great, but his character did not get the treatment that it deserved. You sort of have to fill in the blanks yourself. So, the strength of the movie is in the actors, although the characters are not dealt with as well as I would have hoped.
I noticed the quality was not perfect, but, then again, if you go to a theater to watch a real print then that is what you get. The quality was not even that bad. It didn't bother me even a little as I watched. January 4, 2009

The Scarlet Empress (Marlene Dietrich, Josef von Sternberg dir.)

The names of Marlene Dietrich and Josef von Sternberg (born Jonas Sternberg) are inextricably entertwined. The Scarlet Empress is a classic lighting masterpiece of film noir directed by Josef von Sternberg which was released on September 15, 1934. The major players are Marlene Dietrich as Princess Sophia Frederica, Maria Riva for Princess Sophia as a child, Sam Jaffe in his first major role as the Imbecile Grand Duke Peter (Peter III of Russia), as the John Lodge as the dashing Grand Duke Peter, Louise Dresser as the Russian Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.

The Story of Catherine the Great has been a favorite subject of film. In 1934, three films were released on her rise: The Scarlet Empress directed by Josef von Sternberg with Sam Jaffee as Grand Duke Peter (Peter III), The Rise of Catherine the Great with Douglas Fairbanks as Grand Duke Peter and, lastly, Trenk - Der Roman einer grossen Liebe directed by Enrnst Neubach and Heinz Paul with Carl Mahnke as Grand Duke Peter. To summarize, Catherine (born Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg) was the daughter of Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst who was governor of Stettin (Szczein, Poland). She was married to the prospective tsar (Peter of Holstein-Gottorp) in an effort to strengthen the ties between Prussia and Russia and weaken those between Russia and Austria.

The film begins with Catherine (then Sophie) as a child and contrasts her innocence to the cruelty of Russia. The innocent maiden is betrothed by Frederick II of Prussia to Peter of Holstein-Gottorp the heir-presumptive to the throne of Russia. She is under the control of her mother (Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp) who is clever and ambitious Sophia took great pains to be loyal to her new country and do whatever was necessary to ingratiate herself with Tsarina Elizabeth, her future husband and the Russian people by learning the language and adopting its faith. Though she is a wide eyed innocent at first, her eyes soon open to reality. Her husband (later Peter III) does not love her, is shown to impotent and immature and spends much of his time playing soldiers and marching his Holstein grenadiers through the palace.

Sophia prepares for the marriage through it is a loveless one. After the death of the Empress Elizabeth on on 5 January 1762 [O.S. 25 December 1761], Peter succeeded to the throne as Peter III of Russia.

The file is an prime example of film noir. The Russian palace is depicted as a center of nightmare and intrigues with gargoyles and darkeness. She first takes a lover in the form of the charming Count Alexei. He, however, is the lover of husbands's aunt Elizabeth (Louise Dresser) and she begins taking on lovers in the Russian army. A son arrives and she takes advantage of this to gain power in her adopted home Russia. Upon the death of the Empress, Peter accedes to the throne as Peter III and begins a reign of terror and repression. Catherine added the army to her conquests and Alexei reappears. He plays the same role to her new lover as Catherine had when Alexei was lover to Elizabeth (Louise Dresser). The final denoument occurs at a banquet to give alms for the poor: Catherine and her allies give much while Peter III, his mistress and chancellor give little. Catherine is arrested but her allies in the army support a coup. A revolt ensues and Peter III is deposed and ultimately murdered by Alexei Orloff. Bells are a recurrent theme throughout the film first as an instrument of torture though the triumphant peals of the accession of Catherine II. The finale ends with Catherine proclaimed Express to the sounds of Beethoven's 1812 Overture and the peals of joy and peace.

Included in this DVD is a 20 minute 1967 BBC B&W documentary on the film which describes his masterful lighting techniques and stills from the film's 1934 release. For additional details, one recommends Josef von Sternberg's book entitled Fun in a Chinese Laundry. This film is a classic which deserves a place in every film collection. September 24, 2008

very good and strange sternberg/dietrich collaboration

Sternberg's love affair with dietrich is probably at its zenith with this strange and delightfully over the top version of the story of Catherine the great.. It is a fine piece of direction with a very interesting set featuring gargoyles and secret passages all with the very best sternberg lighting scheme... Dietrich's performance is delightful and funny and as suggestive as ever..

A note on the print of the film... I will probably sound a bit spoiled when I say it was a little hard to watch.. I guess after seeing the great criterion transfers of early films like M, Pandora's Box, or even Kino's excellent transfer of Sternberg's the Blue Angel I had expected something a little bit better... Maybe the film just didn't sit well over time but criterion normally seems to perform miracles on such films.. oh well.. it is still a very nice dvd for your collection.. February 6, 2008

Forget the plot, just watch!

The booklet that accompanies this Criterion DVD contains a short essay on Sternberg by the late avant-garde filmmaker Jack Smith, to the effect that Sternberg wasn't very interested in the stories he filmed, and we shouldn't be either. I can't say what Sternberg thought--personally I think the stories are more interesting than he is given credit for--but I have found that the most satisfying approach to all his films is to treat them as silents. Turn the soundtrack off, maybe put on some music you like, and focus on the images. So many are arresting in their beauty, and some are simply astonishing, like those at the climax of Scarlet Empress, when the hussars gallop up the palace staircase and Dietrich stands before the doors to the throne, breathing heavily and incandescent with the eros of power. November 3, 2007

A movie for film historians and students

Sternberg/Dietrich is a match made in heaven. The cinematography, the set designs, the innuendo, the costumes, the supporting cast. This is a movie of the ages. The slow simmer between Dietrich & Lodge are the stuff legends are made of. Oh and the utter contempt Dietrich has for Jaffe that slowly grows and then boils over. They don't make movies like this anymore! True, the acting is abit over board, kinda like watching an old Douglas Fairbanks movie. But the atmosphere is awesome.

True, there are no extras or subtitles, but I have found the older the movie the more difficult to find the missing film. February 4, 2007

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