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| The Scarlet Empress (1934) |
| Background
The visually-expressionistic film's script was loosely based upon Catherine's own diary, and scripted by Manuel Komroff and an uncredited Eleanor McGeary. A few taglines were:
In the plot of the Paramount Pictures' stylistic historical drama about court intrigue and deceit, young, naive, tremulous bride-to-be, the Prussian-born Princess Sophia Frederica (Maria Riva as child), was brought to Moscow, Russia during a seven-week journey. She was escorted by Count Alexei (John Lodge) and brought for an arranged loveless marriage to Grand Duke Peter III (Sam Jaffe), the imbecilic nephew of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (Louise Dresser), and the crown-prince heir to the decadent throne. The domineering and rapacious Empress, who renamed her Catherine, hoped to improve the royal blood line, but the young girl was revulsed by her bumbling, unstable, idiotic, and childlike husband-to-be. Eventually after a period of disillusionment and vying for political power, the innocent young girl was transformed into a cunning, sexually-liberated Princess who became romantically involved with various men in her military entourage, including opportunistic, studly womanizer Count Alexei, head of the night guards Lt. Dmitri (Gerald Fielding), and Captain Orloff (Gavin Gordon). She even produced a son - of questionable fatherhood. After the death of the Empress, Catherine ultimately engineered a coup d'etat with the aid of the military, had her husband Peter III assassinated, and became Catherine the Great, Tsarina of Russia. Despite the sumptuous, ornate and opulent set design, sharp dialogue and great acting, the dark subject matter during the Depression Era led to a box-office failure (froms its $900K production budget) and lack of critical acclaim (it received no Academy Awards nominations). The big winner of the year was Frank Capra's screwball romantic comedy It Happened One Night (1934) starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. Other comedies in 1934 that were juxtaposed and unusually successful included The Thin Man (1934), W.C. Fields' It's A Gift (1934), and Howard Hawks' Twentieth Century (1934). For a six-year period, Dietrich was Svengali director von Sternberg's favorite leading lady - this was their sixth film together (and last great collaboration). They also worked together on:
Another film on the life of Catherine was made in the same year - director Paul Czinner's and producer Alexander Korda's historical drama Catherine the Great (1934) with Elisabeth Bergner, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and Flora Robson. A third film was Great Catherine (1968, UK), a slapstick comedy (based on George Bernard Shaw's play) directed by Gordon Flemyng and starring Peter O'Toole, Zero Mostel and Jeanne Moreau. Plot Synopsis In the opening titles (in lower-case text), the historic film made the epic boast that it featured a supporting cast of 1000 players. It then opened with a preface intertitle:
Introduction to The Young Empress: In her Prussian bedroom, 7 year-old aristocratic Princess Sophia Augusta Frederica (played by Marlene Dietrich's own daughter, Maria Sieber/Riva), who was being groomed to be a ruling Tsarina in Russia. While the young girl was being examined by a doctor, her ambitious-minded mother Princess Johanna Elizabeth (Olive Tell) barged in and insisted: "How often do I have to tell you that Sophia Frederica is no longer to play with toys. She's almost seven now....How am I to make it clear to you that Sophia might one day become a queen?" The young girl objected to her mother's future plans for her: "I don't want to be a queen, Mother. I want to be a toe dancer." Sophia's mother scolded her: "Be quiet, Sophia. You're going to marry a king if I have anything to do with it." It was revealed that the doctor (a "horse doctor"), after basically pronouncing that the young girl was healthy (although she may have had scarlet fever and/or a spinal ailment and would be required to wear a "harness" for a year), was also the locality's "public hangman" or executioner (who performed "operations with an axe"). He quickly exited to attend to his other duties: "Now I must be off on one of my operations." The Princess was curious and prophetically asked: "Hangman. What's a hangman? Can I become a hangman someday?" Young Sophia's Uncle, Herr Wagner (Edward Van Sloan) explained that a hangman "takes heads off skillfully." And then as follow-up, he proposed reading a graphic bedtime story to her about the history of Russian executions as she cuddled with one of her forbidden dolls hidden under her blanket. The story was composed of a montage of sado-masochistic, depraved tortures and brutalities in Tsarist Russia (of "Peter the Great and Ivan the Terrible and other Russian tsars and tsarinas who were hangmen"), including erotic images and morbid motifs. Blurred wipes between shots represented the turning of pages.
Proposal of Marriage: The last image culminated in a dissolve from the human bell-clapper into the hoop skirt of the young 15 year-old Empress-to-be (Marlene Dietrich) being pushed on a flower-decorated swing in her garden. The young, naive, tremulous, Prussian-born bride-to-be Princess, with blonde ringlets, was summoned into the presence of her royal family members. When she entered the room, she ritualistically curtsied and kissed the hands of seven people before she was able to sit down. Prince Christian August (C. Aubrey Smith), her father, read from a letter sent by the Prussian King Frederick - Sophia had been selected and then commanded to become a Russian bride:
Sophia Frederica, Prince August's daughter, was ordered to marry the royal crown prince of Russia, Peter III by the Prussian King. Sophia's first reaction was: "I wonder what he looks like," although her power-obsessed mother quipped that it was an "unimportant detail." She was obsessed with the success of her maternal grooming: "Come, August, we shall reply to the king at once. One must strike while the iron's hot." Arrival of the Russian Ambassador - Count Alexei - March 1744:
An entourage of Russians arrived on horseback at the residence of Sophia Frederica. In the main living room, the handsome lead Russian emissary from Moscow, Count Alexei (John Lodge), was being introduced to some of Prince August's family members:
Miss Cardell (Jane Darwell), Sophia's nurse, unlocked Sophia's upstairs bedroom door and allowed her to proceed downstairs. She bounded down two flights of stairs into the presence of her elderly relatives where she curtsied and then oddly kissed the hands of seven females before meeting the handsome Count. He was heralded as a very prominent emissary: "Field marshal of the Russian Army, grand master of the hunt, lord of the chamber and ambassador extraordinary from Her Divine Majesty, Elizabeth of Russia." When he was introduced to Sophia, he praised her beauty:
He brought luxurious gifts for family members:
The journey to Moscow in the wintry, ice-bound Russia was expected to take seven weeks, and would begin in two days ("the day after tomorrow"). Her "anxious bridegroom" and Her Majesty were impatiently awaiting their arrival. The eager Sophia was curious about the appearance of the Grand Duke (hoping he would be as good-looking as the Count himself), and Count Alexei asked her:
He then reassured Sophia:
Sophia was dismissed and again completed her ritualistic curtsying before leaving the room, although the wide-eyed, flirtatious young girl (with gaping mouth) paused to momentarily stare with fascination to glance back at the impressively regal Count who was eyeing her. After she had departed and closed the door, the Count expressed his avowed appreciation for Sophia's beauty:
The Departure and Long Journey to Russia:
An elaborate send-off was prepared for her departure. White-coated military Cossack troops with tall fur hats and guns strapped over their shoulders surrounded the horse-drawn carriage to take the young Princess to Moscow. Her father Prince August delivered wise advice to his daughter before the journey began:
An inter-title described the treacherous trip over barren, snow-covered lands:
At a roadside waystation where they planned to spend the night, Sophia's mother complained about the disrepair of the roads:
When Sophia's mother was shown to her room, young Sophia was left alone with the Count, and he asked: "Is the journey proving too much for you too?" Unlike her mother, Sophia was enjoying the strenuous and exotic journey to a strange land: "Oh, no. It could go on forever if Mother didn't mind." In the kitchen, the Count complimented Sophia's beauty ("Your hand is beautiful, isn't it?") and he affectionately and boldly stole a kiss from her. He claimed that he had fallen in love with her, although he could be charged with treason and punished. He handed her his whip to provide instant punishment for his reward of a kiss:
Sophia's mother appeared at the top of the stairs, and suspected that the two were flirting and kissing each other ("What are you two doing? Don't answer me. I don't want to know. Sophia, you ought to be ashamed of yourself"). She ordered Sophia upstairs as she grumbled about the inferior accommodations: "The stables are probably better than the quarters assigned to us." The Count responded: "If you prefer the stables, I'm certain that I can arrange to have the horses quartered in your bedroom." She called him a "Barbarian," and insisted that Sophia sleep in her bedroom, to keep a watchful eye on her.
Once they arrived at the Russian border, Sophia's mother continued to grouse about the physical discomforts of the cold environment: "It is cold. At least you have something to warm you when you get to Moscow; That is, if your husband isn't completely made of ice." Sophia was presented with a special gift of a basket of fruit from the Empress, and flowers that had been rapidly dispatched by the Grand Duke:
The carriages were replaced with horse-drawn sleds, and bells chimed to trace the progress of the Princess to the Kremlin.
A crescendo of bells, trumpets, waving flags and galloping horses marked the arrival of the important entourage in Moscow, with its architectural, onion-shaped domes. Gigantic wooden doors were thrown open to welcome the riders and their history-changing cargo into the palace. The Arrival in Moscow - With the Empress: The domineering Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (Louise Dresser) was enthroned on a gaudy imperial platform before a giant backdrop of a twisted, ghoulish, two-headed, avenging winged double-eagle statue. Other gothic-styled stone statues of individuals (with gnarled hands and twisted faces) each holding a candle were also visible. Behind the throne was a wall mural of religious icons (martyrs or saints), each with halos, and placed above and next to the throne were clusters of candelabras. The Empress was led down a long staircase with her robe's train flowing behind her. She greeted Count Alexei with a warm kiss. She then turned her attention to the awed and overwhelmed Sophia who appeared shocked and amazed by all the new sights. The Empress immediately pronounced a new name for Sophia:
The Empress also welcomed Sophia's mother: "So, this is the mother. You've raised a pretty child." Uncharacteristically, Sophia's mother expressed her gratitude for the Empress' good will and benefactions:
Both Sophia and her mother were presented with a medallion to wear - representing the order of St. Catherine ("May you both wear it in good health and be careful it doesn't scratch you"). The Empress looked for support and congratulations from her subordinates on her judgment and selection of the Princess, as the future healthy child-bearing 'Empress' who was to "breed sons for Russia." Sophia's unpleasant, domineering mother-in-law hoped to improve the royal blood line by having Sophia marry her no-good simpleton nephew. Chancellor Alexei Bestuchef (Erville Alderson) responded: "I can only admire your judgment, Your Majesty," while a white-wigged Doctor put his ear to Sophia's chest (under her outer garments) to listen to her heartbeat before pronouncing that she was healthy. While being examined, Sophia responded dutifully with "Yes, your Majesty" to four questions put to her:
The Empress warned: "And don't make too many new friends, and no intrigue and gossip. I have my hands full now." When asked if she had any wishes, Sophia responded simply: "I would like to see the Grand Duke." |
The
Scarlet Empress (1934) is director Josef von Sternberg's startling,
dark, visually opulent, hauntingly expressionistic, semi-erotic
and mostly fictional biopic of one of 18th century
Russia's most illustrious historical figures - Catherine II (the
Great), during the years 1744 to 1762. The unorthodox
film was one of the most daring, suggestive and sexually-frank
films of the Hays Production Code era, featuring, among other things,
immorality, nudity, debauchery and open sexual decadence and depravity.
The mature biopic wasn't censored due to the fact that it was released
just before the Hays Code fully went into effect: The film also
featured extravagant sets and von Sternberg's trademark stylization,
as well as great performances.