In this golden age of home viewing, the Criterion Collection still provides some of the best editions of the best movies ever released, usually with a rich selection of extras and often including audio commentaries (a feature they pioneered, and perhaps the greatest gift ever to film students and cinephiles alike). This column features one Criterion release per week, based entirely on where my interests lead me.
Marlene Dietrich made some of her most memorable films with director Josef von Sternberg, including The Blue Angel (1930), Morocco (1930; her only Oscar nomination), and Shanghai Express (1932). She was already a star of stage and screen in the German-speaking world when von Sternberg “discovered” her, so it’s more correct to say that his accomplishment was bringing her to Hollywood filmmaking and thus the attention of the English-speaking world. It was a mutually beneficial partnership that allowed Dietrich to perfect the first of several personas she would assume during her career: that of a dangerous, sexy woman who refused to be confined by societal norms.
The Scarlet Empress, a box office bomb, nearly brought an end to their partnership. The standard explanation for this film’s poor box office performanceis that a Depression-era public had no use for the spectacular sets and costumes that are this film’s greatest strength. That explanation doesn’t hold much water, however, given that spectacular production numbers were key to the success of contemporary films like 42nd Street (1933) and Gold Diggers of 1933. I suspect it’s more the film’s uneven tone (are we condemning or celebrating Catherine?) and overuse of title cards (to the point where it can feel more like an illustrated lecture than a Hollywood film).
The title character is Princess Sophia (Maria Riva as a child, Marlene Dietrich as an adult), daughter of an East Prussian prince, who is recruited by the Empress Elizabeth of Russia (Louise Dresser) to marry her nephew Peter (Sam Jaffe), who would become Emperor Peter III. Unfortunately for supporters of hereditary monarchy, he wasn’t much of a ruler: Jaffe plays him as a literal grinning idiot, and in any case he was deposed after 186 days in a coup led by his wife, now Catherine II (a.k.a. Catherine the Great). Peter died somewhat mysteriously not long after, giving rise to a number of imposters, which seems to have been a Russian specialty.
Catherine is aided in her machinations by Count Alexey Razumovsky (John Lodge), who caught her fancy when he first appeared in her life to escort her to Russia. Because the goal of the marriage is a male heir and Peter is not getting the job done, the Empress sets up a liaison between Catherine and Alexey, making him the implied father of Catherine’s son who became Paul I. Catherine enjoys a lot more male company over the course of the film, since it’s good to be the queen, which is one meaning of the “scarlet” in the title.
Manuel Komroff’s screenplay is, supposedly, based on Catherine’s memoirs, so we’re two degrees away from historical reality from the start. No matter: this is Hollywood, not history class, so it’s not surprising that the one note presentation of Peter may not be entirely accurate: among other accomplishments of his short reign, he abolished the secret police and made killing serfs a punishable offense. Neither is the emphasis on Catherine’s sexual appetites (a previous title was Her Regiment of Lovers) and ruthlessness rather than her abilities of a ruler: she reigned for over 34 years and played an important role in modernizing Russia, including recruiting skilled workers from Germany (known as “Volga Germans” or “German Russians” in my neck of the woods).
Forget history, the real reason to watch The Scarlet Empress is the spectacular art direction and set design (courtesy of an uncredited Hans Dreier) and costumes (thanks to an uncredited Travis Banton). This film simply overloads the senses, and every small aspect of set decoration seems designed for maximum impact. According to the imdb, the many gargoyles and grotesque sculptures were created by Peter Ballbusch and the paintings by Richard Kollorsz, and boy did they go to town.
Designs for the Russian palace in particular seemed to be intended to scream, in a sort of Orientalist way typical of films set in China or Japan in this period, that this is absolutely not the West and that everything must therefore have at least a hint of raw foreignness about it. At the same time, the costumes, particularly the gowns worn by Dietrich, are Western in design, perhaps making the point that she remains a Westerner even when transplanted to an Eastern location. Or maybe Banton thought too much Russian-ness in Dietrich’s costumes would be off-putting to audiences. There’s no point in overthinking any of this, however: the point is spectacle, not historical accuracy, and as spectacle The Scarlet Empress is a great success. | Sarah Boslaugh
Spine #: 109
Technical details: 104 min.; B&W; screen ratio 1.33:1; English.
Edition reviewed: DVD.
Extras: “Marlene Dietrich in Denmark, 1971”: Dietrich interview for Swedish television (filmed in 1971 after a performance at the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen (her first-ever TV interview according to the introduction to the interview).
Fun Fact: Maria Riva, Dietrich’s daughter, made her movie debut in this film as the young Sophia.
Parting Thought: Dietrich and von Sternberg made one more film together after The Scarlet Empress: The Devil is a Woman (1935). It was also a box office bomb, and the two films are the lowest grossing of all the films they made together. Was this a sign that the public had tired of Dietrich’s sultry persona (by Destry Rides Again she had created a tougher, more tomboyish character type for herself) or was there something else going on?
