Fresh
Josef von Sternberg's 1934 film turns the legend of Catherine the Great into a study of sexuality sadistically repressed and reborn as politics, thus anticipating Bertolucci by three decades.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
The Scarlet Empress
The Reigning Beauty of the Screen!
1934 · 1h 44m · NOT RATED
Drama, History, Romance
Directed by
Josef von Sternberg
Overview
During the 18th century, German noblewoman Sophia Frederica, who would later become Catherine the Great, travels to Moscow to marry the dimwitted Grand Duke Peter, the heir to the Russian throne. Their arranged marriage proves to be loveless, and Catherine takes many lovers, including the handsome Count Alexei, and bears a son. When the unstable Peter eventually ascends to the throne, Catherine plots to oust him from power.
Director and cast
- Josef von Sternberg Director
- Marlene Dietrich as Princess Sophia Frederica / Catherine II
- John Lodge as Count Alexei
- Sam Jaffe as Grand Duke Peter
- Louise Dresser as Empress Elizabeth Petrovna
- C. Aubrey Smith as Prince August
- Gavin Gordon as Capt. Gregori Orloff
- Olive Tell as Princess Johanna Elizabeth
- Ruthelma Stevens as Countess Elizabeth 'Lizzie'
- Davison Clark as Archimandrite Simeon Todorsky / Arch-Episcope
- Erville Alderson as Chancelor Alexei Bestuchef
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
90%
Tomatometer
Fresh
Josef von Sternberg becomes so enamoured of the pomp and flash values that he subjugates everything else to them. That he succeeds as well as he does is a tribute to his artistic genius and his amazingly vital sense of photogenic values.
Variety Staff, Variety
Rotten
Running a solid hundred minutes, the film first shocks and stimulates the imagination, and then, lacking the dramatic skill to refresh its audiences, becomes steadily duller.
Andre Sennwald, New York Times
Fresh
The decor and costumes, and the mise-en-scene that deploys them, have never been equaled for expressionist intensity.
Tony Rayns, Time Out
Fresh
The film tells the story of Catherine the Great as a bizarre visual extravaganza, combining twisted sexuality and bold bawdy humor as if Mel Brooks had collaborated with the Marquis de Sade.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
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