The Scarlet Empress (1934)

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... See full summary »

Director:

Josef von Sternberg

Writers:

Catherine II (diary), Manuel Komroff (diary arranger),

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.

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Plot Keywords:

empress | russia | germany | duke | russian | 

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Taglines:

The Reigning Beauty of the Screen!

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Genres:

Drama | History | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 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

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

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Goofs

After Catherine stamps with her foot on the gold locket containing the portrait of Count Alexei, smashing it, she then flings it out of the window. The camera follows it as it falls slowly, glistening in the moonlight, through the branches of the tree outside her window, but it is completely undamaged.

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Quotes

Grand Duke Peter: I want to play with my toys!

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Connections

Featured in Cinéastes de notre temps: D'un silence l'autre - Josef von Sternberg (1967)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

All about mood

THE SCARLETT EMPRESS is easily one of my favorite movies. I can watch it no matter what mood I'm in. The movie is all about mood. The rambling plot, surreal images, Dietrich's spacy look, Jaffe's whispering, and moments without dialogue all give it the feeling of a dream. There's some bad acting, but I think it contributes because it's WEIRD bad acting.

You don't really watch THE SCARLETT EMPRESS for its plot, but it's about an innocent princess becoming the corrupt Catherine the Great in 18th-century Russia. You also don't watch it for historical accuracy, or for emotionally involving characters. You watch it for its strange mood and for Dietrich. You also might like to know it was made before the Hays Code started censoring Hollywood and definitely could not have been made after.