I had known next to nothing about Catherine the Great, and what I had learned of her was not from school. I couldn't have told you that she lived in the 18th century. I might not even have remembered that she ruled Russia. This alone was enough to justify my viewing, but it's not the only justification.
The film starts in her youth as German Princess Sophia and ends with her becoming the Russian empress. In adulthood, she is played by Marlene Dietrich. The focus lies primarily on her disenchanting arranged marriage to unhinged Grand Duke Peter (Sam Jaffe in his silver screen debut), her mother-in-law Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (Louise Dresser) demanding that she be fully dutiful and bear a son, and her unstable adulterous feelings toward Count Alexei (John Lodge). You may well imagine how the tension builds within the royal family -- and what happens after Elizabeth passes away.
If you've never seen Dietrich perform, you may still have seen an imitation of her, particularly in the form of Lily von Shtupp from Blazing Saddles. This being on the early end for Dietrich, it figures that she'd take a lead marked by sexual intrigue in a steamy late Pre-Code flick. (Another sign of the Pre-Code Era comes in the form of topless women, particularly during a montage of torture scenes as young Sophia studies history.) No one says so directly, but it's heavily implied that she gets pregnant via someone other than Peter.
Even putting the low censorship aside, it is easy to guess that this is an early talkie. First, they still use intertitles for narration. Second, the swelling music tends to drown out unimportant noises and overwhelm some of the dialog -- or supplant dialog for a considerable time. Alas, this gave me a sense that the filmmakers didn't follow the rule of "Show; don't tell." For example, instead of letting us judge Peter for ourselves, his presence is announced by ominous music and the intertitles describe him as "half-witted" and "imbecilic." (Those aren't even the best words for him, given his context-inappropriate manic grins and later propensity to uncalled-for violence.)
Something of a running theme is Catherine's gradual loss of innocence. Not only is she initially excited to marry a man she hasn't met, but even afterward, she can hardly entertain the idea of disobedience and infidelity throughout the court...for a while. I can't say I approve her later actions, which are not portrayed in an obviously bad light, but I recognize that circumstances beyond her power made them tempting.
Want more details on those circumstances? Well, while I don't exactly sympathize with Peter as much as with Catherine, I see hints of where he gets his attitude. The palace decor, forming the background for most of the movie, is daunting in both size and grimness. I'd accept the Orthodox Christian emblems, but who keeps facsimiles of corpses near a dinner table? Maybe someone like Elizabeth, who is not only strict but unrealistic in her demands. Would she punish Catherine for bearing a daughter on the first pregnancy? I saw quite enough of that nastiness in Anne of the Thousand Days. She even threatens to cut her servants in half if her grandson so much as coughs.
The Scarlet Empress is a delight if you don't mind dark sensibilities every so often. Judging from IMDb, it's decent at historical accuracy, so you might watch for educational reasons as well.
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