Review of The Scarlet Empress (1934) by Jason R — 18 May 2009
I must be wrong about this film. I think my expectations were all out of sorts going into it. I wasn't expecting a camp classic, so I didn't know what to do with the film's outrageous sense of humor.
That being said, von Sternberg is also such an earnest stylist that it's difficult to reconcile the impending sense of aesthetic rapture I'm supposed to feel with the guffaws that the script is aiming for.
Half way through, I started to imagine a remake starring Steve Martin and Madeline Kahn, directed by Woody Allen. But maybe that would be redundant, and a subsequent screening might make this clear to me.
Is this somehow Dietrich's fault? Is she comedienne enough to pull this part off? I thought her doe-eyed performance in the first half wasn't convincing, but maybe she's just vamping the doe-eyed stereotype?
This review of The Scarlet Empress (1934) was written by Jason R on 18 May 2009.
The Scarlet Empress has generally received very positive reviews.
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