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Information
- Year
- 1934
- Runtime
- 104 min.
- Director
- Josef von Sternberg
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, War, History
- Rating *
- 7.5
- Votes *
- 4,068
- Checks
- 1,983
- Favs
- 169
- Dislikes
- 25
- Favs/checks
- 8.5% (1:12)
- Favs/dislikes
- 7:1
Top comments
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-1flb2-
Great movie. Hard to believe it was made in 1934. Excellent details in set designs. Can't take your eyes off of Marlene Dietrich. Director Josef von Sternberg's best movie. 7 years 3 months ago -
Siskoid
There is no doubt that the television show The Great was conceived based on 1934's The Scarlet Empress rather that Catherine II's diaries. It has the same sense of humor and treats a young woman's plunge into a decadent Russian court with the same satirical humor, not to mention how much sex and violence (even a bit of atypical nudity for the era) there are on show. But while von Sternberg has some nice ideas - a lot of cool shots and all that demonic statuary - he's not able to tell this particular story in 104 minutes without pulling up a caption in between every scene that sometimes feels redundant, and sometimes covers material we really needed to see. The most egregious is Catherine's transformation from wide-eyed innocent to shrewd politician with the army in her pocket. Marlene Dietrich is good at each, but they don't seem like the same character and the change isn't properly tracked. I could also do with more of an epilogue. She wins power and... now what? Was she any good? Where are you captions now? My biggest complaint, however, is Louise Dresser as the older Empress. She's terrible in this, running too quickly through her lines with an obnoxious, ill-fitting American accent. And Sam Jaffe as the mad Peter is at first interesting, but it's a one-note portrayal that soon wears thin. The Scarlet Empress is at once ahead of its time and deathly old-fashioned, and I found it more interesting as an object of comparison to a more recent work than as itself. 1 year 2 months ago -
Friends
Login to see which of your friends have seen this movie!In 12 official lists
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This movie ranks #52 in iCheckMovies's 1930s Top 100
iCheckMovies's 1930s Top…
52 -
This movie ranks #78 in Cahiers du Cinéma's 100 Films for an Ideal Cinematheque
Cahiers du Cinéma's 100 …
78 -
This movie ranks #86 in A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese
A Personal Journey with …
86 -
This movie ranks #100 in BFI's 360 Classic Feature Films Project
BFI's 360 Classic Featur…
100 -
This movie ranks #115 in Mark Cousins's The Story of Film: An Odyssey
Mark Cousins's The Story…
115 -
This movie ranks #130 in The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection
130 -
This movie ranks #144 in David Thomson's Have You Seen?
David Thomson's Have You…
144 -
This movie ranks #158 in Jonathan Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema
Jonathan Rosenbaum's Ess…
158 -
This movie ranks #263 in Roger Ebert's Great Movies
Roger Ebert's Great Movi…
263 -
This movie ranks #432 in TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films
TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest F…
432 -
This movie ranks #546 in Halliwell's Top 1000: The Ultimate Movie Countdown
Halliwell's Top 1000: Th…
546 -
This movie ranks #683 in Sight & Sound's The Greatest Films of All Time
Sight & Sound's The Grea…
683