A Royal Scandal

Plot

Ernst Lubitsch was the original director for A Royal Scandal, but illness forced him to bow out; his replacement was Otto Preminger, who did his utmost to retain the "Lubitsch touch." Based on a play by Lajos Biro and Melchior Lengyel, the film dwells upon a fictional incident in the life of Russia's Catherine the Great, here played with blue-blooded bawdiness by Tallulah Bankhead. Catherine falls in love with a handsome young army officer (William Eythe), who turns out to be an insurrectionist planning her downfall. At the last moment, Catherine relents, allowing the officer to escape with his true love, lady-in-waiting Anne Baxter. A bit too cute for its own good, Royal Scandal has some choice moments: Most notable are Tallulah Bankhead's pained reaction upon being hailed as "The Mother of All Russias," and supporting actor Grady Sutton's southern-accented reference to the "U-ral Mountains". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Review

Handsomely mounted -- as indeed any picture about the legendary Catherine the Great should be -- A Royal Scandal is a very entertaining film, despite some serious flaws. Doing a film in 1945 about an empress who was rumored to have an insatiable sexual appetite presents some sizable problems, and Scandal can be forgiven for not surmounting this particular obstacle. What is less forgivable is the unfocused story and the lack of dialogue that truly engages the audience. Under the circumstances, it's a tribute to the cast that they manage to take the material and weave it into something, if not magical, at least diverting. Scandal deserves applause for being one of the few films that allows the delicious Tallulah Bankhead a chance to flaunt her very distinctive personality. Her serious dramatic talents are not terribly taxed here, but her voracious comedic appeal is given a fine chance to shine. Her co-star, William Eythe, is also surprisingly effective. A not untalented actor, he nonetheless was somewhat limited in his abilities, but he handles his duties in Scandal with aplomb and demonstrates a small but definite flair for comedy. Charles Coburn is his usual dependable self, Anne Baxter is quite good and Vincent Price does quite well with a hideously small role. The direction is not of a piece, not surprising since two very distinctive directors had a hand in it, as Otto Preminger had to replace an ailing Ernst Lubitsch. One strong hand at the helm would been welcome, but the results are more than adequate. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Cast

• Tallulah Bankhead - Catherine II the Great
• Charles Coburn - Chancellor Nicolai Ilyitch
• Anne Baxter - Countess Anna Jaschikoff
• William Eythe - Lt. Alexei Chernoff
• Vincent Price - Marquis de Fleury

Mischa Auer - Capt. Sukov; Sig Rumann - Gen. Ronsky; Vladimir Sokoloff - Malakoff; Mikhail Rasumny - Drunken General; Grady Sutton - Boris; Donald Douglas - Variatinsky; Egon Brecher - Wassilikow; Paul Baratoff; Renee Carson; Harry Carter - Footman; Feodor Chaliapin, Jr.; Arno Frey - Captain; Eva Gabor - Countess Demidow; Wilton Graff; Friedrich Ledebur; Torben Meyer; Fred Nurney; Dick Ryan; Leonid Snegoff; Henry Victor; Michael Visaroff; Marek Windheim; Sam Savitsky; Dina Smirnova; Eugene Beday; Nestor Eristoff; Ann Hunter - Ladies in Waiting; Eugene Sigaloff - Russian General; Vernon Walker

Credit

Mark-Lee Kirk - Art Director, Lyle Wheeler - Art Director, Rene Hubert - Costume Designer, Ernst Lubitsch - Director, Otto Preminger - Director, Dorothy Spencer - Editor, Alfred Newman - Composer (Music Score), Edward B. Powell - Musical Direction/Supervision, Arthur C. Miller - Cinematographer, Ernst Lubitsch - Producer, Paul S. Fox - Set Designer, Thomas K. Little - Set Designer, Fred Sersen - Special Effects, Edwin Justus Mayer - Screenwriter, Bruno Frank - Screenwriter, Lajos Biró - Play Author, Melchior Lengyel - Play Author

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