" The Scarlet Empress." At the Carlton
THERE might have been an opportunity of comparing two Catherines—Marlene Dietrich directed in this Paramount picture by Josef von Sternberg, and Elisabeth Bergner directed by Dr. Paul Czinner in Korda's recent British production, Catherine the Great. But the two films are alike only in covering the same period, starting with Catherine's marriage to the Grand Duke Peter, heir to the Russian throne,' and ending with the palace revolution, seventeen years later, which cost Peter his life and made Catherine Empress. Marlene Dietrich has very few acting chances, for von Sternberg has smothered her under an extraordinary array of grotesquely opulent costumes and settings. She looks well, and acts well, now and then ; but the characters are important mainly as figures in a charade.
Quite evidently, von Sternberg made up his mind not to take history too seriously. His Peter, skilfully played by Sam Jaffe, is almost exactly like Harpo Marx ; and the resemblance is far too close to be accidental. The palace doors are about ten feet high and a foot thick ; the ladies-in- waiting can open them only by pushing in rugger-serum formation. There is a profusion of candles and ikons and weirdly distorted sculpture, and a tremendous clashing at every opportunity of church bells. No doubt, the use of all these trappings is to some extent governed by a wish to produce a definite impression—an impression of barbaric brilliance, contrasting outward luxury with cruel and primitive manners. But the whole thing is deliberately exaggerated, caricatured—even though this Catherine, who quickly learns to rule through her military lovers, is probably nearer the truth than Elisabeth Bergner's pathetic child.
The Scarlet Empress will please photographers and students of interior decoration. It will stimulate those who enjoy that peculiar form of sadistic art which mingles the erotic with the grotesque. It has not got much to offer anyone in search of credible human drama.
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