A Royal Scandal (film)
A Royal Scandal, also known as Czarina, is a 1945 film about the love life of Russian Empress (Czarina) Catherine the Great. It stars Tallulah Bankhead, Charles Coburn, Anne Baxter, and William Eythe. The film was based on the play Die Zarin (The Czarina) by Lajos Bíró and Melchior Lengyel.
| A Royal Scandal | |
|---|---|
 theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Otto Preminger Ernst Lubitsch |
| Produced by | Ernst Lubitsch |
| Screenplay by | Edwin Justus Mayer |
| Story by | Bruno Frank |
| Based on | Die Zarin by Lajos Bíró Melchior Lengyel |
| Starring | Tallulah Bankhead Charles Coburn Anne Baxter William Eythe |
| Music by | Alfred Newman |
| Cinematography | Arthur Miller |
| Edited by | Dorothy Spencer |
Production company | Twentieth Century Fox |
| Distributed by | Twentieth Century Fox |
Release date |
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Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,755,000 |
| Box office | $1,500,000[1] |
Plot
Catherine (Tallulah Bankhead) discards her latest lover, Variatinsky (Donald Douglas), the commander of the palace guard. General Ronsky (Sig Ruman) schemes to have his oafish nephew Boris (Grady Sutton) be his replacement, so he and his cabal can stage an uprising and dethrone the Czarina. Catherine's chancellor, Nicolai Ilyitch (Charles Coburn), is determined to see to it that nothing disturbs his delicate negotiations for a treaty with France, so he tells his underling Malakoff (Vladimir Sokoloff) he does not want anybody new to see her majesty. However, a determined young officer, Alexei Chernoff (William Eythe), insists on an audience with her for the sake of Russia.
Cast
- Tallulah Bankhead as Catherine the Great
- Charles Coburn as Chancellor Nicolai Ilyitch
- Anne Baxter as Countess Anna Jaschikoff
- William Eythe as Lieutenant/Captain/Major/General/Private Alexei Chernoff
- Vincent Price as Marquis de Fleury
- Mischa Auer as Captain Sukov
- Sig Ruman as General Michael Nicolai Vladimirovich Ronsky
- Vladimir Sokoloff as Malakoff
- Mikhail Rasumny as Drunken General
- Donald Douglas as Variatinsky
- Grady Sutton as Boris Nikitin
- Michael Visaroff as Russian General (uncredited)
Production
Ernst Lubitsch was the initial director, but fell ill and had to be replaced by Otto Preminger.[2] However, Lubitsch directed the rehearsals, and he worked with Edwin Justus Mayer in the scripting process. A Royal Scandal is a remake of Lubitsch's silent film Forbidden Paradise. All of the scenes were developed under Lubitsch. So, it is considered a "Lubitsch film".
Notes
External links
- A Royal Scandal at IMDb
- A Royal Scandal at the TCM Movie Database
- A Royal Scandal at AllMovie
- A Royal Scandal at the American Film Institute Catalog