''A Royal Scandal'', also known as ''Czarina'', is a 1945 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by

Otto Preminger Otto Ludwig Preminger ( , ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian-American theatre and film director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre. He first gai ...

, produced by

Ernst Lubitsch Ernst Lubitsch (; January 29, 1892November 30, 1947) was a German-born American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as ...

. about the lovelife of Russian empress

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

. It stars

Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lif ...

Charles Coburn Charles Douville Coburn (June 19, 1877 – August 30, 1961) was an American actor and theatrical producer. He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award three times – in ''The Devil and Miss Jones'' (1941), ''The More the Me ...

Anne Baxter Anne Baxter (May 7, 1923 – December 12, 1985) was an American actress, star of Hollywood films, Broadway productions, and television series. She won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, and was nominated for an Emmy. A granddaughter of Fra ...

and

William Eythe William John Eythe (April 7, 1918 – January 26, 1957) was an American actor of film, radio, television and stage. Early life Born in Mars, Pennsylvania, a small town located about 25 miles from Pittsburgh, he was interested in acting from a ...

. The film was based on the play ''Die Zarin'' (''The Czarina'') by

Lajos Bíró Lajos Bíró (; born Lajos Blau; 22 August 1880 – 9 September 1948) was a Hungarian novelist, playwright, and screenwriter who wrote many films from the early 1920s through the late 1940s. Life He was born in Nagyvárad, Kingdom of Hunga ...

and

Melchior Lengyel Melchior Lengyel (born Menyhért Lebovics; hu, Lengyel Menyhért; 12 January 1880 – 23 October 1974) was a Hungarian writer, dramatist, and film screenwriter. Biography Lengyel was born Menyhért Lebovics in Balmazújváros, Hungary. He sta ...

Plot

The palace of the demanding and iron-fisted

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

czarina

is full of intrigue. Devoted chancellor Nicolai Ilyitch conducts delicate negotiations for a treaty with France while surreptitiously stealing from the imperial treasuries. General Michael Ronsky schemes to overthrow Catherine in a military coup and install his oafish nephew Boris as a figurehead. Countess Anna Jaschikoff is the czarina's confidante and

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

, helping her navigate the social aspects of court life. When Catherine discards her latest lover, Variatinsky, commander of the palace guard, he responds by attempting to shoot himself, but he misses. Determined to conclude the Russian-French treaty by receiving the Marquis de Fleury, the French ambassador, Chancellor Nicolai orders that no only he and the ambassador may spend any time with the czarina. However, determined young lieutenant Alexei Chernoff, coincidentally Jaschikoff's fiancé, insists on an audience with Catherine, riding for three days and storming past palace security to speak to her. Chernoff comes bearing news of Ronsky's nascent rebellion. It comes as no surprise to the czarina or to Chancellor Nicolai, who has already made an "arrangement" with Ronsky, but Catherine likes the patriotic and handsome lieutenant, promoting him to captain and asking him to prepare policy recommendations on foreign and domestic issues. Later, she seduces him, ensuring his promotion to general and installing him as the new commander of the palace guard. Countess Jaschikoff is infuriated and takes her anger out on Catherine, who responds by banishing her from court. Chancellor Nicolai, who has become outraged at Chernoff's reformist proposals, attempts to resign, but is compelled to stay on by Catherine, who ensures him that she is not taking Chernoff seriously as an advisor. Elsewhere, Chernoff is being courted by Ronsky and the rebellious generals; they wish to use his position to ensure that the palace guard does not raise any physical resistance to their forces. To drive a wedge between Chernoff and Catherine, Ronsky introduces Chernoff to Variatinsky, who informs Chernoff in private of his intimate knowledge of Catherine. Chernoff attacks Variatinsky and begs Catherine to say that Variatinsky was lying, but the czarina candidly confirms his claims, describes Chernoff as a "nobody" whom she "made" prominent, and accidentally discloses that she has been discarding Chernoff's policy plans without reading them. Chernoff returns to Ronsky and pledges his support. Later that night, he dismisses the palace guard and arrests the czarina. Troops storm the palace, but they are loyal to Catherine; Chancellor Nicolai has leveraged his illicit control of Russia's finances for the allegiance of the rebels and then immediately betrayed them. The uprising is quelled. Ronsky is made Chancellor Nicolai's servant, but a betrayed Catherine sentences Chernoff to death, a condemnation that he accepts as a traitor. Lobbying by Chancellor Nicolai and Countess Jaschikoff (who has returned from exile) convinces the czarina to pardon Chernoff. Finally, Catherine and the French ambassador conduct their long-delayed meeting. The diplomat, himself a young and handsome nobleman, greets Catherine with such obsequious flattery that the Czarina takes a romantic interest in him, and the film ends with Chancellor Nicolai leaving the two to flirt in privacy, confident that a relationship between the two will lead to the alliance for which he has long schemed.

Cast

as Chancellor Nicolai Ilyitch *

as Countess Anna Jaschikoff *

as Lieutenant/Captain/Major/Colonel/General/Private Alexei Chernoff *

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

as Marquis de Fleury, Ambassador-Plenipotentiary of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, Vicomte de

Bayeux Bayeux () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy in northwestern France. Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts ...

, Comte de Bayon Valez, Baron de Villau, and

Keeper of the Seals The title keeper of the seals or equivalent is used in several contexts, denoting the person entitled to keep and authorize use of the great seal of a given country. The title may or may not be linked to a particular cabinet or ministerial offi ...

Mischa Auer Mischa Auer (born Mikhail Semyonovich Unkovsky (Михаил Семёнович Унковский; 17 November 1905 – 5 March 1967) was a Russians, Russian-born American actor who moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s. He first appeared in fi ...

as Captain Sukov *

Sig Ruman Siegfried Carl Alban Rumann (October 11, 1884 – February 14, 1967), billed as Sig Ruman and Sig Rumann, was a German-American character actor known for his portrayals of pompous and often stereotypically Teutonic officials or villains in ...

as General Michael Nicolai Vladimirovich Ronsky *

Vladimir Sokoloff Vladimir Aleksandrovich Sokoloff (russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Соколо́в; December 26, 1889 – February 15, 1962) was a Russian-American character actor of stage and screen. After studying theatre in Moscow, ...

as Malakoff *

Mikhail Rasumny Mikhail Rasumny (May 13, 1884, in Odessa, Russian empire – February 17, 1956, in United States) was a Soviet and American film actor. Biography Rasumny was born in Odessa, son of the famous cantor Ephraim Zalman (Solomon) Razumny, who was chief ...

as Drunken General * Donald Douglas as Variatinsky *

Grady Sutton Grady Harwell Sutton (April 5, 1906 – September 17, 1995) was an American film and television character actor from the 1920s to the 1970s. He appeared in more than 180 films. Early years Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Sutton was raised ...

as Boris Nikitin *

Michael Visaroff Michael Simeon Visaroff (December 18, 1889 – February 27, 1951) was a Russian American film character actor. Biography Visaroff was born Mikhail Semenonovich Vizarov (Russian: Михаил Семёнович Визаров) in Moscow, R ...

as Russian General (uncredited)

Production

, who directed the silent film ''

Forbidden Paradise ''Forbidden Paradise'' is a 1924 American silent drama film, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, produced by Famous Players-Lasky, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is based on a 1922 Broadway play, ''The Czarina'', by Edward Sheldon, who ...

'' upon which ''A Royal Scandal'' is based, was the first director hired, but when he fell ill, he was replaced by

. However, Lubitsch directed the rehearsals, and he worked with Edwin Justus Mayer in the scripting process.

Reception

In a contemporary review for ''The New York Times'', critic

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

called the film "an oddly dull and generally witless show" and wrote:

Notes

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Scandal, A 1945 films 1940s historical films 20th Century Fox films American historical films American romantic drama films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Films about Catherine the Great American films based on plays Films directed by Ernst Lubitsch Films directed by Otto Preminger Remakes of American films Sound film remakes of silent films 1940s American films