A Royal Scandal (1945)

29% of users liked it
(66 ratings)

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… More 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

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 34 min.
Directed By: Otto Preminger, Ernst Lubitsch
Written By: Lajos Biró, Bruno Frank, Melchior Lengyel
Genres: Drama, Romance, Comedy

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1945 Wide

No Critic Reviews Found…

Featured Audience Ratings

Ken S

Not to bad but sorely lacking "the Lubitsch touch".
Stella D

it's hardly a history lesson and only mildly diverting, retaining a little of the lubitsch charm even under the heavy-handed direction of otto preminger. the main point of interest here is the notorious tallulah bankhead playing catherine the great, in one of only a handful of… More
it's hardly a history lesson and only mildly diverting, retaining a little of the lubitsch charm even under the heavy-handed direction of otto preminger. the main point of interest here is the notorious tallulah bankhead playing catherine the great, in one of only a handful of leading roles in her film career. ms. bankhead was a celebrity before the cult of celebrity, a sensation on the stage, who famously hated making films and only came to hollywood 'to fuck that divine gary cooper.' her presence never quite translated to the screen altho her out-sized personality inspired characters from margo channing to cruella deville. ms bankhead was 42 when she made this film, part of a two picture deal with lifeboat, her most famous screen performance. also starring vincent price in a very small role and anne baxter, who later played eve harrington opposite bette davis doing her best bankhead in all about eve

Cast

            Tallulah Bankhead as Catherine II the Great

            Charles Coburn as Chancellor Nicolai Ilyitch

            Anne Baxter as Countess Anna Jaschikoff

            William Eythe as Lt. Alexei Chernoff

            Vincent Price as Marquis de Fleury

            Mischa Auer as Capt. Sukov

            Sig Rumann as Gen. Ronsky

            Vladimir Sokoloff as Malakoff

            Mikhail Rasumny as Drunken General

            Grady Sutton as Boris

            Donald Douglas as Variatinsky

            Egon Brecher as Wassilikow

            Paul Baratoff
            
            Renee Carson
            
            Harry Carter as Footman

            Feodor Chaliapin Jr.
            
            Arno Frey as Captain

            Eva Gabor as Countess Demidow

            Wilton Graff
            
            Friedrich von 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 as Ladies in Waiting

            Eugene Sigaloff as Russian General

            Vernon Walker
            
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