Capriccio spagnolo

The last of seven Dietrich and von Sternberg collaborations suffers from the misogyny of the story on which it's based, and frankly it's also a bit of a mess. I'm not a big fan of story lines that involve an evil woman leading a man on such that he's rendered helpless by her charms, yet continues pursuing her despite her cruelty (e.g. 'Of Human Bondage' by W. Somerset Maugham, which was made into a film with Bette Davis in 1934, the year before this one). In the original story by Pierre Louÿs, whose erotic writing would sometimes dip into misogyny, the man in question eventually feels like he's had enough, and beats her. She likes this so much that he wins over, so yeah ... ugh.

This explains why the Hays Office censored the song "(If It Isn't Pain) Then It Isn't Love" from the film, even if in listening to audio recordings which survive, it doesn't seem salacious in its lyrics (e.g. "if it doesn't drive you insane, it can't be love"). In the film we do hear the beating though, after which Dietrich coos "Look at me. Look, Pasqualito. I'm black and blue. I know I've been cruel, but I'll make up for it. Tell me what you want me to do." Her hair has two circular coils in front, reminiscent of Goya's portrait of Thérèse-Louise de Sureda and clearly a reference to female anatomy, her mouth is right up to his ear and she's offering herself, but the eroticism of the scene is diminished severely because of the physical violence, which is all the more disturbing because it's shown to be appropriate, accepted by Dietrich, and effective in changing her behavior.

Dietrich does have her moments in the film, like when she makes a show of putting on her shawl and looking up at Lionel Atwill with beguiling eyes, and then later dramatically throwing open a thin curtain and with arms outstretched, staring defiantly at him. The film has high production value, with gorgeous outfits, headdresses, and hair/makeup, which maybe is the reason Dietrich liked it so much. The set designs are ornate and fabulous (iron gates and windows come to mind), and the crowd scenes showing life in Spain are energizing. It's a small scene, but I loved seeing the gypsy dancer on the train (apparently Luisa Espinel, uncredited), probably more than anything Dietrich does.

Unfortunately, Dietrich seems out of place for most of the film, and it's not just because she isn't Spanish, though that doesn't help. Early on she's much too made up, and hardly looks like she fits in the working room of cigarette rollers. As she plays cat and mouse with her suitor she acts absurdly, asking him if she's the only one in a silly, exaggerated way, and this along with other dramatic moments where she emotes oddly seemed to be Dietrich trying (and failing) to "act Spanish." It's an annoying character, and played unbelievably by Dietrich, much as it pains me to say it. Her musical performances are flat too. There's enough here to make it watchable, but you can do much better with other Dietrich/von Sternberg films.

It has to be said that this film is an amazing achievement. The Devil is a Woman is a lush and vibrant film, and you really do get the impression that a lot of thought has gone into every scene. The script allows the characters to grow in front of the audience's eyes both in relation to each other and in their own right. Furthermore, the acting is fantastic; with Lionel Atwill convincing as a heartbroken former lover of Marlene Dietrich's cold hearted femme fatale. It's Dietrich that commands every scene she's in and gives an all round amazing performance in the title role. Furthermore, the Spanish setting is superb, and provides a beautiful location for this complex love story to take place in. But it's not the technical elements that make this film so great; it's the plot. We first get to know the characters during a conversation between a fancy man and a former lover of the same woman. The older man tells the younger of his times with said lady, and we get a fully painted picture of all the protagonists through this. The film offers a great portrait of love and frustration; with the title itself referring more towards the lead man's experience with the title character rather than the character herself. The Devil is a Woman is certainly not a fluffy romance flick, but it is a film that works on two levels; on one hand, it tells its story straight and so is easy to get into, but on the other it provides a story with a chasm of depth if you're willing to look for it.

Very few aesthetic delights of the post-Code era tantalize and linger long afterwards in the mind as much as films from the Marlene Dietrich/Josef Von Sternberg partnership, and this, thankfully kept in Dietrich's vault as it was the favourite of her films, is no exception. Though anyone who knows me will readily recall I prefer the twice-Oscar nominated (for 'Morocco' and 'Shanghai Express'), Viennese expert craftsman's silent pictures to those made with the sexpot, this saga of vengeance is also superlative and well worth both purchasing and re-watching. Paramount caved in to pressure by the Spanish government, who hated the way Pierre Louÿs' novel portrayed the Spanish police, and actually destroyed the original print. Thankfully Dietrich's fear that her favourite film would otherwise be lost meant it was extremely well-preserved, and I saw my copy as part of a superlative DVD boxed set of six of her films that I've had for a few years now.

A young Spanish radical in old Sevilla learns that THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN, when he falls hopelessly in love with a mysterious female.

Mesmerizing & hypnotic, this is a film which arouses all the senses. Dreamlike in its visuals & nightmarish of plot, it presents imagery so persuasive as to be practically palpable. Director Josef von Sternberg & writer John Dos Passos constructed a miniature madhouse for the mind, in which the viewer gladly finds himself consigned.

Fascinating, coy, deceptive, utterly alluring, Marlene Dietrich dominates the film as an icy-hearted harlot who strews her pathway with the broken bodies & wasted lives of the men she's betrayed. With heavily lidded eyes peering out of her disturbingly beautiful face, she is the very picture of sardonic seduction. Wisely, the film allows her a moment of amusement (for the viewer), letting her perfectly sum up her philosophy in the comic song ‘Three Sweethearts Have I.'

Dietrich's two leading men are both excellent. Lionel Atwill, sadly ignored today, once again exhibits the depth of his acting talent; Hollywood's propensity to place him in horror films often obscured his abilities. Here, he shows us a man fully aware of his complete degradation. Cesar Romero, in one of the finest roles of his early career, more than adequately carries on the tradition of the Latin Lover, but with a twist - here is a romantic hero who is not strong enough to escape from the web of the female spider.

Peevish & pompous, Edward Everett Horton is thoroughly amusing as a flustered Spanish bureaucrat.

Two wonderful English character actresses enliven the proceedings in small roles: Alison Skipworth as Dietrich's disreputable matriarch and Tempe Pigott as an old one-eyed harridan.

Movie mavens will spot Edwin Maxwell as the manager of the cigarette factory and Charles Sellon as a professional letter writer, both uncredited.

Von Sternberg created a masterwork of cinematic symbolism, with innuendo so rife it is incredible it passed the Production Code. In every way, the film is a worthy follow-up to his previous collaboration with Dietrich, the orgiastic SCARLETT EMPRESS (1934).

The one thing everyone seems to miss Is that Lionel Atwill looks a lot like Sternberg. Looking at the Dietrich/Sternberg collaborations it's hard not to notice that Adolph Menjou, Herbert Marshall, and Lionel Atwill seem to be Sternberg surrogates, which knowing about the Dietrich/Sternberg relationship, adds a perversity and depth to viewing the films.

If you look at the screen test for Blue Angel available on the blue angle DVD, you can already see Dietrich's disdain that seems an enormous part of her screen character in their collaborations. The Devil is a Woman is a story of a man who ruins his career in pursuit of a woman. Pretty hard not to see parallels to Sternberg's career. This was his last big budget film and one that remains a lasting testament to "l'amour fou."