Scandalo a corte

The history of this film has been documented well,and its failure, at the time, has taken its toll on its reputation. Perhaps, it was made at the wrong time; perhaps Tallulah Bankhead was not the 'darling' of the film critics as she had been by theater critics; perhaps it was an easy target because Lubitsch had been ill and Peminger substituted - a simple target to call a film 'not of a piece'. I do have a copy of it, though, and, today, it stands as a comedy of wit, charm, and delicious mischief. Bankhead is 'mahvelous' playing it to the hilt and offering superb takes on all of her lines. Her reaction shots are among the funniest yet capture on film. No, it is not Catherine -- it is Tallulah--but this is a satirical romp and not meant to be faithful to Russian history. William Eythe, forever underrated, is perfection.A stellar comedic force (he was equally fine in more serious roles e.g. TheHouse on 92nd Street). Coburn is in the right frame of mind and action; Anne Baxter does not quite capture the spirit of the madness, but she is not bad. It is probably insane to think that 'A Royal Scandal' finally can get the credit it deserved. But it is a tasty and wonderful cinematic morsel to enjoy again and again.

It took A ROYAL SCANDAL for me to realize that Tallulah Bankhead must have been wonderful on Broadway in THE LITTLE FOXES. Here, under Otto Preminger's direction, she gives a wonderfully restrained (for her) performance as Russia's Catherine the Great, shamelessly flaunting her loneliness in front of a man betrothed to another (ANNE BAXTER) but deciding that he looks fabulous in a white uniform (WILLIAM EYTHE).

Bankhead and Eythe are reason enough to watch this one. For once, he had a role that showed he had talent that should have been nurtured into full fledged stardom, but never was. He bears a strong resemblance to Tyrone Power and handles his role with authority and ease.

Bankhead seems on the verge of doing her Diva act at any given moment, but restricts herself to a few "Shut up!" remarks or slyly commenting on the fact that she'd like to do a lot for the peasants. She never misses an opportunity to give any slightly risqué line a clearer meaning, just from the way she glances or moves. It's a wonderfully entertaining performance.

CHARLES COBURN, ANNE BAXTER, SIG RUMAN and others do their parts in fine form, but VINCENT PRICE is wasted in the role of the French ambassador who ends up becoming the new apple of Bankhead's eye. Baxter is particularly good at demonstrating that she could show flashes of temperament beneath the sweetness and charm.

Best of all, the dialog is full of innocently delivered one-liners that make it one of the most enjoyable farces I've seen in years. And WILLIAM EYTHE shows that he had a talent for farce that should have landed him more such roles.

Well worth watching for the performances alone.

I saw this movie over 30 years ago on late night television. I was expecting a dry costume drama, but ended up laughing my head off at one of the classiest comedies I have ever seen. And unfortunately that was it. I have never seen it again, on TV or on video. In fact I don't think it has ever been released on video. Talullah's film appearances were few, and this showed her at her forte, comedy.

Granted, she was also one of the great dramatic actresses of her day (her performance in The Little Foxes on Broadway is considered to be one of the finest of the 20th century), but more marketable actresses always won out over her in Hollywood (she never forgave Bette Davis for stealing the Foxes role from her).

When can a larger audience expect to see this comic gem? (and when can I find out if my childhood memories can stand up to my adult tastes?)

After seeing a couple of serious dramas concerning the ascension to the throne of Russia of Princess Sophia of Anhalt-Zerbst who has come down in history as Catherine the Great, it was an interesting change to watch A Royal Scandal and see what Tallulah Bankhead did with the Mother of all the Russias.

The two films that I refer to are the ones done in the Thirties that starred Elizabeth Bergner and Marlene Dietrich. Both of those dealt with young Catherine and how in a palace coup she dethroned her husband and as the consort Empress was recognized as the actual ruler. What happens in those two films play very much into what happens in A Royal Scandal.

What a coup accomplishes, another coup can reverse. Catherine is not all that secure on her throne. She's in the midst of a power struggle between her military leaders personified by Sig Ruman and her Chancellor who wants a peace policy capped off with an alliance with France. Chancellor Charles Coburn has even got an ambassador from Louis XV in the person of Vincent Price to seal the deal.

In all this blunders William Eythe an earnest but not terribly bright young guardsman, the kind Catherine the Great was known to fancy. She fancies him a lot, but as she says one must be wary not to put too much trust in handsome men in uniforms.

So we've got a nice little Russian court comedy going with Ruman and Coburn both trying to use Eythe for their own purposes and Bankhead who when Eythe says his sword is at her disposal, she wants to make sure she gets the most use out of it. While all this is going on, Eythe is engaged to Anne Baxter one of Tallulah's ladies in waiting. And she doesn't want a castoff when Bankhead's through with the merchandise.

Coburn comes off really well as the foxy old chancellor who's survived many a palace intrigue by using his wits. Ruman's not bad either and I do love Grady Sutton's brief role as Ruman's idiot son who just wants to go back to the Urals. Sutton's southern accent actually works here as he makes the Urals sound like the Ozarks. Definitely a touch of Ernest Lubitsch.

A Royal Scandal together with Lifeboat, both released in 1945 marked the height of Tallulah Bankhead's all too brief film career. Too few film parts for this stage legend, only the Lunts are worse in that regard. For that reason this bright and witty comedy should be seen and treasured.

"A Royal Scandal" from 1945 smacks of its original director, Ernst Lubitsch, and not much of the director who took over for him when he became ill, Otto Preminger. Since Lubitsch had rehearsed the actors and prepared the script, I assume they retained much of what Lubitsch had in mind for this film. At any rate, it's a wonderfully funny film.

Tallulah Bankhead plays Catherine the Great, who was notorious for taking lovers and elevating them to great heights while they were in favor. They did all right when they fell out of favor, too, because apparently she pensioned them off and they lived quite handsomely. In this film, she takes a fancy to the Countess Anna's (Anne Baxter) fiancée, Alexei Chernoff (William Eythe), so much so that she puts off a Marquis from France (Vincent Price). The Countess Anna is devastated, and Alexei is thrilled as he becomes in charge of the palace guards. Meanwhile, Chancellor Nikolai (Charles Coburn) has to tolerate him.

Some of this film is laugh out loud funny, particularly the scene where Catherine, fearing she has lost Alexei, collapses on the floor and Alexei tries to pick her up. Hilarious. Tallulah's line delivery is great, and she and Coburn have wonderful chemistry as they spar. Anne Baxter was only 22 when she made this film, and she's lovely. The handsome Eythe was a type that 20th Century Fox loved, but for a variety of reasons, he never hit stardom. Darryl Zanuck, who was so furious with Tyrone Power for marrying Annabella that he quashed her career and gave Power a bad film, Daytime Wife, as punishment, pushed Eythe into a marriage to quell rumors about him, but it didn't help, and Zanuck lost interest in him. (I mention Power because supposedly he refused to do this movie - it seems unlikely, because he wasn't back from the war when this film was made; also, Zanuck would never have put him in a film where he wasn't the main star.) Eythe was a charming actor, but to my mind, anyway, not really star material.

Bankhead's costumes and jewelry are to die for. Very good movie, and, as others have pointed out, a real buried treasure.