weezeralfalfa Here is your chance to see the flamboyant acclaimed actress Tallulah Bankhead on film. She was much better known as a stage actress, as she preferred live audiences, didn't like Hollywood, and often didn't come over well on film. This film has been controversial, whereas her previous film "Lifeboat" is generally recognized as her best role. In the present film, she is certainly the dominating personality, in the role of the early middle aged Catherine the Great....The prolific Charles Coburn , as the sly chancellor, is in many scenes. He his the ultimate survivor in the ever risky palace bureaucracy. ...William Eythe , as young Lt. Alexei Chernoff, also has much screen time, primarily with Charlotte or Coburn. It's the relationship between Charlotte and Alexei that is the meat of the story. ...Although there is no historical basis for the specifics of the story, it is well documented that Catherine had many lovers during her reign. Anne Baxter has a non-essential role as Countess Anna: Charlotte's lady in waiting, and Alexei's young fiancé. Just how she, as a member of the royal court, and Alexei, a soldier on the western front, managed a romance before Alexei's arrival at court is not explained. ....Vincent Price has the role of the French ambassador, Marquis de Fleury, come to negotiate a treaty, is known primarily for his flowery praise of Catherine. He is seen only near the beginning ,and again at the very end, when he closes the film with a hint that he and Catherine soon will be lovers.....Sig Ruman has the role of General Ransky, who supposedly came to the palace to see Alexei, as the new commander of the imperial guard. But, he eventually reveals himself as a traitor to the queen, intent on leading a coup d'état, perhaps because of Catherine's anti-war sentiment. Although Alexei initially is very hostile when it is proposed that he join the revolution, after an argument with the queen, he joins them. His main role is to make sure the palace guard is elsewhere during the storming of the palace. Just before the storming, he rushes into the queen's bed chamber and rattles his sword, but says that he wants to protect her from being killed. Then, he leaves. Meanwhile, chancellor Coburn, who had pretended to join the revolution, has taken control of the palace guard, and hidden them in the palace , awaiting the arrival of the rebels. He doesn't want the queen deposed, as that would probably be the end of his position. The palace guard arrest the ringleaders, including Alexei. It turns out that they generally get remarkably light sentences. Alexei is sentenced to die, but the queen tries to find a reason why he shouldn't. Regardless, he is resigned to his fate. When asked if she pardoned him, she doesn't answer, but a physical act answers the question....I thought the film was reasonably good, with the main actors all good. The screenplay is a bit farfetched in some ways, mainly involving Alexei......You should be aware that there is another film(for TV) also titled "A Royal Scandal", released in 1997, dealing with the troubled marriage of George IV, of the UK, and his wife Caroline, It is an acted documentary. Both films are presently available at YouTube and on DVD.

SimonJack This film is a tremendous satire. It's loaded with laughter-inducing lines and scenes. The screenplay is quick and witty. It pokes fun at 17th century Russian empress, Catherine the Great, at her court, at the military, and at other European countries of the time. All aspects of the production are excellent. And, the lead actors are tremendous in their roles.Top billing goes to Tallulah Bankhead as Catherine the Great. The film script fits the raucous, mostly dramatic stage actress to a tee, and she plays her role hilariously. At least equal to her is William Eythe as Lt. Alexei Chernoff. He is superb as the exuberant, somewhat naïve, loyal and dashing Russian army officer who admires the czarina. He refers to her frequently as "our little mother," or "Mother Russia," much to her chagrin and disapproving looks. There are many laughs in the exchanges between these two.Charles Coburn has one of the meatier roles of a great career. He had played leading men in a few roles, but mostly was one of the few stellar supporting actors in many top Hollywood films. In this film he shows more than his usual facial expressions of dismay, chagrin, surprise, etc., in comedic situations. He plays Nicolai Ilyitch, the chancellor of Russia and right-hand man to the empress. In reality, he runs the country behind-the scenes, according to Catherine's wishes or best interest – as he sees it.Other supporting actors contribute to funny scenes in the film. One reviewer thought Vincent Price was wasted here. I think he is a riot as the Marquis de Fleury who is the ambassador from King Louis XV of France. Sig Ruman is another of the great supporting actors of the golden age of Hollywood. Here he plays Gen. Nicolai Ronsky. Mischa Auer is hilarious as Captain Sukov. Vladimir Sokoloff, Mikhail Rasumny, Donald Douglas, and Grady Sutton have short humorous parts.There's a considerable track record behind "A Royal Scandal." It was a silent film in 1924, "Forbidden Paradise." Before that it was a Broadway play, "The Czarina," written by Edward Sheldon. He adapted it from a Hungarian book and play, "Die Zarin," by Lajos Biro. In all of those earlier forms, the story was successful. It was a comedy, billed as a humorous look at the 17th century Russian empress with her many amorous affairs. Yet, when this film came out in April 1945, it flopped at the box office. As a result, it has been little seen or known about since then.I suspect that timing was mostly to blame. The American public probably was confused or conflicted with the different messages it had heard and seen in the news and movies about the Soviet Union. First Stalin's communist regime had starved millions of Ukrainians and the Soviet five-year plan had failed. Then the U.S. provides arms and supplies to the Soviets as allies against Nazi Germany. And Hollywood issues a film at the urging of President Roosevelt, "Mission to Moscow," in 1943 that whitewashed Stalin's atrocities. No wonder the public might be confused. In a few more years – by 1948, I think this film would have been a smashing success, and would be regarded something of a classic satire today.Even reading the comments of reviewers to the time of my writing, I find that few have seen as little more than a simple comedy. But, those who enjoy much laughter and a satire that pokes lots of fun should enjoy "A Royal Scandal." It's part of my film library, along with other great satires such as "Dr. Strangelove," "The Mouse that Roared," "Ninotchka," "Comrade X," and "To Be or Not to Be." Here are some sample lines to whet one's appetite. Ilyitch, "Oh, that Louie (French pronunciation of Louis). He's really ruining France. He's worse than the 14th. And Louie the 14th was worse than the 13th. That's the trouble with France – too many Louies." Alexei, "You know what's going on in Russia?" Sukov, "No, and please don't tell me. I don't want to get mixed up in anything. All I want to do is guard the east gate." Ilyitch, "My dear marquis, I'm so embarrassed. A perfect stranger coming out of the wall." Marquis, "Oh, please do not even mention. In Paris nothing but secret entrances. Only the husbands and servants use the regular doors. In the salon of Madame du Barry, you can see the best people coming out of the book shelves." Alexei, "Look, here are 50 rubles. Please take me to her majesty." Ilyitch, "You can't bribe the chancellor of Russia. Not with 50 rubles." Alexei, "You're the chancellor? The man everybody says is ruining Russia?" Ilyitch, "You're from the East?" Alexei, "No, from the West." Ilyitch, "How things do get around. It's amazing." Alexei, "Your majesty, I'm ready to die for you." Catherine, "That's no news either. I expect that from my soldiers." Ilyitch, "I beg your majesty not to waste your precious energy. We have these minor revolutions every day." Alexei, "I don't believe his excellency has a very high opinion of me. Frankly, he seems to think I'm something of a fool." Catherine, "That's a lot of nonsense. You're brilliant … and you look simply divine in that uniform." Ilyitch, "I even dreamed about you last night." Gen. Ronsky, "Something bad?" Ilyitch, "I don't know yet. I'm going to dream the end tonight." Alexei, "I didn't think you listened." Catherine, "I remember every word, every syllable." Alexei, "Then you heard what I said about the peasants?" Catherine, "Did I hear? How can you ask? I've been thinking of nothing else but peasants, peasants, peasants, and peasants."

mark.waltz It's no secret that the Bette Davis character of Margo Channing in "All About Eve" was a take-off on the ego-centric Tallulah Bankhead, "the Alabama Foghorn" who threatened "to rip every hair out of her mustache" when she saw Davis's alleged interpretation of her. While the real life Tallulah was certainly far more eccentric than Davis's subtle interpretation of Margo, on-screen here she's faced with a challenge; Playing opposite Anne Baxter, the rising young leading lady who would go onto screen immortality playing the opportunistic Eve. It's fair to say that the still somewhat green Baxter could easily have been swallowed alive by the campy Bankhead, but she more or less holds her own against Bankhead in several confrontation scenes in this costume drama which is more fantasy than Russian history even if it is the reign of Catherine the Great which this comic burlesque surrounds."You rode three days and three nights?" the incredulous Bankhead keeps asking Lieutant William Eythe, the devoted officer reporting possible treason to her majesty. His devotion to her continued efforts as "Mother Russia" (a phrase she openly despises) brings out both her thanks and her lust as she looks on the much younger Eythe, making him captain of the guard in her palace, unaware that he's engaged to the 22 year old Baxter, the somewhat meek young lady-in-waiting whose most challenging job is picking out the right wardrobe for "her highness" to wear to the next elaborate ball. Manipulation by Catherine's "right-hand man" (a delightful Charles Coburn) keeps Baxter from revealing the truth to Bankhead, but eventually, after some champagne, glass smashing and smooching with the Empress, Eythe reveals all, resulting in him discovering just what his newest paramour is all about. A threat of revolution breaks out, and Eythe is at risk of being hung for being a traitor. And still the ambassador from Louis XIV's court awaits, giving poor Vincent Price nothing to do but look rather uncomfortable and silly in wigs.Coming the year after Mae West got laughs for just calling "Enter!" on Broadway in "Catherine Was Great", Bankhead's performance is equally as bombastic and certainly as much of a burlesque. Sort of ironic considering that West was famous for the line, "I used to be snow white, but I drifted", and Bankhead quipped, "I'm as pure as the driven slush." At times, Bankhead highly resembles Dietrich ("The Scarlet Empress") and at other times, she reminds me of the type of roles which Judith Anderson might have played on stage, although much more seriously. In fact, their voices were quite similar, although Anderson did not have the obvious Southern drawl. Another piece of irony is the fact that the following year, Bankhead had a huge flop on Broadway in a costume epic called "The Eagle Has Two Heads" (to which she famously changed from eagle to turkey in her usual droll way in interviews) which was also about an extravagant Queen facing rebellion. Bankhead isn't the only one whose American presence defies their casting as Russian nobility; Grady Sutton has an even stronger drawl as another member of Bankhead's court.Elaborate and luscious to look at, this suffers from a lack of outdoors scenes, making its stage origins all the more obvious. Tallulah seems to be having a grand old time, however, and if she did as rumor would have it try to upstage Baxter, it doesn't show. She did credit Coburn with being a more than welcome addition to the cast because as she said, "He'll steal every scene right out of my nose", but Coburn plays it subtle. Eythe seems at first a bit too much of a novice to compete with either of his leading ladies, but he really stands out in comical scenes whether beating up another former captain of the guard, destroying the room where a traitorous general awaits, or finally, breaking into Bankhead's room in the middle of the night as traitorous members of her military approach the palace to depose her. This might have been a bigger hit if made before the onslaught of World War II, but it stands the test of time and gives today's audiences a chance to see one of the all time queen of camp at work, and she is far from looped!

Ethan Quern I just saw this gem of a movie as I was channel-surfing and came across it tonight on Turner Classic Movies. I knew nothing about the film, even less about the luminaries who made it except that one of the stars was Tallulah Bankhead. An enigma wrapped in a legend, I had heard about her since forever, but never had the opportunity to see her in her prime. What a surprise! I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard during a movie. I am SO tired of stupidity and over-the-top absurdity masquerading as comedy! I don't understand what's so funny about either. Give me wit, subtlety, irony, and understated comedic acting any day.Perhaps this movie came out at the wrong time. The published date of 1946 must have been a time when tensions were building between the US and the Soviet Union, so I wonder how open the American audience would have been to the antics of pre-revolution Russia. And it doesn't sound as if Bankhead and the Hollywood press were the best of friends. But from this vantage point, this is one TIMELESS classic that will be enjoyed for what it's worth long after the silliness of today's comedies are seen as witless goofballs.What a shame Bankhead made so few movies, and William Eythe was taken from us so young! They both gave masterful performances and one totally underrated gem of a movie!