Scandalous

I finally caught A Royal Scandal (1945). It's not a highly regarded film, but it's of interest, if for no other reason, in that it's--sort of--a Lubitsch film. There's no director like Lubitsch, who created some of the most special cinema ever to come out of Hollywood.

A Royal Scandal comes late in Lubitsch's career (not that he knew it at the time) when he worked at Fox, and is often not considered part of his ouevre, because he got ill during production and handed over the directing duties to Otto Preminger. However, he did oversee the script and rehearsals, so though it might not quite have the "touch" of the master, I think we can read it at least as semi-Lubitsch, which is better than no Lubitsch at all.

It's actually a pretty well done historical comedy about Catherine The Great. This is old-style, high-toned Lubitschean sex farce (which, actually, is not as good as later Lubitsch, that tended to be more realistic). There's not a lot of action, but the dialogue is crisp and witty.

It's not top drawer for a few reasons. First, and I'm not sure why--maybe it's the times, maybe it's the studio, maybe it's his age--but Lubitsch's work at Fox in the 40s didn't quite have the spark of his earlier work at Warner Brothers, Paramount and even MGM.

Second, the plot is decent, but not great. (It's about the trouble a soldier who catches the eye of Catherine causes in the court.) It worked better in silent film. Once people are allowed to talk, as witty as they may be, the ins and out don't fascinate as much.

Finally, the two leads aren't great. Catherine is played by Tallulah Bankhead, who was a major star on stage, but never really made it on screen (because Bette Davis could do what she did, and do it better). And the soldier is played by William Eythe, an up-and-comer who soon was over. It's not that these two are bad, just that they don't quite have the sparkle the roles call for.

But the film is still very much worth seeing. It's got some decent support from Sig Ruman, Mischa Auer and Vincent Price. Above all, there's Charles Coburn as the Chancellor, always two steps ahead of everyone--he steals the film.