The Emperor's Candlesticks (1937)

The Emperor's Candlesticks - 1937

Coming up next is 1937's "The Emperor's Candlesticks", starring William Powell and Luise Rainer.  Two secret agents/spies from different countries each try to smuggle letters into Russia.  Along the way, they learn each other's identities and fall in love.

The film's supporting cast includes Robert Young, Maureen O'Sullivan, Frank Morgan, Henry Stephenson, Douglas Dumbrille, and Theodore von Eltz.

On an incognito visit to Vienna, Grand Duke Peter of Russia, son of the Czar, attends a masquerade ball with his aide, Col. Baron Suroff.

He meets an attractive woman named Maria, and he is charmed by her.  He escapes the sharp gaze of Baron Suroff in order to dance with her.  Eventually, she leaves the ball and he goes with her.

She takes him to a seemingly empty house.  After she brings him upstairs, he finds himself in a room full of Polish nationalists who require something of him.

He is to write a ransom note to his father.  In the letter, he is to ask his father the Czar for the release of Maria's father, who is in prison and scheduled to be executed, in exchange for his own release.

The letter is brought to Baron Stefan Wolensky, a Polish secret agent, for delivery to the Czar in St. Petersburg.

Russian operative Countess Olga Miranova is also brought some letters to deliver to St. Petersburg.  Her letters consist of evidence that Baron Wolensky is a Russian enemy and they also order his arrest.

Before he goes to St. Petersburg, the Baron pays a call on his friend Prince Johann.

Prince Johann, knowing that the Baron is going to St. Petersburg, asks him to deliver a present to his friend, Princess Tanya.  They are candlesticks given to Prince Johann by the Emperor of Austria.

The Prince opens a secret compartment in one of the candlesticks and tells the Baron that this is where Marie Antoinette's last letter to Vienna was concealed.

The Baron readily agrees to deliver the candlesticks.  When the Prince leaves the room, the Baron decides to place the letter he is carrying in one of the candlesticks.  The Prince tells the Baron that he will have the have the candlesticks packed and delivered to him at the train station at the time of departure.  The Baron leaves Prince Johann's house.

As he is leaving, Countess Miranova arrives to see Prince Johann.  She and the Baron pass each other on the stairs but take no notice of one another.

The Prince shows the Countess the candlesticks and their secret hiding place.

As she watches him demonstrate, the Countess decides to use the second candlestick to hide her own important papers.  She begs him to be able to transport the candlesticks to St. Petersburg.  He agrees and says he will send a message to the Baron.

Meanwhile, the Baron has been told that the Countess is on his trail.  He's also told that the candlesticks will be transported to St. Petersburg by other means.  He's frantic because his important letter is still inside.

The Baron and the Countess are on the same train to St. Petersburg.  Things go from bad to worse when the Countess's maid and an accomplice steal her jewels and the candlesticks and sell them.

The Baron and the Countess meet at a hotel and introduce themselves after having recognized each other from Prince Johann's staircase.  While they both realize who the other is, they don't let on.

While waiting for a hint as to the whereabouts of the candlesticks, the two spend time together and start to develop feelings for one another.

They part ways only to arrive at the same time at a shop in Paris, where a lead on the candlesticks has led them.  The shop owner tells them that they are too late.  The candlesticks have gone to auction in London.

The Baron gets there first.  When the Countess arrives, the two start bidding against each other, making the price soar.  They decide to pool their resources and share the candlesticks.

After acquiring them, the two make their choices.

Unfortunately, they make the wrong choices.  The Baron gets the Countess's, and vice versa.  When he opens the secret compartment, he is shocked to read his arrest warrant and the list of crimes against him.

The Countess arrives and wants to exchange the candlesticks, but the Baron says no way.  He tells her that she can have her papers back once he has delivered his letter.

After arriving in St. Petersburg, the Countess tells her maid that she's tired of a spy's life and wants the freedom to make her own choices.  A knock at the door interrupts her thoughts.  Thinking it is the Baron, she sends her maid to answer it.

She is in for a surprise when the head of the secret police arrives.  He's told her that he's had someone following her, and once she met up with the Baron, she diverted from her plans.  No amount of explaining will satisfy him, and he places her under arrest.

Having delivered his message and having set in motion the plan to have Maria's father freed and Grand Duke Peter released, the Baron arrives also and gives the Countess the papers she was supposed to have smuggled.  Shocked at seeing the head of the secret police, the Baron accuses the Countess of having him there in order to see him arrested.  The Countess proves otherwise when she grabs the Baron's arrest order and throws it in the fireplace.

The head of the secret police goes after it, but it is too late.  It doesn't matter, he says.  He has orders to bring them both before the Czar.

During their audience with the Czar, the two culprits express a wish to share their fate.

Witnessing their love for one another, the Czar decides to pardon them, to their everlasting gratitude.  The Czar wishes them well and tells them that he will deliver the candlesticks to Princess Tanya himself.

As the Baron and the Countess ride in a sleigh through the snow, the Countess remarks that their troubles are over.  When the Baron reminds her that she has promised to marry him, he says, "Well then, dear, your troubles are not over."

Cast rundown:

   William Powell.................................Baron Stefan Wolensky

   Luise Rainer.....................................Countess Olga Miranova

   Robert Young...................................Grand Duke Peter

   Maureen O'Sullivan...........................Maria Orlich

   Frank Morgan...................................Col. Baron Suroff

   Henry Stephenson.............................Prince Johann

   Douglas Dumbrille.............................Mr. Korum

   Theodore von Eltz..............................Adjutant

And that's all for The Emperor's Candlesticks.  Gloria Swanson was the first choice to play the Countess Miranova.  When Luise Rainer accepted the role, this film became the last of the three films she made with William Powell.

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