Coming up next we have 1945's "A Royal Scandal", a fictional portrayal of Russia's Catherine the Great and her infatuation with a lowly lieutenant in her army. The liaison causes disruptions at the highest level, and Catherine's throne is in jeopardy because of her relationship with the man whom she rapidly promotes.
The film's cast includes Tallulah Bankhead, Charles Coburn, Anne Baxter, William Eythe, Vincent Price, Mischa Auer, Sig Ruman, Grady Sutton, and Friedrich von Ledebur.
Catherine the Great has just thrown over her latest fling, and the palace is all atwitter. Catherine's lady-in-waiting, Countess Anna Jaschikoff, eagerly spills the beans to the Chancellor, Nicolai Iiyitch.
People placed in Catherine's court are hoping to secure positions of favor by finding a replacement for her spurned lover. General Ronsky nominates his own nephew, but the poor man wants nothing but to return to his home in the Ural Mountains.
The Chancellor is hoping for a strong relationship with France, and he restricts access to the Empress, allowing no one to see her until friendship with the French nation can be secured.
A lieutenant in the army breaches the palace walls and demands and audience with the empress.
He is successful in gaining access to the chancellor, who doesn't have such a good reputation with the young man. "You're the Chancellor? The man who everybody says is ruining Russia?" asks Lt. Alexei Chernoff. "You're from the east?" asks the chancellor. "No, from the west," informs Alexei. The chancellor looks on in amazement and says, "How things do get around."
It turns out that Alexei is the fiancé of Catherine's lady-in-waiting Anna, who tries to dissuade him from seeing Catherine, but he insists.
The Chancellor goes to the Empress and tries to compliment her on how beautiful she looks. "Shut up! I look awful.
I feel rotten, and I slept abominably. If you don’t know it, you
bribed the wrong people," she says without looking up from her papers.
Alexei succeeds in breaking in on Catherine while she's talking to the Chancellor. Instead of being offended, she is intrigued by the handsome man standing before her.
Catherine takes quite an interest in him. Summoning him on the pretense of his giving her a report, Catherine plies him with champagne instead. "I have it here," he says of the report. "Leave it there," she says with a wave of her hand.
Even though she knows he's got a sweetheart somewhere, Catherine sets out to seduce him. "I’m surrounded by
thousands of people in glittering uniforms. I’m never alone.And yet, I’m lonelier than the loneliest
creature in the loneliest corner of
all of my lands," she says and then kisses him.
Catherine quickly promotes Alexei to Commander of the Palace Guards, and even affords him the rank of general. Anna is very disappointed in him.
Alexei tells Catherine that he doesn't want to just sit around in a palace. He was meant for more. Catherine summons the Chancellor to find out just who has been putting ideas into Alexei's head. "I want you to check up on everybody!" she orders, before continuing, "And I'll have everybody check up on you."
Eventually, Catherine finds out that Anna and Alexei are involved, and she is far from thrilled.
She informs Anna that she will be sending her on an extended vacation, which will enable her to visit her family. Anna is extremely resistant to the idea, much to Catherine's annoyance.
Catherine even threatens to throw her in the darkest cells of the Peter and Paul Fortress, but Anna is unmoving in her determination to stay. She even calls Catherine out over her fling with Alexei.
Alexei is called in to arrest Anna. He begs her to ask for forgiveness. Anna replies, "Regret? I said it before and I’ll say it again. That Her Majesty’s actions smell to
Heaven.And I’m not so sure I’m right
about the direction." She is then dismissed.
Elsewhere, the Chancellor tries to hand in his resignation, citing his advancing age. Catherine refuses to accept it. "You're not getting old. You are old," she says with a smile.
Alexei is entertained by some of Catherine's senior military officers, who are unhappy about his status as her favorite. They plant some seeds of revolution in his mind as their way of getting back at Catherine.
He and Catherine have a falling out when he visits her later that evening.
That sparks a full on revolutionary plot. Alexei tries to drag Catherine from her bed, but she dismisses him as an immature child. "Don’t you ever forget
that you’re my subject and I’m your monarch.And whatever I say and wherever I say it, I
speak from the throne!" He later informs her about the plot to overthrow her which involves her military officers.
Have no fear, the Chancellor is here. He comes in at the eleventh hour and delivers a decisive victory for Catherine, which sees Alexei arrested and the plot overthrown.
Anna goes to plead for Alexei's life and finds herself banished to the Crimean Peninsula. "But we don't own the Crimea yet," protests the Chancellor. "What can you expect
from a woman who takes away someone else’s fiancé is not going to
respect anybody’s peninsula!" sobs Anna. The Chancellor makes it so that she can Alexei (who is repentant over his behavior to her) can be together.
At last, the Chancellor can go ahead with the French friendship now that Catherine's affairs are clear. He introduces her to the French ambassador who flatters Catherine with the most flowery language, making the Chancellor's eyes roll.
Catherine gives the ambassador her whole "I'm lonely" speech as the Chancellor looks on smilingly.
Friedrich von Ledebur...........................Russian General
And that's it for A Royal Scandal. Ernst Lubitsch was originally supposed to direct the film, but he fell ill and was replaced by Otto Preminger. Lubitsch, however, directed all of the rehearsals for the film, and it is considered to be a "Lubitsch film". It is absolutely wonderful: snappy/witty dialogue, stunning costumes and scenery. It's got the "Lubitsch touch".
Since this film is in the public domain, you can watch it in its entirety here.
Coming up next we have 1940's "Torrid Zone", a film about a man who restores order to a banana plantation hounded by a Central American revolutionary.
The film's cast includes James Cagney, Ann Sheridan, Pat O'Brien, Andy Devine, Helen Vinson, George Tobias, George Reeves, Frank Puglia, and Grady Sutton.
In Central America, feared revolutionary outlaw Rosario La Mata is on the run.
Also in Central America is American songstress Lee Donley. The man who runs the town she's in, American banana plantation owner Steve Case, doesn't like her, and wants her out of town. He directs the chief of police to get her away.
Lee doesn't want to get out of town, and she resents Case forcing her to go. "Mister, the stork that brought you must've been a vulture," she tells him.
Case gets an old friend of his, Nick Butler, to work for him. Nick will be taking over the management of Case's banana plantation, where things have gotten lax and the crop that comes to town isn't good.
Lee meets Nick, and things are electric between them. Seeing her opportunity to avoid returning to America, Lee hides out on Nick's train and accompanies him to the plantation.
When Lee arrives at the banana plantation, she meets Nick's old girlfriend Gloria, the wife of the outgoing plantation manager. The two fight like cats and dogs. "Why do you walk around making noises like a
lady? All a guy has to do is wink at you
and he hits the jackpot," Lee tells Gloria, who is greatly offended.
Rosario La Mata has rounded up a gang of vigilantes who are wreaking havoc on the banana plantation, threatening to ruin Case's crop and destroy the lives of the men who work there.
Meanwhile, Gloria still has feelings for Nick, and she wants him to take her to America with him after the job is over. Nick keeps putting her off, not wanting to commit himself.
While Nick is busy sorting out his love life and getting the banana plantation into shape, Rosario is hard at work thwarting all of his plans. He blows up his access to town and even has two spies working on Nick's plantation staff, who are meant to lure Nick to a place where Rosario can kill him.
Lee and Gloria are still at it, verbally sparring with each other any time they are within each other's sights. "Oh, I get it. You've finally stepped down to your own level," Gloria tells Lee, who retorts, "That's still three floors above you."
Rosario succeeds in getting into a gunfight with Nick, but Nick surprises him by showing up in an unexpected location. Nick is wounded, but Rosario is eventually caught and handed over to the proper authorities.
And Nick decides to stay in Central America and make a life with Lee. The two kiss and embrace.
Cast rundown:
James Cagney...............................Nick Butler
Ann Sheridan................................Lee Donley
Pat O'Brien...................................Steve Case
Andy Devine.................................Wally Davis
Helen Vinson.................................Gloria Anderson
George Tobias...............................Rosario La Mata
George Reeves..............................Sancho
Frank Puglia..................................Juan Rodriguez
Grady Sutton.................................Sam
And that's it for Torrid Zone. Though he is top-billed in the film, James Cagney doesn't appear until twenty-two minutes into the movie. In the film, Ann Sheridan is referred to as someone who has a lot of "oomph". In real life, Sheridan was nicknamed "the oomph girl" in the late 1930s, a moniker for which she did not care. This film was nominated for inclusion on the list of the Top 100 Funniest American Movies.
