Paramount Pictures
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I want love - and I'm going to get it!
While vacationing without her busy British diplomat husband, a married woman falls for another man.
CinemaSerf
Jan 9, 2023 · via TMDB
Ernst Lubitsch has managed not only to assemble three strong character actors here, but he also manages to get them to play well with/against each other without the whole thing descending into predicable melodrama. The lynch pin of the plot is the glamorous "Lady Maria" (Marlene Dietrich) who is married to her loyal, if maybe not the most lively, diplomat husband "Sir Frederick" (Herbert Marshall). Whilst feeling a bit neglected when he is away on one of his trips, she heads to Paris to visit her friend, the Russian Grand Duchess "Anna" (Laura Hope-Crews). As was customary for ladies of great social station, her function was largely that of a facilitator for the great and the good (or not so good) to meet at glittering soirées and it is at one such function that "Maria" encounters the rather rakish "Halton" (Melvyn Douglas) and the seeds for our developing love triangle are gradually sown. Now she has been using an alias ("Angel") in France, and when it turns out that her husband and her new beau have some wartime experiences in common - and they are all on the guest list to the same gathering - her wicket starts to look distinctly sticky! The plot is not especially remarkable, but there are four strong and engaging performances for us to enjoy here. Dietrich and Douglas gel well on screen together, Marshall always did manage that slightly aloof statesmanlike role well, and Crews cleverly plays her game to ensure that she, too, always gets what she needs from the various predicaments she encounters. It's also helped by a small cast, some quickly paced and sharp dialogue and it looks good to watch, too.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Marlene Dietrich
Lady Maria Barker, aka Angel
Herbert Marshall
Sir Frederick Barker
Melvyn Douglas
Anthony 'Tony' Halton
Edward Everett Horton
Graham
Ernest Cossart
Christopher 'Chris' Wilton
Laura Hope Crews
Grand Duchess Anna Dmitrievna
Herbert Mundin
Mr. Greenwood
Dennie Moore
Emma MacGillicuddy Wilton
Gino Corrado
Assistant Hotel Manager (uncredited)
Ivan Lebedeff
—
Leonard Carey
—
Louise Carter
—
George Davis
—
Herbert Evans
Lord Davington's Butler (uncredited)
James Finlayson
Barker's 2nd Butler (uncredited)
Gerald Hamer
—
Olaf Hytten
Consolidated Press Photographer (uncredited)
Suzanne Kaaren
—
Carl M. Leviness
—
Michael Visaroff
—
Charles Lang
Director of Photography
Travis Banton
Costume Design
Ernst Lubitsch
Director
Ernst Lubitsch
Producer
Friedrich Hollaender
Music
Guy Bolton
Adaptation
Samson Raphaelson
Screenplay
Oct 29, 1937
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The Ballad of Akabusi
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Discipline - Live 1995
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Battle your watched movies head-to-head
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1987 · 14 wins
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2008 · 14 wins
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2000 · 12 wins
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2022 · 11 wins
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2019 · 11 wins
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