Storyline

Young Princess Sophia of Germany is taken to Russia to marry the half-wit Grand Duke Peter, son of the Empress. The domineering Empress hopes to improve the royal blood line. Sophia doesn't like her husband, but she likes Russia, and is very fond of Russian soldiers. She dutifully produces a son -- of questionable fatherhood, but no one seems to mind that. After the old empress dies, Sophia engineers a coup d'etat with the aid of the military, does away with Peter, and becomes Catherine the Great.—John Oswalt

Plot Keywords

execution, adultery, rise to power, prince, oppression, mental illness, decadence, wedding ceremony, emperor, candle, royalty, nobility, insanity, arranged marriage, assassination, intrigue, toy soldier, 18th century, empress, princess

Short Review

Josef von Sternberg makes the cruelty the point in his lurid and macabre spectacle about the rise to absolute power of Catherine the Great, of Russia, who's played with an arachnid subtlety by Marlene Dietrich.

Trailer

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