Publisher: CinemaSerf April 1, 2023
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.