Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Donald Seymour This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

hendersonhall When A Royal Scandal first came out, I probably would have considered it saucy and sophisticated and very funny. Times have changed. It's now old-fashioned, spiceless sauce, unsophisticated, and not at all funny. I watched 45 minutes without laughing and then gave up. I don't know at what point Preminger took over for Lubitch when he died and perhaps Lubitch might have wound up making it sophisticated and comic even for today (as he did others, notably Trouble in Paradise); but Preminger was the wrong choice to complete this one. Tallulah, who sparkled on Broadway (when young, I saw her in Private Lives), was so-what? here. She read her lines well enough, but the dialogue itself was mediocre and predictable. Much blame must go to writer Edwin Justus Mayer (of the delighful Midnight), who faltered here.

bkoganbing After seeing a couple of serious dramas concerning the ascension to the throne of Russia of Princess Sophia of Anhalt-Zerbst who has come down in history as Catherine the Great, it was an interesting change to watch A Royal Scandal and see what Tallulah Bankhead did with the Mother of all the Russias.The two films that I refer to are the ones done in the Thirties that starred Elizabeth Bergner and Marlene Dietrich. Both of those dealt with young Catherine and how in a palace coup she dethroned her husband and as the consort Empress was recognized as the actual ruler. What happens in those two films play very much into what happens in A Royal Scandal.What a coup accomplishes, another coup can reverse. Catherine is not all that secure on her throne. She's in the midst of a power struggle between her military leaders personified by Sig Ruman and her Chancellor who wants a peace policy capped off with an alliance with France. Chancellor Charles Coburn has even got an ambassador from Louis XV in the person of Vincent Price to seal the deal.In all this blunders William Eythe an earnest but not terribly bright young guardsman, the kind Catherine the Great was known to fancy. She fancies him a lot, but as she says one must be wary not to put too much trust in handsome men in uniforms.So we've got a nice little Russian court comedy going with Ruman and Coburn both trying to use Eythe for their own purposes and Bankhead who when Eythe says his sword is at her disposal, she wants to make sure she gets the most use out of it. While all this is going on, Eythe is engaged to Anne Baxter one of Tallulah's ladies in waiting. And she doesn't want a castoff when Bankhead's through with the merchandise.Coburn comes off really well as the foxy old chancellor who's survived many a palace intrigue by using his wits. Ruman's not bad either and I do love Grady Sutton's brief role as Ruman's idiot son who just wants to go back to the Urals. Sutton's southern accent actually works here as he makes the Urals sound like the Ozarks. Definitely a touch of Ernest Lubitsch.A Royal Scandal together with Lifeboat, both released in 1945 marked the height of Tallulah Bankhead's all too brief film career. Too few film parts for this stage legend, only the Lunts are worse in that regard. For that reason this bright and witty comedy should be seen and treasured.

willie-14 I saw this movie over 30 years ago on late night television. I was expecting a dry costume drama, but ended up laughing my head off at one of the classiest comedies I have ever seen. And unfortunately that was it. I have never seen it again, on TV or on video. In fact I don't think it has ever been released on video. Talullah's film appearances were few, and this showed her at her forte, comedy. Granted, she was also one of the great dramatic actresses of her day (her performance in The Little Foxes on Broadway is considered to be one of the finest of the 20th century), but more marketable actresses always won out over her in Hollywood (she never forgave Bette Davis for stealing the Foxes role from her). When can a larger audience expect to see this comic gem? (and when can I find out if my childhood memories can stand up to my adult tastes?)

spqrinkw Tallulah Bankhead as Catherine the Great playing Tallulah Bankhead. A deliciously paced farce with some very witty dialogue. Well directed, lit and edited by a team of pros, this is a nice change of pace from the Tallulah of "Life Boat" or "Die, Die My Darling."