Very Cool!!!

Perfect cast and a good story

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

This is a dazzling comedy, filled to the brim with witty dialogue. In fact, you should question the sense of humor of anyone who says otherwise. Bankhead is delicious as the queen, alternately petulant, absentminded and seductive. The character actors are a great deal of fun, and the scenes are so cleverly acted, it bears repeated viewing just to laugh again at how fun it must have been for all the actors. Vincent Price is uproariously over the top as the French ambassador, although he's only in a few scenes. Charles Coburn keeps things moving along with his brilliant deadpan humor, and a very young Anne Baxter is astonishingly beautiful, with a very peculiar yet appealing manner of speaking.

If you're looking for an example of a movie that really throws everything at you, "A Royal Scandal" is it. The movie focuses on Catherine the Great's romance with a young officer amid all manner of intrigue in 1700s Russia. Of course, since the movie is Ernst Lubitsch's brainchild, there's lots of comedy and the occasional violation of social propriety. Lubitsch fell ill, so Otto Preminger took over the task of directing, but the movie is no less enjoyable.Scholars of Russia will probably object to the comical tone, as well as the screwy transliterations and the repeated mispronunciation of Alexei Chernoff's name. But if one accepts the movie as simply an excuse for Talullah Bankhead to overact to the fullest extent, then there's a great time to be had watching it. I recommend it.

I just saw this gem of a movie as I was channel-surfing and came across it tonight on Turner Classic Movies. I knew nothing about the film, even less about the luminaries who made it except that one of the stars was Tallulah Bankhead. An enigma wrapped in a legend, I had heard about her since forever, but never had the opportunity to see her in her prime. What a surprise! I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard during a movie. I am SO tired of stupidity and over-the-top absurdity masquerading as comedy! I don't understand what's so funny about either. Give me wit, subtlety, irony, and understated comedic acting any day.Perhaps this movie came out at the wrong time. The published date of 1946 must have been a time when tensions were building between the US and the Soviet Union, so I wonder how open the American audience would have been to the antics of pre-revolution Russia. And it doesn't sound as if Bankhead and the Hollywood press were the best of friends. But from this vantage point, this is one TIMELESS classic that will be enjoyed for what it's worth long after the silliness of today's comedies are seen as witless goofballs.What a shame Bankhead made so few movies, and William Eythe was taken from us so young! They both gave masterful performances and one totally underrated gem of a movie!

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?)