The Devil Is A Woman marked the end of the director/player partnership of Josef Von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich. I'd love to give the film a better review, but the results of this film show the team was played out in terms of creativity.
In terms of a plot Von Sternberg took one that was very familiar, a woman dragging a man to the depths of destruction, in fact a few men in this case. If it sounds familiar that's exactly what Marlene Dietrich was doing in The Blue Angel as the saucy sexpot entertainer Lola-Lola who humiliated and degraded Emil Jannings. Here she leads Lionel Atwill and young Cesar Romero in his very first role of substance and if you can believe it, Edward Everett Horton. You read that correctly.
At a carnival young Romero who is a Republican revolutionary in turn of the last century's Spain first makes some heavy eye contact with sexy Marlene. Later on he runs into former Spanish Army officer Lionel Atwill whom he asks about this ravishing creature.
Lionel spends the next several reels telling his sad story of how this woman was the ruin of his career. But does Romero heed Atwill's warnings? He does not, because the way Atwill tells it this woman might be the ultimate in sexual fantasy. He ought to know, Atwill's still fantasizing over here.
Naturally these guys are going to tangle and I'm not going to reveal how it does come out, in fact there is still some doubt as the film ends. Unlike The Blue Angel, The Devil Is A Woman descends into some real campiness and you just can't take it seriously after a while.
Joel McCrea was almost in this film. He was cast in the Cesar Romero part and after shooting a few scenes begged to be out of it. Then they actually hired a man of Hispanic heritage for one of the lead roles in a story set in Spain.
At one point Marlene has to charm Edward Everett Horton. Someone at Paramount had a sense of humor in casting that one. And can you believe Allison Skipworth gave birth to Marlene Dietrich. Again someone has a sense of humor.
Von Sternberg and Dietrich called it day after The Devil Is A Woman. The well had run pretty dry by then.
In terms of a plot Von Sternberg took one that was very familiar, a woman dragging a man to the depths of destruction, in fact a few men in this case. If it sounds familiar that's exactly what Marlene Dietrich was doing in The Blue Angel as the saucy sexpot entertainer Lola-Lola who humiliated and degraded Emil Jannings. Here she leads Lionel Atwill and young Cesar Romero in his very first role of substance and if you can believe it, Edward Everett Horton. You read that correctly.
At a carnival young Romero who is a Republican revolutionary in turn of the last century's Spain first makes some heavy eye contact with sexy Marlene. Later on he runs into former Spanish Army officer Lionel Atwill whom he asks about this ravishing creature.
Lionel spends the next several reels telling his sad story of how this woman was the ruin of his career. But does Romero heed Atwill's warnings? He does not, because the way Atwill tells it this woman might be the ultimate in sexual fantasy. He ought to know, Atwill's still fantasizing over here.
Naturally these guys are going to tangle and I'm not going to reveal how it does come out, in fact there is still some doubt as the film ends. Unlike The Blue Angel, The Devil Is A Woman descends into some real campiness and you just can't take it seriously after a while.
Joel McCrea was almost in this film. He was cast in the Cesar Romero part and after shooting a few scenes begged to be out of it. Then they actually hired a man of Hispanic heritage for one of the lead roles in a story set in Spain.
At one point Marlene has to charm Edward Everett Horton. Someone at Paramount had a sense of humor in casting that one. And can you believe Allison Skipworth gave birth to Marlene Dietrich. Again someone has a sense of humor.
Von Sternberg and Dietrich called it day after The Devil Is A Woman. The well had run pretty dry by then.